Interview with Frederick Amrine, author of Kicking Away the Ladder March 26 2019

We asked Fred Amrine, author of the newest release from Waldorf Publications, Kicking Away the Ladder, the Philosophical Roots of Waldorf Education, why he wrote his book and why its content is so important.

Fred Amrine: It’s very important for people to understand the roots of Waldorf education in German idealism. German idealism was, in fact, Steiner’s first choice as a vehicle and a language in which to put forth Anthroposophy. For a variety of reasons, this didn’t work out....

Book Review: Kicking Away the Ladder March 12 2019

It’s important to investigate the philosophical underpinnings of something as influential as the educational approach for our children. Clues about the image of human development, respect for life on earth, and the reasons for different methods used can be more deeply understood by comprehending the founding principles of educational philosophy.

In addition, following the lines of philosophical thought trains our own thinking and promotes clarity; qualities our children are inevitably going to imitate. Since the crown jewel of all education is thinking (clearly and inventively, lately called “executive function,” or “critical thinking”),

Valentine’s Day! February 13 2019

This day, so important to children and our culture, holds the potential for unlocking deep feelings of love one human being holds for another. Teaching kindergarten and children in grades one through five, illuminates how important the young feel it is to let family, teachers, and friends know how much they are loved. These are lessons from the...

Book Review: Music from Around the World for Three-Part Recorder Ensembles December 17 2018

Music from Around the World for Recorder, edition II, by Michael Preston, is a robust collection of wonderful tunes and arrangements representing cultures of the world, designed and composed for three recorders — soprano, alto, and tenor.

Michael Preston’s book has in it all that is needed to envelop youngsters in beautiful harmony. His thoughtful and beautiful arrangements are fashioned to avoid technical difficulties that can be found in some recorder arrangements.

The Rightful Role of Digital Devices at Home and in School December 14 2018

As an education for our time, Waldorf pedagogy embraces the contributions of modern science and the technological tools it has developed. Our challenge is to find the appropriate place for these tools within the curriculum and the life of the developing child.

Digital devices––such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and the like––enhance many human cognitive capacities, but they can equally well diminish or even supplant them.

Last minute gift ideas for the book lovers on your list! December 12 2018

Last minute gift ideas for the book lovers on your list!

The Second Week of Advent for Children December 11 2018

The first week of the four leading to Christmas or Solstice is devoted to Minerals.  The second week is devoted to plants. All the sleeping plants beneath the earth’s surface have the chance to rest, waiting for the time when warmth and light and our yearning call them up to grow again.

These hectic days are often filled with purchases and preparation for the festivals celebrated in December. Weather can add to the increased number of tasks to accomplish and adds time to travel. Everyone tends to be busy and finding spaces in which to contemplate, consider, and appreciate the season is necessary. These darker days invite us to draw inward and yet the hustle and bustle works strongly against this.

First nights of Chanukah, beginning of Advent December 07 2018

It’s all about the coming of Light out of darkness!

It’s the beginning of what Christians call “Advent,” and what, in the Hebrew tradition, is called “Chanukah.”

The Maccabees were a rebellious renegade band against the tyrant, Antiochus, who had taken over Jerusalem, defiling the Jewish temple with its the sacred Torah, and snuffing the Eternal Flame.  With guerilla-styled warfare, a very few reclaimed the Holy City with Judah Maccabee as the band’s leader. This was in a time shortly before the turning point of time in the Roman era.

Buy Nothing Day 2018 November 23 2018

Here at Waldorf Publications we have established an annual event on the day after Thanksgiving: a day in which we enjoy the warmth of the day-after-Thanksgiving with family and friends.  We invite you to join us and buy nothing. To balance the energy pushed upon us by the commercial world and simply “Buy Nothing” we can all take a day to breathe out and prepare for the coming winter. We invite you to join us in this by being creative if you feel so drawn.

“Buy Nothing Day” was established in 2013 and this marks our sixth annual “Buy Nothing Day.”

