Waldorf Publications is Celebrating Screen Free Week! May 04 2015

Screen Free Week gives us a chance to pause to consider beyond the noise and distraction of screens, pop-ups and advertisements. What message would we like children to glean from our behavior? What values are being communicated subliminally in our habitual practices?

May Day in the Waldorf School May 01 2015

May Day is a Northern Hemisphere festival (and is also called International Workers’ Day) and is celebrated in many Waldorf schools.  It is an ancient tradition of celebrating the arrival of summer. Known as Beltane in Celtic lands, and celebrated by the Romans recognizing the goddess Flora, May Day is a popular tradition. The May Pole Dance is a joyful experience, and often the center of the May Day celebration.  The May Pole often bears garlands and symbolizes the tree of life and growth of spring vegetation. This festival is celebrated as an entire school community. In most Waldorf schools, children from each grade take turns doing a May Pole dance. The patterns get more complicated as the children mature. Whole classes of children prepare “May Baskets,” hand-woven baskets of new spring flowers that are then hung on the fence posts or door handles or front steps of neighbors or loved ones to wish them a happy spring.

Storytelling in the Waldorf Classroom April 27 2015

Children learn deeply and completely from stories and because of this they play a key role in the Waldorf curriculum. Reprimands, dialogue, cautions, or rebukes might appear to be effective, however, it’s really only stories that can school little ones on the great truths of life, the dangers of straying from the path like Little Red Riding Hood, or the high value of staying connected to nature by being kind to living things as in The Crystal Ball.
          In the early years the Waldorf curriculum uses fairy-tales, fables, and legends. By grade four Waldorf students are using  drama to explore Norse Mythology. In the later grades Greek Mythology, fine literature, and poetry reveal treasured stories such as Percival and Faust. Stories are found throughout the Waldorf curriculum every day.

A Brief History of Earth Day and Earth Day in Waldorf Schools April 22 2015

Everyday is an "earth day" within a Waldorf school but since 1970,  April 22 has been formally observed as "Earth Day" across the nation. With every day that passes, the ill effects of modern civilization on the environment has become more and more evident. Climate change, air/water/ocean pollution, shrinking wetlands, deforestation, habitat destruction, ozone depletion, and water shortages are just a few of the issues facing the planet today.

Back in the early 1960’s, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin began noticing that the condition of the environment was not being recognized on any political agenda despite evidence of degradation.

Haiku Day 俳句の日 April 17 2015

Haiku is short, Japanese poetry. The name, Haiku, is derived from the Japanese word, “kiru,” cutting.   “Cut to the chase” might be a modern, North American interpretation of the reason for Haiku.

Traditionally, haiku (originally called “hokku”) is made up of 17 “on” or “morae,” that we might refer to as “syllables” or “beats:” 5 – 7 – 5. Classic Haiku have two images with a “cutting word” in between, hence the “kiru” or cutting reference in the name. Also classic Haiku are seasonal and at least one image of a season appears in it. Everyday images are usually expected for an authentic Haiku.

Passover and Easter ~ this year they are very close! April 03 2015

Each year, like a symbol of the burgeoning spring itself, religious celebrations mark the season of the rebirth of the Earth.

Christians celebrate Easter and Hebrews celebrate Passover. Both holidays express the wonder of new things and the confidence in the regenerative power of the Earth and of human possibilities.

Passover is one of the oldest rituals known, and a remembrance of a story from five thousand years ago, or more. After many generations of enslavement by Egyptian Pharaohs as a people, the Jewish nation planned to leave this life of slavery forever.

The Two Perfectly Balanced Days of the Year - Spring & Autumnal Equinox! March 20 2015

March 20^th or 21^st always marks “the first day of spring.” Jokes abound in the Northeastern part of our country because it often doesn’t feel at all like spring on this inaugural day.

But the real event is a cosmic one that takes place in the stars and planets. This is why the exact day is not possible to state without stellar calculations. The day is called “The Spring (Vernal) Equinox.” It’s partner is “The Autumn (Autumnal) Equinox.” On these two days the days and nights are exactly even – balanced. Both have pagan a religious ceremonies in human history designed to celebrate the miracle of this perfect balance.

