I am a 23 yr old woman Watching this I know that I would have benefitted from waldorf early learning in counting because I distinctly remember the frustration I felt as I could not understand what a number was. I knew what order they came in and what value represented which quantity but what I could not grasp was the concept of why we would assign these values.
Dear Sarah, thank you so much for all your explanations. Could you perhaps make a video about circle time in Waldorf school? I would love to find out more about the kind of things teachers do during this special time. Thank you
Thank you Sarah. I've mentioned before that we are new to home school and to Waldorf. I bought a boxed curriculum thinking it would help me to implement it but I am missing out so much because I can't visualise how to implement it and things aren't going well! Your videos help me somewhat. My 5 year old is a reader and I, wrongfully now I realise, reduced the focus on books and reading because I didn't think it was correct to do in the Waldorf ways. Her love of learning has decreased. I don't think it helps that I'm not very good at storytelling, I need to learn more about storytelling effectively.
Hi Helen, I completely understand your struggle! Learning to tell stories effectively was certainly a difficult hurdle when I began my career as a teacher. I hope to make more videos on the subject on the future, but you may be interested in this video I made about storytelling from the heart: ruclips.net/video/SfnihE7XDXA/видео.html
Thank you very much.It's about time Waldorf teachers start educating parents and critics on the faculties of children at any given age and how this is reflected in Steiner Pedagogy .
Thank you so much for this video. My daughter is 5, i've homeschooled up until this point and have been highly inspired by Montessori with a little sprinkle of Waldorf. I've definitely hit a point with my daughter where I can see her naturally gravitating towards a more Waldorf, more imagination driven path with a strong community focus. Your channel has been very helpful. I had no idea you were behind Bella Luna Toys!
I need the "relax" concept.. thank you. 😊 I've tried to follow Waldorf and find family and my own egoic ways pull in the comment that my children should be doing more. When I feel they are learning on their time not public schools time. More art and less pushing is what I focus on. Imagination to how we learn and their interests is where I often teach from. Everything can be a learning experience. Thank you... I will tell myself more to relax.. blessings
Thank you for explaining the philosophy behind the pacing of literary lessons at Waldorf schools. I want to share my experience, as I believe it is important to share what it was like to attend a Waldorf school as a child who had already learned to read. As someone who learned to read early, my experience at a Waldorf school was that they took a very “anti-reading” approach with me. I taught myself to read at 3 (without any conscious attempts by my parents to initiate this process) and my Waldorf school criticized my parents for pushing me into this next stage of intellectual development. In grade school, I wanted to read books from sections of the library intended for older students. In addition to being reprimanded for this at school, my teachers called my parents to inform them of my “developmentally inappropriate behavior”. I was told, explicitly, that I was acting immodestly
and inappropriately. My intellectual curiosity was actively stifled and often shamed outright. It has taken me years to heal from the shame I experienced at Waldorf as a highly verbal student who was hungry to learn. I fully agree with the understanding that all parts of a child need to be nourished, and that children need not be over-intellectualized. But if a child demonstrates an active desire to learn, I don’t think that should ever be dampened or punished. I realize my experience is a data point of one, and I do not mean to suggest that all Waldorf schools take the approach that mine did. Nonetheless, I felt compelled to share my story
Very sadly, there was a girl in my Waldorf kindergarten who learned to read when she was 4, and the teachers discouraged it. Her mom pulled her out of the school and put her in Montessori. However, I don't think this is an accurate representation of Waldorf philosophy when practiced properly.
Hi Sarah, I was wondering if you could do a video explaining the Waldorf font that is used in many of the resources you sell in your store. I have tried to research this myself and have not come up with much information, just that it is designed to imitate the imperfect shapes of nature.
My sister and I went to a Waldorf school. I went from 4th-8th grade and she went from kindergarten to Fourth Grade. Many of the students in her class could not read by the time they were in Fourth Grade and were pulled out of school. I loved my experience at Waldorf School but for how much money parents are paying, there shouldn't be a need for outside tutoring or worry.
I think it depends on the school and the teacher. In my Waldorf school, we were taught reading between 1st and second grade. I was a late reader, learning when I turned 8, but developed a life long passion for reading, because I wasn't forced too young. If there is a terrible teacher, this could be a problem. Also, perhaps there wasn't good support for children with disabilities at your school.
I'm aware ita a very old video, I'm hoping to get some answers if possible. You are the main reason for enrolling my 3 year old in a Waldorf school. I did show him story books and read stories to him from he was 6 months old as internet suggested 😳. But off late I realised he enjoys listening to stories from me directly. I'm recently blessed with a baby girl. Should I not show her story books ?
Last week, in VietNam, some parents are interested in Waldorf education discussed about this topic. In VietNam, many parents read book for kids so early, from 0-3 year old. They think do that is good for their kids and wonder about Waldorf curriculum. So lucky, lastnight, after I saw your video, I forwarded this video to that parent. Now Im a teacher in the Waldorf inspried school in VietNam, thank so much about your channel that helped me so much in my job and I really love your voice Mrs Sarah. Thankyou and hopefully soon next video.
