I hated learning about history. Then I took Ohio history in college, and what a difference that made. The professor had only recently moved to Ohio, but he knew story after story of people, places, and events. It all came alive to me, and I suddenly loved learning history.

Whether you love social studies or hate it, the Waldorf education sequence will help you gently ease into it.

In kindergarten, as for other subjects, there is no formal education for social studies.

In 1st grade, the Grimm fairy tales are told. These stories were created as a way to convey deep truths, and since they arose out of the human experience, they can be considered part of the humanities branch of social studies. They help shape a child’s moral understanding and are also used to teach the letters of the alphabet.

Here is a quick overview of the rest of the social studies subjects taught up through eighth grade. There are developmental reasons for the topics being taught at each grade level.

Keep in mind that the creator of Waldorf was a German who lived in the early 1900s. The Grimm fairy tales and many other stories included in the sequence were part of the history of that culture. It is definitely encouraged to choose fairy tales and stories from your own family’s cultural history if it is not Western European.

Social studies sequence for 2nd through 8th grade:

2nd grade – Fables and legends

3rd grade – Old Testament stories; types of shelters/houses throughout history, which some people might categorize as science; some educators might teach local and state history in this grade

4th grade – Norse and Greek mythologies

5th grade – Stories from India and Persia; Greek history

6th grade – Roman history

7th grade – Renaissance and Reformation; American history

8th grade – 17th century to modern day; American history

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Here are some ideas for kindergarten through eighth grade based on a typical Waldorf approach.

Kindergarten – Play in nature; no formal instruction

First Grade – Nature study

Second Grade – Nature study; possibly farming

Third Grade – Farming; conservation

Fourth Grade – Man and animal

Fifth Grade – Botany

Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grades – Mineralogy, astronomy, climatology, physiology, health and nutrition, physics, and chemistry

Children may also experience gardening throughout this whole time, as well.

Source: Harrer, William. The Teaching of Science in the Rudolf Steiner School. Education as an Art, Vol. 8, No. 1, Spring 1947.

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Are you ready for an easy way to teach pre-math skills that you can implement today? You don’t need to buy anything or print anything out. You just need to know how to brush your teeth.

Math has order in it. Operations have to be done step by step in the right order to obtain the correct result. To do math correctly, children need to understand that some tasks require steps to be done in a certain order.

That’s where brushing teeth comes in. First, you put toothpaste on the toothbrush. Second, you brush every tooth. Third, you rinse and spit. (And you might have some other steps in there as well!)

When you teach your child how to complete a task by following the steps in order, you are teaching them pre-math skills. Better yet, they are physically moving through the steps, which helps to integrate the rhythm of the task into their bodies.

It’s a good idea to use tasks that you can repeat over and over throughout your days. Here are some examples:

• Watering a plant (get out the watering can, put water in it, water the plant a certain way, empty the watering can, return it to its home)
• Washing, drying, folding, and putting away laundry
• Washing, drying, and putting away dishes
• Setting and clearing the table
• Baking (ideally repeating a recipe over and over so the child practically learns it by heart)
• Handwork like wet wool felting
• Going potty
• Washing hands

Another bonus is that your children will learn life skills through these tasks!

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The creator of Waldorf education studied child development and believed that children were in a prime position to learn how to write and read during first grade.

Here are some reasons why children younger than around 6.5 are not ready for writing and reading.

Hands

• Holding a writing utensil can be uncomfortable for young children because the internal structure of their hands is not developed enough.
• Children younger than around 6.5 or 7 have a real need to move their bodies, so many of them will find it frustrating to sit for schoolwork.

Heart

• Young children live in a dreamy, imaginative state, where they are the directors of their free play. Starting academics too early can interrupt the development of their creativity and ability to self-direct.

Head

• Young children’s brains still have a lot of growth to do before they are ready for academics.
• Before first grade, their eyes need to develop more to be able to read comfortably.
• Their hearing is also still developing, and they are not necessarily capable of distinguishing among the sounds of certain letters.

This is not to say that younger children are not capable of learning how to write and read. But it does express why it can be beneficial to let their hands, heart, and head fully develop the capacity to learn these skills before teaching them.

If you’re ready to teach your first grader how to write the letters of the alphabet, form drawing is a fantastic introduction to learning the lines and curves that make up the letters. Click here to learn about our form drawing unit for first grade!

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On our hour-long drive home from the family event, I mentioned to my husband that the central point of Waldorf education, the linchpin, is the loving relationship between the teacher and the students. You can have all the Waldorf materials and strategies, but if the education of a child is not centered around that loving relationship, it isn’t Waldorf.

This relationship prompts a child to use their will to imitate the teacher and learn. It calls a child to embrace their humanity by loving another person. And it centers and grounds a child when their world seems to be spinning.

Our schedule this week is lean, and I want to spend extra time on my relationship with my daughter to hopefully reduce the overwhelm in her, and concurrently in me.

The first words of the Bible also center on relationship by making a connection between God and His creation.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

Imagine a straight, vertical line drawn from God down to us. This form is the first form children learn in first grade, and the teacher can use any story to give meaning to the form. I think the creation story in the Bible inspires this first form very well as it implies a connection between God and us.

This week, I hope you enjoy your relationship with God and your relationship with your child(ren). Let Him ground you when your world is spinning.

Don’t miss out on 22 other forms inspired by the story of creation in our first grade form drawing unit!

