Ok. I’m going to admit it. I love TV.  I grew up with a TV on almost all of the time. It is a comfort to me from my childhood.  I love the bond my sister, childhood friends and I have over certain shows. I love going to work now, everyone excited to discuss last night’s episode whatever we all are watching.

But lately, the noise of the TV has been bothering me. Maybe it is because I now spend more time in front of the computer screen and the sound coming from the TV has been the noise of children’s programming.

When we started Waldorf, I was determined to stop all TV. I lasted a day. I made myself feel better by thinking: At least Mischa is not seeing or hearing adult shows-the only programming on, is for her. At least she isn’t allowed on the computer. We only have one TV and one laptop. My husband just got an iPhone about 2 months ago and I don’t have one yet. About a year ago, we switched to streaming only on our TV – but honestly just as much for cost reasons as for having commercial-free shows for Mischa. We are sensitive to what we talk about in front of her and ask our family to do the same. We have not been told that it interferes with her school day. I remind myself of these things on a weekly basis as my guilt increases over her screen time.

I see her reliance on it growing. We were given an iPad and she asks everyday if she can play on it. I am more restrictive of this screen for some reason. But then I think, well, drawing on the iPad is better than staring at the TV. And then the guilty mom excuses start in my  head again.

There are too many reasons, and so many of them typical, to explain our slide into so much screen time. Schedules, an only child who doesn’t read yet, lifetime habit…  Here are some answers to the questions I hear in your head. Yes, I read. Yes, I read about the effects of media and the merits of boredom. Am I creative and crafty and can come up with things for us to do? Mostly. Do we spend time outside? Yes. Do I wish we could be a no-TV family, like I wish I could be vegan instead of having bacon be one of my favorite foods? Yes.

When I voice my frustration, people (outside of school) suggest that at least Mischa is getting the Waldorf experience during the day. People from school ask why would we chose Waldorf education if we are not going to follow the philosophy.  I am grateful that our school does not dictate our home life to us. But maybe I do need more support from the school community. An ongoing discussion?  A Maitin/Mirsky media mentor perhaps?            

I know there are in betweens (movie night, weekends only) but I wonder if it is possible to become an almost screen free household after being one for so long.  And truthfully, Mischa and I enjoy watching together. (I hear the voices, “But you could be bonding over something else!”) And what is now worse, screen time is Mischa watching TV by herself and me over on the computer (I don’t use one for my work and so I sit at home in the afternoon and catch up on the day of Facebook posts and emails).  Really, not being plugged in will be harder on me than it is on Mischa. My reliance on the computer for entertainment and information exists just as much as hers does for the TV.

We have committed to doing the media-free week. I already have visions of sneaking in Game of Thrones after Mischa goes to sleep (it would be so easy!) Will my house be cleaner, my garden weeded, my pets combed?  Will I finish the book that has been sitting by my bed, unread since the ipad arrived?  Maybe Mischa and I will actually cook dinner together. Maybe we will walk the poor dog.

Maybe I will share my week of experiences with you. But… maybe not. You tell me.

Alex Kujawa is mom to Mischa in Apple Tree Kindergarten.

We are pleased to invite you to our 2013 Grandparents and Special Friends’ Day on Tuesday, April 23 from 10:30a.m. to 1p.m.

PROGRAM

10:30a.m. Welcome reception

(Gilpin Hall gymnasium; take driveway past Sanctuary and Founders Hall)

11a.m. Assembly showcasing Grades 1 — 8

11:45a.m. Special Guest presentation

12p.m. Cross campus to Eagles II, main building

12:15-12:45p.m. Visiting time in student’s classroom (except Kindergarten and Nursery)

12:45p.m. Brief Closing Reception in Applied Arts Wing, Eagles I

***

RSVP by April 15 to Allison Budschalow at 215-248-1662 x 225 or development@phillywaldorf.com.

If you forgot to submit your Grandparents and Special Friends’ form at the beginning of the school year, please let Brooke know, office@phillywaldorf.com.

This is also our first year of our Grandparents and Special Friends’ Giving Circle.  The goal of this Giving Circle is to further create a sustainable community at our school.  To learn more about the Giving Circle and how you can join, please visit our Annual Fund page and scroll down.

A Look at Waldorf and Montessori Education in the Early Childhood Programs by Barbara Shell

Although the young child is viewed with great respect and reverence in both philosophies, there are several areas of contrast between Waldorf and Montessori, including their approach to play, fantasy, toys, social development, structure and order, and intellectualism. This comparison of Waldorf and Montessori educational philosophies is based on my personal experience as a teacher in both Montessori and Waldorf school systems. I would like to preface my remarks by stressing that there can be much difference from one classroom to another in any philosophy, due to the style and interpretation of the individual teacher.

