WALDORF ESSENTIALS CURRICULUM REVIEW + COMPARISON WITH LIVE EDUCATION | 1ST GRADE

It's probably the biggest homeschooling decision you're going to make: Choosing a curriculum. When you've finally narrowed down you want to do a Waldorf approach, next you have to sort through the Waldorf curricula that are available. Today I'm walking you through the Waldorf Essentials curriculum for first grade with a comparison to the Live-Education curriculum also for grade one.
Send Linda some love for letting me borrow this curriculum to review it: / @becomingbethany
Here are some additional thoughts:
-The Live-Education curriculum is written by Waldorf teachers who have gone through training to become teachers if Waldorf schools. They have taught for many years in a classroom setting and bring as close to a Waldorf education to your home in the form of their curriculum.
-The Waldorf Essentials curriculum has been written, tested and refined by homeschooling parent with years of experience teaching her own children and advising homeschooling families.
-Both curricula come with support in the form of consultations and/or mentorship.
-Waldorf Essentials comes with additional online resources (it used to be a dvd, but now all the media is online)
-The curriculum portion of Waldorf Essentials is minimal compared to Live-Education and may need additional resources to supplement the curriculum like artwork for each lesson which is a great portion of the first grade curriculum
-The Live-Education curriculum comes with everything you need including original color artwork by artist Bruce Bischop
-Waldorf Essentials has a running lesson plan with the first block being letters of the alphabet mixed with form drawing. Though main lesson blocks can be moved around, it is more difficult to do so. It is written and arranged for families living in the northern hemisphere.
-The Live-Education curriculum comes with distinct books for each main lesson, so moving blocks around is easy. It is advised that you begin with form drawing.
-Both curricula comes with general information about setting up the school day and school year, how to do a main lesson and the waldorf philosophy.
-The Live-Education curriculum comes with additional information at the introduction of each main lesson block as well as additional resources.
-The Waldorf Essentials curriculum comes with handwork patterns at the back of the back.
-Live-Education is only sold in color printed hardcopies
-Waldorf Essentials can be purchased as a digital curriculum as well as simply printed.
-Waldorf Essentials appears simple
-Live-Education appears professional
You can find more information on Waldorf Essentials here:
www.lulu.com/sp...
You can find more information on Live-Education here:
www.live-educa...
Melisa also added the following in a comment:
"EVERY purchase comes with online content that is free and easily available on the site. We have videos there to help you as the homeschooler apply the curriculum, pictures from lessons, etc. (this replaced the DVD). Every curriculum also comes with a free hour of consulting on the phone."
Disclaimer and personal opinions: I use the Live-Education curriculum and find it to be a superior curriculum to Waldorf Essentials in every way, it is more authentic to the Waldorf philosophy and very professional. From what I've seen and experienced, art is as important to the content of the curriculum, and there are only very simple form drawings and computer generated stick drawings in the Waldorf Essentials curriculum. Considering that artwork accompanies each lesson in first grade and that watercoloring is done often in first grade, making up half the curriculum, I find the Waldorf Essentials curriculum very lacking in this area.
Please leave your thoughts in the comment section. If there have been updates to the curriculum, I will do my best to add them here. Since making and posting this video, there has been a price increase to the Waldorf Essentials curriculum
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