This year, our inventive Library Lady has identified the making of a paper star Advent mobile and various gnomes and elves as the crafts of the day.  She is sending you the light of the heavens on the stepping-stone path to the re-awakening of the Sun as it turns towards increasing light at Solstice, Chanukah, and Christmas.  Light up your home with candlelight until the time of increasing sunlight returns!

Book Review: Research Bulletin, Special Issue: Technology’s Rightful Place October 15 2018

This new book from Waldorf Publications is a compilation of three consecutive issues of the Research Bulletin all devoted to examination of technology and the results of its use. The Research Institute for Waldorf Education (RIWE) held three international colloquia over as many years, expanded board meetings over several days, with presenters who prepared different aspects of technology, the element of silicon, and research on electronics. The book offers a handy reference to fine essays on the power, miraculous effectiveness, and devastation that result from technology’s defining of our culture.

Save your Child's Brain Part III: The Electronic Fast: Pressing the Brain's Reset Button September 08 2018

3 Week Plan: Ingredients for Success

This is modified from my course and is what I practice with my private patients.  The plan essentially involves a month's time, from preparation to completing the fast.  The plan itself is simple, but the actual implementation of it in today's world can be difficult.

Putting the plan into action requires:

• an understanding of the nature and severity of the toxicity; 
• the ability to effectively communicate that toxicity to others; 
• motivation and discipline; 
• a little creativity;
• a lot of support!

Save your Child's Brain Part II: Real Life Scenarios, and the Benefits of Removing Video Games September 04 2018

Save Your Child’s Brain Part II
Real Life Scenarios, and the Benefits of Removing Video Games
What real-life problems might video games cause? 

Nathan is an 11-year-old boy with no history of any behavior problems until he started 5th grade.  That year, his grades fell, he became extremely angry, and he couldn't focus on anything for more than a few seconds.  His mother reported him becoming increasingly isolated and losing interest in all other activities, including things he used to love. 

Save Your Child's Brain Part I: The Toxic Effects of Video Games and other Electronic Screens August 30 2018

We are fortunate to have as a guest blogger, Victoria Dunckley, MD, who has done ground-breaking work on helping families in de-toxing children, especially sensitive ones, from technological overstimulation. Author of the book “Reset Your Childs’ Brain, A Four-Week Plan to End Meltdowns, Raise Grades, and Boost Social Skills by Reversing the Effects of Electronic Screen-Time, “she has identified the formal diagnosis “Effects of Electronic Screen Time,” or EEST. She has developed a four-part mini-course for parents and teachers entitled, “Save Your Child’s Brain.”. We will post all four parts on our blog, with thanks to Dr. Dunckley.

Save Your Child’s Brain Part I:
The Toxic Effects of Video Games and other Electronic Screens
The Agony and Confusion of “What’s Wrong with my Child?”

Many parents come to me and ask: Is this normal? Is my child misdiagnosed? Who do I believe when professionals are giving me different answers? Is there something in my child's environment I can change before resorting to psychotropic medication?  

Book Review: Matt McFlack and His Flyaway Kite July 26 2018

Here comes a darling children’s book about a little fellow who spends his wealth on a kite, blue yellow, and white. Through rhythmic verses, the story is told of Matt’s difficulties with a kite that demonstrates it has a personality of its own and takes train rides, wind rides, and long sails away from his little friend.

The illustrations are beautifully rendered with colors that express the friendship of the kite and the boy very well.

If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On! June 28 2018

Give me Excess of it. . .

Music is the Heart of the Waldorf Curriculum!

All human beings are made from music, and all children sing through their early childhood years. The Waldorf curriculum is laced with music — singing, recorder playing, orchestral instrument playing and Choral work.  Not a grade goes by in which these skills are not made stronger, fresher, and more artistic.

Waldorf Publications has an extraordinary array of books to help teachers find good songs, play instruments themselves and bring the glory of music to lighten their classes. 