Play, fantasy and toys

In Montessori, there is a feeling that young children have difficulty distinguishing between reality and fantasy, and therefore fantasy should be postponed until the child is firmly grounded in reality. The tasks and activities the children do are reality oriented. Montessori said that it is a mistake for children to amuse themselves with toys, that children are not really interested in toys for long without the real intellectual interest of associating them with sizes and numbers. In Montessori, each manipulative material is focused toward a specific learning concept and has a step-by-step procedure for being used. Math counting rods, for example, are not to be transformed into castle walls.

In Waldorf philosophy, play is viewed as the work of the young child. The magic of fantasy, which is so alive in every young child, is an integral part of how the teacher works with the child. The teacher incorporates storytelling and fantasy into the curriculum.

In Waldorf, we feel that it is essential to realize the value of toys to help children to re-enact experiences from life as they actually happen. The less finished and the more suggestive a toy may be, the greater its educational value, for it really enlivens the imaginative life of the child. So toys in the Waldorf kindergarten may be rounds of wood cut from birch logs, seashells, lengths of colored silk or cotton for costuming or house building, soft cloth dolls with a minimum of detail in faces or clothing, etc., allowing for open-ended imaginative play.

Waldorf’s emphasis on play in early childhood is well expressed by Joseph Chilton Pearce, in his book Magical Child, when he writes “The great rule is: play on the surface and the work takes place beneath. For the child, the time is always now; the place, here; the action, me. He has no capacity to entertain adult notions of fantasy world and real world. He knows only one world, and that is the very real one in which and with which he plays. His is not playing at life. Play is life.”

As Piaget expressed it, “Play is a reality which the child is disposed to believe in when by himself, just as reality is a game at which he is willing to play with the adult and anyone else who believes in it…. thus we have to say of the child’s play that it constitutes an autonomous reality, but with the understanding that the “true” reality to which it is opposed is considerably less “true” for the child than for us.”

Social Development

In the Montessori classroom, much of the young child’s work is focused on individual learning tasks, performed separately. Each child works independently on a small rug, doing a different task from the other children. Only the teacher, as facilitator, may intervene if the child requests help. Socialization takes place in not bothering other children working, in helping a younger child learn to do a new task, or in waiting one’s turn if the child wants an activity already in use.

The Waldorf philosophy stresses that the child gradually learns to be a social being, and that the development of the young child in the social realm is as important as anything else we do. The teacher has the role of orchestrating how this happens – through modeling good social behavior with children, through joining together in movement activities, singing or games to develop group consciousness, and by helping children to humanistically work through disagreements.

Structure and order

Madame Montessori described the classroom as a place where children are free to move about at will, where the day is not divided between work periods and rest or play periods. The children are free to choose their own activities in the classroom. This protection of the child’s choice is a key element in the Montessori method.

In contrast, Waldorf sees the child thriving in a rhythmical atmosphere – knowing what he/she can count on from day to day and week to week. There are times for coming together and working as a whole group, times for playing individually or with friends, times for directed activity like crafts or baking or painting, and times for creative play (such as acting a story out through movement, doing finger games, watching a puppet show). The Waldorf teacher works with the year’s seasonal rhythms and themes, weaving artistic activities, stories, songs and verses to enliven and capture the children’s interest and imaginations. A child longs for rhythm and order in his world. Both Waldorf and Montessori recognize this, and both feel the physical setting needs an underlying order to help the child feel secure. But the two philosophies interpret it in quite different ways: the Montessori classroom emphasizes reality, to free a child from his fantasies. The Waldorf classroom enhances the child’s world of fantasy and imagination to stimulate the child’s play.

Intellectual development

Montessori sees the child as having an absorbent mind, ready to soak up knowledge and experience like a sponge. The theory is that, by supplying a child with ever more challenging intellectual tasks from an early age, you will end up with an educated child. Waldorf does not believe this is the healthiest way to approach the education of young children. Rather than introducing an early intellectual focus, Waldorf instead seeks to nourish and to keep alive the young child’s healthy imagination and creative thinking powers. The child’s intellectual potential lies within, and it unfolds slowly, like petals of a maturing flower, as the child moves from one developmental stage to the next. In Waldorf early childhood classrooms, we do not seek to produce premature flowers of intellectual learning, much as these flowers might find appreciation. We rather forego such immediate satisfaction, and focus our attentions upon each child’s ultimate good, and upon the protection of his/her childhood, with the goal of a healthy, well-rounded adult in the future.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WALDORF: Grunelius, Elizabeth M., Early Childhood Education and the Waldorf School Plan; Spring Valley, N.Y.:Waldorf School Monographs 1983. Piening, Ekkehard and Nick Lyons, ed., Educating as an Art New York: The Rudolf Steiner School Press, 1979.

MONTESSORI: Gitter, Lena L., The Montessori Way Seattle: Special Child Publications, Inc. 1970. Lillard, Paula Polk, Montessori: A Modern Approach New York: Schocken Books, 1973. Montessori, Maria, The Absorbent Mind New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979.