You have no idea how happy I was to read this, Ngoc Le. If I can change the life of even one child or family through my videos, I feel so gratified and like it was time well spent. Thank you for sharing the video and for your very kind words. Blessings on your work with children and families!
I'm always a bit torn about this topic. On one hand I agree completely with the Waldorf philosophy that children in the early years should be allowed to play and that academics as you call it shouldn't be pushed when they aren't ready. But on the other hand I believe that it has a lot to do with the teaching methods, not so much with age. I agree that children aren't always ready for 'formal learning' or 'decoding phonics' but I find that even at 7 years not all children are ready for that and that it also depends on the personality of the child. I think 'formal learning' behind a desk and from a textbook like it is done in many regular schools is often the problem in itself and it doesn't really matter how old the child is in that context. I'm more for a playful or unschooling aproach for all ages. And I think being able to read is a very valuable thing to have, even for a young child, when it's not so much about skills or phonics but more something that comes natural and is fun! I find that children who are in a natural learning environment often have a curiousity for letters and numbers earlier than the age of 7. And when you said that Waldorf teachers do all sorts of activities which involve math and language skills, in my mind they are definitely teaching math and language. So maybe I'm just wording it differently and essentially I'm agreeing with the approach. I just don't think it very different when a child learns to read aswell within that same 'playful' and natural approach. I know of a lot of children who learn to read themselves at ages 3, 4 or 5 when they are allowed to in a natural learning environment. But I believe the decoding skills come later for all children, even the children who can read already. Because those children often read by images of the whole word and not by spelling out the letters. Anyway I do think that it's great that there is such an emphasis on language development through stories and play and that a lot of Waldorf children seem to develop such a love for reading! I would want my child to develop a love for reading before anything else. But I believe this can be achieved at any age as long as it develops naturally and isn't forced. I think the wording of the philosophy worries me sometimes because parents/teachers can easily get stuck on what a certain educationist said in the past. Which can result in, maybe not necessarily discouragement but at the same time refraining from encouragement or creating the opportunity for a child to learn. But this is my only problem with all the educational philosophies out there.... that they tend to box children in these stages of development. While often the whole point of these philosophies is to follow the natural development of a child. Also there is a lot more educational knowledge nowadays and I think it's important to be able to view every philosophy of the past critically. And I believe those educationist were often intelligent enough that they would've prefer us to do that instead of following their every letter.
I am a 23 yr old woman
Watching this I know that I would have benefitted from waldorf early learning in counting because I distinctly remember the frustration I felt as I could not understand what a number was. I knew what order they came in and what value represented which quantity but what I could not grasp was the concept of why we would assign these values.
Dear Sarah, thank you so much for all your explanations. Could you perhaps make a video about circle time in Waldorf school? I would love to find out more about the kind of things teachers do during this special time. Thank you
Thank you Sarah. I've mentioned before that we are new to home school and to Waldorf. I bought a boxed curriculum thinking it would help me to implement it but I am missing out so much because I can't visualise how to implement it and things aren't going well! Your videos help me somewhat. My 5 year old is a reader and I, wrongfully now I realise, reduced the focus on books and reading because I didn't think it was correct to do in the Waldorf ways. Her love of learning has decreased. I don't think it helps that I'm not very good at storytelling, I need to learn more about storytelling effectively.
Hi Helen, I completely understand your struggle! Learning to tell stories effectively was certainly a difficult hurdle when I began my career as a teacher. I hope to make more videos on the subject on the future, but you may be interested in this video I made about storytelling from the heart: ruclips.net/video/SfnihE7XDXA/видео.html
@@SundaywithSarahwhat's the 1st thing children learn in a waldorf approach to reading? Letter symbles or letter sounds?
Thank you very much.It's about time Waldorf teachers start educating parents and critics on the faculties of children at any given age and how this is reflected in Steiner Pedagogy .
Thank you so much for this video. My daughter is 5, i've homeschooled up until this point and have been highly inspired by Montessori with a little sprinkle of Waldorf. I've definitely hit a point with my daughter where I can see her naturally gravitating towards a more Waldorf, more imagination driven path with a strong community focus. Your channel has been very helpful. I had no idea you were behind Bella Luna Toys!
Thanks Sarah for the encouraging words.
I need the "relax" concept.. thank you. 😊 I've tried to follow Waldorf and find family and my own egoic ways pull in the comment that my children should be doing more. When I feel they are learning on their time not public schools time. More art and less pushing is what I focus on. Imagination to how we learn and their interests is where I often teach from. Everything can be a learning experience. Thank you... I will tell myself more to relax.. blessings
Thank you for explaining the philosophy behind the pacing of literary lessons at Waldorf schools. I want to share my experience, as I believe it is important to share what it was like to attend a Waldorf school as a child who had already learned to read.
As someone who learned to read early, my experience at a Waldorf school was that they took a very “anti-reading” approach with me. I taught myself to read at 3 (without any conscious attempts by my parents to initiate this process) and my Waldorf school criticized my parents for pushing me into this next stage of intellectual development.