Father’s Day – Hooray for Fathers Everywhere! Where Did it Come From? June 15 2018

Some express cynicism around holidays like Father’s Day, claiming these are just “Hallmark Holidays,” designed to sell cards and extra gifts. Few understand that the first Father’s Day occurred following a mining accident in Monongah, Virginia, in 1907, that killed 361 men.

Confidence — What is it, how do we get it, how to instill it in our children May 30 2018

According to research, confidence is born of doing.  Once success is achieved in one thing, or even if a failure occurs, the learning involved prompts confidence in the next attempt at doing something. Even in pre-existing DNA in a person, the level of confidence can be altered by activity, doing, trying. Therefore, having an approach to education that starts with doing things, experiencing things, is bound to generate confidence. Even the timidest among youngsters will feel confident once something is tried and will feel more confident when many things are tried.

Summer Reading for Kids, Parents, and Teachers May 27 2018

What would summer be without summer reading?

In our round-the-clock and round-the-world work life, following the technological transformation of the last couple of decades, it is easy never to stop working. We are passing this habit on to our children with online homework assignments and online summertime assignments from school. This online access to each other anytime, day or night, could be described as hijacking our free time. In the spirit of Waldorf education, which we call an “education toward freedom,” it becomes increasingly important to protect free time for ourselves and our children.

Book Review: The Four Temperaments May 23 2018

Helmut Eller’s new book, The Four Temperaments gives us a fresh new look at the four temperaments — sanguines, melancholics, cholerics, and phlegmatics. Eller goes into great depth in examining all the implications of the tendencies in youngsters (and in people) of one temperament or another, giving teachers and parents powerful means with which to reach children and to help them to find their way as they grow.

Book Review: A Phenomena Based Physics - Volume I May 01 2018

Waldorf Publications just redesigned the cover of the classic book for sixth-grade physics teachers: A Phenomena-Based Physics, Volume I (Volumes II and III are for seventh and eighth-grade teachers respectively). Manfred von Makensen devoted his life to the study and teaching of science. This first volume of this three-part series pays tribute to this lifetime of devoted study and experimentation.

Book Review: The Invisible Boat and the Molten Dragon April 20 2018

One genuinely marvelous thing about this second book in Eric Mueller’s Invisible Boat series is the steady stream of pictures of how nature looks behind the curtain of beauty we see. The creatures and the palaces, and the gardens and the light, are all resplendent with imaginations that ring true and lift the heart with a feeling of what’s happening on this living Earth of ours!

These pictures are charming, sometimes breathtaking, and ofttimes startling. Through these images, we are drawn closer to the earth.

Book Review: Painting at School April 16 2018

Dick Bruin and Attie Lichthart have devoted their lives to painting and the teaching of painting. In their new book, Painting at School, they express a deep understanding of color and joyful devotion to painting and its value in the lives of individuals, especially in children.

Their original work, now almost twenty years in the world, Painting in Waldorf Schools, is still rich with insights about painting as soul food for children (and adults) and valuable in its suggestions about approaching painting lessons. The original book came with a CD of paintings.

Teaching History à la Waldorf - Part II March 14 2018

Part II: Grade Five through High School

With the introduction of this first glimpse of what could be called “real” history, the stories that preceded this moment have prepared the children to turn from mood and memory of where they came from to be born on earth, to interest in what this earth holds as its own stories, its history.  Their memory muscles have grown strong, and the eagerness to learn more has been cultivated by these stories. It’s in the fifth grade that the first “real” history comes with the tales of the Trojan War, the Peloponnesian wars, and the recorded work of Greek philosophers and mathematicians.

Teaching History á la Waldorf-Part I March 09 2018

History, or as it might be better to say, “Herstory,” is literally the story of the culture in which we live: his-story or her-story.
When a child is born there follows a long, demanding road to mastering the use of arms and legs, hands and feet, fingers and toes, vocalizing sounds, moving around, crawling, standing, speaking, and understanding this remarkable world which the tiny human being has joined.
Part I: Birth through grade four — learning to think about history through pictures