Great and Glorious Saint Patrick March 17 2015

What is so special about St. Patrick’s Day? Why is “everybody” Irish for this one day each year. Some ice cream stores give out free ice cream if a customer is wearing green on that day. In Ireland for centuries all pubs closed for the day of the great saint. Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other cities in the United States have parades to honor the man. It is hard to think of another country that has such a famous saint to represent them or who has been so passionately celebrated as Saint Patrick. Ever wonder why?

The highly anticipated new release is finally here ~ The Sun with Loving Light March 16 2015

This new Waldorf reader, The Sun With Loving Light, was assembled as a transliteration of the original reader, Der Sonne Licht, in the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart, Germany.  Caroline von Heydebrand was the original collector who put the Waldorf reader together for those children in that inaugural school.  In the United States in the 1950s, the New York City Rudolf Steiner School did a transliteration and named it The Key to the Kingdom, now out of print.  Hansjoerg Hofrichter in Germany has since resurrected and republished the original reader and wished mightily, being a Waldorf graduate with clear memories of the book as his own first reader, that similar readers could be made for children in Waldorf schools around the world, in the language of every country that has a Waldorf school.

It's π Day!! March 14 2015

Since 1988 math enthusiasts have been celebrating 3/14, as “Pi Day.”  Pi, roughly equal to 3.14, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter; an irrational number that has been calculated out 10 trillion digits with no repeating patterns and seems a mystery in its conceptual simplicity.

This year’s Pi Day is extra special. The year being 2015 makes the date as written, 3/14/15 and π calculated out two more decimal places is 3.1415. Calculate to nine decimal places and π is 3.141592653.  This means that on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 we will have witnessed the longest extended Pi Day of our lives, the next not coming around until March 14, 2115!

March is Music In Our Schools Month! March 10 2015

Any child, any group of children, will listen if a command is sung, when often they will not hear a spoken command. Singing while working has been used for millennia to pass the time quickly and to work rhythmically in completing an arduous or tedious task. Music can quicken an atmosphere unlike anything else, and can explain things without ever being didactic. The Underground Railroad and all Irish rebellions against the British used songs to relay instructions: “At the Rising of the Moon;” “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” “Wade In Water,” are all good examples of this “education through song.”

February 26th is Tell a Fairy Tale Day! February 26 2015

Dark forests, Wizards and Fairy godmothers, King and Queens, Stepchildren and Dumblings, Animals who speak, and the magic of love are all elements we experience in Fairy Tales. Not only are these elements familiar to us all but they seem to inform our unconscious expectations, fears and hopes. The pictures in Fairy Tales resonate as the archetypes within us all.

Telling children Fairy Tales from all over the world is one of the best gifts to give. All the elements of fairy tales speak to the being of a little one.

 

Nicolaus Copernicus February 19 2015

o gift can compare to the one Copernicus gave to us many hundreds of years ago! A revolutionary view of the revolutions of the universe!

February 19, 1473 marks the birthday of this famous astronomer. Copernicus was born in the city of Torun (Germany at his birth then ceded to Poland shortly after he was born). His heritage and first language was German, but he spoke some Polish as well as Italian and Latin.

February is Library Lovers' Month February 11 2015

n Bath, Maine, in a building that looks a little bit like a castle, stands the Patten Free Library. It is named after the two visionaries, brothers, who recognized the cultural significance of a Library in a community. They contributed a house for the collection of books. It’s fun to go there with its many nooks and crannies and comfy seating places in which to curl up and get lost in reading ideas, stories, and poetry of authors from around the world. After the Patten brothers many contributed to the building of the building and the collection.  The original establishment came with the stipulation that the library be free to all Bath citizens.

Happy National Handwriting Day!!! January 23 2015

The great handwriting debate filling pages of news articles and research reports gives Waldorf teachers little pause. There is no sense in teaching reading before teaching writing. Plain and simple.

If we succumb, as we are prone to do in the United States, to the latest “trend” and rationally explain that with touch screens and keyboards, handwriting is a thing of the past, the losses just might be incalculable.

What on Earth is Eurythmy? January 20 2015

This question comes up a lot from parents in Waldorf schools!