In grade school, I wanted to read books from sections of the library intended for older students. In addition to being reprimanded for this at school, my teachers called my parents to inform them of my “developmentally inappropriate behavior”. I was told, explicitly, that I was acting immodestly
and inappropriately. My intellectual curiosity was actively stifled and often shamed outright. It has taken me years to heal from the shame I experienced at Waldorf as a highly verbal student who was hungry to learn. I fully agree with the understanding that all parts of a child need to be nourished, and that children need not be over-intellectualized. But if a child demonstrates an active desire to learn, I don’t think that should ever be dampened or punished. I realize my experience is a data point of one, and I do not mean to suggest that all Waldorf schools take the approach that mine did. Nonetheless, I felt compelled to share my story
Very sadly, there was a girl in my Waldorf kindergarten who learned to read when she was 4, and the teachers discouraged it. Her mom pulled her out of the school and put her in Montessori. However, I don't think this is an accurate representation of Waldorf philosophy when practiced properly.
I had a traditional education and still wasn't reading competently until maybe 4th grade
Hi Sarah, I was wondering if you could do a video explaining the Waldorf font that is used in many of the resources you sell in your store. I have tried to research this myself and have not come up with much information, just that it is designed to imitate the imperfect shapes of nature.
My sister and I went to a Waldorf school. I went from 4th-8th grade and she went from kindergarten to Fourth Grade. Many of the students in her class could not read by the time they were in Fourth Grade and were pulled out of school. I loved my experience at Waldorf School but for how much money parents are paying, there shouldn't be a need for outside tutoring or worry.
I think it depends on the school and the teacher. In my Waldorf school, we were taught reading between 1st and second grade. I was a late reader, learning when I turned 8, but developed a life long passion for reading, because I wasn't forced too young. If there is a terrible teacher, this could be a problem. Also, perhaps there wasn't good support for children with disabilities at your school.
I'm aware ita a very old video, I'm hoping to get some answers if possible. You are the main reason for enrolling my 3 year old in a Waldorf school. I did show him story books and read stories to him from he was 6 months old as internet suggested 😳. But off late I realised he enjoys listening to stories from me directly. I'm recently blessed with a baby girl. Should I not show her story books ?
Thankyou so much ^^
Thanks for watching and commenting Ngoc Le!
Last week, in VietNam, some parents are interested in Waldorf education discussed about this topic. In VietNam, many parents read book for kids so early, from 0-3 year old. They think do that is good for their kids and wonder about Waldorf curriculum. So lucky, lastnight, after I saw your video, I forwarded this video to that parent. Now Im a teacher in the Waldorf inspried school in VietNam, thank so much about your channel that helped me so much in my job and I really love your voice Mrs Sarah. Thankyou and hopefully soon next video.
You have no idea how happy I was to read this, Ngoc Le. If I can change the life of even one child or family through my videos, I feel so gratified and like it was time well spent. Thank you for sharing the video and for your very kind words. Blessings on your work with children and families!
I'm always a bit torn about this topic. On one hand I agree completely with the Waldorf philosophy that children in the early years should be allowed to play and that academics as you call it shouldn't be pushed when they aren't ready. But on the other hand I believe that it has a lot to do with the teaching methods, not so much with age.
I agree that children aren't always ready for 'formal learning' or 'decoding phonics' but I find that even at 7 years not all children are ready for that and that it also depends on the personality of the child. I think 'formal learning' behind a desk and from a textbook like it is done in many regular schools is often the problem in itself and it doesn't really matter how old the child is in that context. I'm more for a playful or unschooling aproach for all ages.
And I think being able to read is a very valuable thing to have, even for a young child, when it's not so much about skills or phonics but more something that comes natural and is fun! I find that children who are in a natural learning environment often have a curiousity for letters and numbers earlier than the age of 7. And when you said that Waldorf teachers do all sorts of activities which involve math and language skills, in my mind they are definitely teaching math and language.
So maybe I'm just wording it differently and essentially I'm agreeing with the approach. I just don't think it very different when a child learns to read aswell within that same 'playful' and natural approach. I know of a lot of children who learn to read themselves at ages 3, 4 or 5 when they are allowed to in a natural learning environment. But I believe the decoding skills come later for all children, even the children who can read already. Because those children often read by images of the whole word and not by spelling out the letters.
Anyway I do think that it's great that there is such an emphasis on language development through stories and play and that a lot of Waldorf children seem to develop such a love for reading! I would want my child to develop a love for reading before anything else. But I believe this can be achieved at any age as long as it develops naturally and isn't forced.
I think the wording of the philosophy worries me sometimes because parents/teachers can easily get stuck on what a certain educationist said in the past. Which can result in, maybe not necessarily discouragement but at the same time refraining from encouragement or creating the opportunity for a child to learn. But this is my only problem with all the educational philosophies out there.... that they tend to box children in these stages of development. While often the whole point of these philosophies is to follow the natural development of a child. Also there is a lot more educational knowledge nowadays and I think it's important to be able to view every philosophy of the past critically. And I believe those educationist were often intelligent enough that they would've prefer us to do that instead of following their every letter.