The topic of “whole to parts” is pretty central to the Waldorf method of teaching – more than just on the math front, as children advance in age the whole to parts theme is evident in their study of zoology and botany as well as other places in the curriculum.  When we teach using whole to parts, it is easy for the children to pick up everything around them as a whole.  For instance the number 12 doesn't stand alone, many things come together to make up 12, and 12 is also a component of many other larger parts.  12 can be 6 X 2, it can be 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2, it can be 4 X 3 - in our story we are looking at 12 as part of 48.  I hope you will enjoy how it comes together.

Today we are focusing on the introduction of math to a child in grade one.  I like to start the introduction with Roman numerals during the tail end of the letter introduction block via the container story I wrote for the grade, and then do a combination...

Ok... I am going to tackle this and try my best to not ruffle feathers, please know that as I write this, I have the purest of intentions and believe that we are all thinking, loving, working beings of Source/God/dess/ Universe. .. what ever you may call it.

As I have worked with Waldorf pedagogy over the years I have noticed a great many things - when I started working with families (first peer counseling and then as a business) I found that our left of the road friends had the same concerns as the right of the road friends when it came to Waldorf and religion.  Non- Christians felt it was too Christian in some areas and Christians often felt like it was too "world view" - but everyone loves the nature stories and the fairies and of course the toys.  Mamas... grade three is the beginning of the nitty gritty... get ready - your child needs YOU to be on top of how you feel about things and needs YOU to be open.  If you are...

Common questions:

I came across this great Steiner quote today that I wanted to share.  Really, to me, it comes down to whether or not you have a strong testimony of this method of education - do you believe Steiner's work to be inspired... if your answer is yes then trust nature.  If however you do not have a testimony of his work, then you may need to stand back and evaluate things for yourself.  Now I don't believe that in this text he is addressing those who naturally read on their own, only the abstract nature of teaching a young child to read before giving them an artistic, living background through writing and pictures first.  Plus one other VERY important thing to remember when you begin comparing your child to Johnny down the street is that reading is a process.  Johnny's teacher might say that he can...

As a seasoned Waldorf parent, I always appreciate it when I can get a little help in the story telling department! I absolutely love making up stories for my children, just as Steiner recommended, but I always remind myself that for all his brilliance, Rudolf Steiner was not a parent! Making up all the stories is a lofty goal but not exactly practical all the time. Through the years I’ve enjoyed the content in my favorite series by Wynstones press, these have a certain charm between the music and the stories - stories that you can tell time and again. Now I’ve been impressed with a couple new publications that I am excited to review.  I’ll start today with Louis’ Farm. It's a sweet little 45ish page … magazine. This isn’t your ordinary magazine though, there are no ads and no strange glossy images. Instead you have beautiful matte pages of watercolor, transparencies, painting instruction, board games (that are perforated so you can pull them...

What is the importance of fairy tales in Waldorf education?

I get this question a lot, some of those Grimm's tales are so dark to adults and parents are often concerned about giving them to their children. We have some great information in our grade one curriculum about these stories. There is also some wonderful information at the Waldorf library, I pulled some articles here to ponder:

The Value of Grimm's Fairy Tales

Choosing Fairy Tales for Different Ages

The Interpretation of Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales and Legends



The full video of Ms. Tiffany and I's conversation is available on our Patreon.

We are dedicated to the beauty cultivated in the conscious relationship of parenting and we are excited to help you on your homeschooling journey.