This dance form is an essential part of the curriculum in Waldorf schools. It has its echo in another topic unique to Waldorf schools, Form Drawing. This kind of drawing builds a spatial awareness in children, and leads them to know the drawing of line as movement come to stillness. In Eurythmy many of these forms would appear on the floor if the feet were made of chalk!

 

Eurythmy was started by Rudolf Steiner as a performance art to make music and speech visible in artistic form.

Appreciate A Dragon Day! January 16 2015

How wonderful to have such a day in our lives! Dragons are much neglected beings in our world! Even after seeing Smaug in the recent Hobbit movies, it’s hard to sympathize with the dragon. Awe might be possible but hardly appreciation!

“Puff” the magic dragon of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame, had a better chance at appreciation, even compassion! But no one really thought much about who Puff was, really. And he slipped away to never be seen again. Dragons are more mercurial than this and mostly manifest in less cuddly ways

Damaged Book Sale! January 15 2015

Every so often we receive a shipment of books that have been damaged during transit.  A slight ding to the cover or a creased page does not mean that the book is unreadable, only that we cannot sell it at full price.  We collect these cosmetically damaged books throughout the year and hold a “50% Off Damaged Book Sale” when we have a nice assortment collected.  Despite being slightly damaged these books are ready to be read and treasured!   

Order by telephone only: Ask for Robin at 518-634-2222 Monday – Friday during regular business hours (9 A.M. – 5 P.M.) and paid by credit card. 

Today is National Static Electricity Day!!! January 09 2015

Static electricity is a lot of mysterious fun. It is part of the sixth grade science curriculum and fascinates the most insouciant of pre-teenagers!   It is irresistibly interesting. Of course, most children have experiences of static electricity from a very young age.   Rubbing a blown up balloon against one’s head to make the thing stick to the wall, or touching something and getting a snapping shock, or watching hair stand on end against a coat or a sheet just out of the dryer are common enough experiences.

Meal Times December 19 2014

Mothers and fathers tell us here that meal times are getting harder and harder to have together as families. We can tell you all that this gathering of the family over a meal is worth working hard to maintain!

Even if the meal must be take out because everyone is too busy to cook something, to sit down together at the same time and share food and the events of everyone’s day is one element in mental and physical health! First of all, to sit still and eat more slowly because of the talk and the passing of food, helps in digestion. Racing off with food in one’s mouth has the likelihood of creating digestive problems later in a child’s (or an adult’s life).

Light in the Darkness December 08 2014

In the darkening days of wintertime, children become interested in the light in a different way, I have noticed. Hallowe’en begins the intrigue and for little ones it is a particular thrill to be out after dark in disguise. Light becomes increasingly important and the daylight hours precious.

Covering the windows with colored paper heightens the beauty of the waning light in a room and children love to see a room transformed with colored paper in the windows.

Buy Nothing Day 2014! November 28 2014

Already over the internet comes pouring a count down to “Black Friday.” This day that honors all of our culture’s commercial and competitive shopping instincts is now like some holier holidays in deserving a countdown.

Black Friday is aptly named. Don’t you think? Waldorf Publications wants to call it: BUY NOTHING DAY!

This is a bold stroke at building a new culture, a culture that follows the light, not the inevitable darkness that comes with this time of significant events.

Chemistry in a Waldorf School November 03 2014

“Experiential Learning” is one way Waldorf teachers describe their approach to young people. This term takes on especially powerful facets in grades five and six in science. By then the child becomes a self-motivated learner, capable of independent projects and research. History turns from mythology to actual factual accounts in Egypt and Greece; form drawing becomes sophisticated geometry; and the sciences from stories, connections to nature, to real experiments and the handling and analyzing of the things of the world.

Michaelmas, as the Library Lady sees it! September 29 2014

Every now and then after the school year gets underway and the Michaelmas buzz begins in the classrooms, I hear a Waldorf parent or two whisper "what is Michaelmas?" It's a question I hear frequently and one that I love to answer!

September 29, midway between the northern hemisphere's summer and winter solstices, the ancient festival of Michaelmas is celebrated.As summer's warmth fades, and the cool crispness of autumn falls upon us, mother nature's fruits and vegetables ripen for harvesting. Her gifts help sustain us through the dark cold days of winter and remind us to summon our own gifts and inner strength to help balance our internal light with the darkness of the season.