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When I became a mom in 2018, I knew nothing about Waldorf education. It was a couple of years before I heard about it, and more time after that until I understood the philosophy behind toys.

If you search online for Waldorf toys, you’ll find all types of really expensive objects made from wood and wool and silk. Traditionally, Waldorf toys are made of natural materials. They are also meant to be handmade, so having Waldorf toys doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money. You can make them instead.

Waldorf toys should be made of natural materials and also be beautiful so a child, in their inner being, will learn to seek and enjoy what is good and beautiful in life — the higher things.

Since I didn’t know about this concept until my daughter was four, a LOT of time has been spent collecting plastic toys that are decidedly not beautiful. I long to donate practically the whole lot of them and start making toys to replace them. Since my daughter is old enough to know when toys are missing, I’ve been trying to work with her to declutter, but she wants all of them.

All of this is to say that we are very flexible about Waldorf when it comes to toys. A lot of homeschool families take what works for them from many different education philosophies, and that is perfectly fine.

I still wish I could go back in time and be more selective about the toys we brought into our home. So if any of you know how to encourage a four-year-old to pare down their toys without causing emotional trauma, please let me know!

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A dollhouse, I thought. That’s what she needs. Then we can get out the peg people, and she can play happily for an hour.

After a quick internet search, I decided I didn’t want to spend money to buy one today and would instead make one from cardboard with this tutorial.

I got out a big cardboard box and a box cutter and set to work. My daughter immediately wanted to know what I was making, but I didn’t tell her right away, hoping she would guess. After I had cut away the cardboard to make the shape of the house, she guessed a cat box, so I told her it was a dollhouse.

She helped with gluing for a few minutes, but then she found cardboard triangles I had cut off the box and asked me to duct tape them together. Soon she was flapping them while running around the house and shouting that they were bat wings! This actually went on for a good while, until I had all the “wallpaper” and “flooring” done in the house. That’s when she tried to curl up like a cat inside the house and was deeply disappointed that she didn’t fit.

The bat wings were more fun than the dollhouse.

And that’s okay! Children need to direct their own play to develop their creativity and their will, so I’m glad she ran around with homemade bat wings even though the dollhouse was a bust, for now at least.

If you want more ideas for play, click here to join our Facebook group!

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I thought I was on track getting ready for kindergarten, but the more I dig into the curriculum, the more I realize how much I have to do!

Last night, I went through the songs, verses, and fingerplays I’ll be using for circle time. Although our circle will be small — just my daughter and me most days — I still like the name, although some people like to call it a warm up.

If you want to try a circle time with your child, a good first step is to write down any seasonal songs, short verses, and fingerplays that you know and would like to use.

If you need more ideas, search for “children’s autumn songs and rhymes” (or whichever season you’re looking for), and make sure to look at the images in the search results, too.

Songs can be found on YouTube, and you can make up movements to go with the lyrics. Don’t worry if your movements are very simple. Your child will enjoy getting to move around no matter what the movements are.

To make a fingerplay, choose a verse that would go well with hand movements. Then make up hand and finger movements that your child can copy as you say the verse together. You can find examples of these on YouTube, as well.

Here’s an example to get you started! Check out Apple Tree Fingerplay.

Circle time is a great way to start your morning, but what should you do after that? If you have a child starting first grade, the answer is form drawing! Click here to learn more about The Story of Creation Form Drawing Unit.

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I borrowed a digital copy of The Lifegiving Parent by Clay & Sally Clarkson and read the first chapter before going to bed. The premise of the book is “discover how you can become a parent who gives your child a life worth living for Christ,” and I found the book right when I was longing for guidance in parenting.

So far, my daughter and I have implemented making a plan each week for our spiritual growth. At breakfast on Mondays, I get out some paper and markers. While my daughter “writes” her plan by filing up the page with strokes of the markers, I write down the following for each of us:

• Memory verse
• Bible readings for the week
• When she will pray

We also add a skill for personal development.

This is my daughter’s plan for the week:

• “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” -Psalm 139:14
• The Jesus Storybook Bible (one story a day)
• Pray at dinner
• Declutter and organize toys

My plan has my church’s memory verse of the week, one chapter for each book of the Bible I’m reading right now, and how I want to implement prayer in my life during the week.

I’ve enjoyed setting up a framework we can follow for spiritual growth, and I’m looking forward to seeing it develop over the years.

How is your family growing in Christ? What strategies do you use?

If you want more ideas for growing your family in Christ, sign up for the email list below! You’ll also get free homeschooling resources and the latest updates from Hawthorn & Hazel Homeschool.

 

 

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For us, church seemed like a logical place to make friendships, but there are very few young children at our church, and none of them are homeschoolers.

My daughter is young for a co-op, and I don’t see that as a viable part of our homeschooling journey at this time, anyway.

We’ve attended homeschooling meetups, but so far, no friendships have developed in the last year that have led to getting our kids together to play.

But, through a mutual friend, we have developed a sweet friendship with a family that has two little girls. We also took a chance and went to a stranger’s house so our daughters could play together. It turned out to be really fun.

When we had a half-birthday party for my daughter this month, it encouraged me watching her play with five little girls (some homeschoolers, some not), while the moms got to know each other better. I felt like we were finally starting to have the community I had been looking for.

I think I expected instant community when we started homeschooling. I’m seeing now that for us, relationships are forming here and there, one at a time. We have more connections than we did a year ago, and I’m glad of that.

Do you have a great homeschooling community? Or are you struggling to find community for your family?

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