OTHERS: Pearce, Joseph Chilton, Magical Child New York: Bantam Books, 1977. Piaget, Jean, Play, Dreams & Imitation in Childhood New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1962

This article was edited with special thanks to Jim Schaeffer and Lisa White.

Almost every culture has had days of celebration or recognition in its past and, often, continuing into modern times.  The shearing of sheep, bringing in the harvest, or the birth of a child have all been events for celebration, among many other events.  Celebrations are important to the rhythms in Waldorf schools.  In particular, festivals borrowed from ancient cultures mark the cycle of life and the changing seasons, and they frequently provide the foundations for Waldorf festivals.  Festivals bring a community together in a time when human beings are frequently separated from one another by the real and imagined boundaries of time and place.  Michaelmas is the first of the seasonal festivals celebrated at The Waldorf School of Philadelphia.

As autumn ushers himself in, with these glorious days it is hard to imagine that the life forces of nature are gradually receding and turning toward their long winter sleep.  As human beings, however, we are awakening to our inner life. It is a time that we turn to building and strengthening our souls as we prepare for the dark days ahead.  We face a time of renewed courage and the need to carry an inner light of wisdom as the days grow shorter.

Within the school’s life we face these challenges by learning of St. Michael who tamed the dragon.  We hear stories and sing songs of the warrior against evil who guides and inspires us to take courage against darkness.  In the grade school we face our own festival of courage, and in the kindergarten we make and paint felted shooting stars that Michael sent to give us light.

The lead up to Michaelmas, and the festival day itself, is a wonderful time. It is one of the few times that the whole school, both Early Childhood and the Grade School, comes together in celebration.  With our combined strength of will and inner courage we face the darkness together and shine a bright light to guide us through the coming winter.

Our Michaelmas celebration takes place within the school day on Wednesday, September 27th.  Parents will be regaled with stories at the end of the day but are asked not to come to the actual festivities. We have noticed that it is especially hard for the children whose parents are unable to attend, so it’s best that Michaelmas be a festival purely for the children.

This post is from a blog called The Perfect Whole. The writer rather eloquently describes the value of a Waldorf Education beyond the cost of tuition.  Here’s an extract but you are encouraged to read the article in its entirety for it is magnificently written.

Attending a Waldorf school gave our children an education and a childhood very far outside the mainstream of American culture. Waldorf schools begin with an entirely different set of assumptions about the purposes of education. Teachers are not preparing students for a test, or to meet the state standards, to get into an exclusive college (although many do), or even to compete in the workplace (although, of course, Waldorf graduates do that, too). The purpose of Waldorf education is to prepare students for their freedom and their destiny, and fulfilling those goals requires an expansive definition of education. Children’s relationships, physical health, spiritual development,  artistic expression, and imagination are given as much attention as their intellects (more, really, in the multi-age nursery-kindergarten), as is their ability to work and play with their hands, limbs, heads and hearts.

http://perfectwhole.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/what-we-got-for-140000/

A major US study shows that children’s run away intellect actually benefits from being slowed down in the early years, allowing them to develop naturally. Dr Richard House, a senior lecturer at Roehampton University’s Research Center for Therapeutic Education said “conventional wisdom is that naturally intelligent children should have their intellect fed, yet these new empirical findings strongly suggest that exactly the opposite may well be the case”.

Professor Howard Friedman, a psychologist at the University of California, analyzed the progress of gifted children who started school in the US in the 1920′s, data captured across 80 years  found that “early school entry was associated with less educational attainment, worse midlife adjustment, and most importantly, increased mortality risk”. Professor Friedman states “most children under six needs lots of time to play, and to develop social skills, and to learn to control their impulses.”

Waldorf Education gets this. Though nearly one hundred years in the making, Waldorf Education remains the most refreshing independent school movement of our time. Come visit The Waldorf School of Philadelphia today.

For the full article – Click Here

To learn more – Click Here

The Waldorf School of Philadelphia offers an early childhood summer camp for children ages 3 to 6.  The camp is run by faculty of The Waldorf School of Philadelphia for seven weeks starting June 11th to July 20th.

For more information about the camp, please contact Alexandra Borders, Director of Admissions at 215-248-1662 or admissions@phillywaldorf.com

Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff – Power of Imagination from OECTA on Vimeo.

In this book two highly credentialed child psychologists offer a compelling indictment of the growing trend toward accelerated learning. It’s a message that stressed-out parents are craving to hear: Letting tots learn through play is not only okay-it’s better than drilling academics!

Drawing on overwhelming scientific evidence from their own studies and the collective research results of child development experts, and addressing the key areas of development-math, reading, verbal communication, science, self-awareness, and social skills-the authors explain the process of learning from a child’s point of view.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking ~Albert Einstein~ Scientist  (1879-1955)

“In the past 10 years, we’ve also seen, for the first time, the advent of media — games, apps, and even an entire television network — aimed at babies and toddlers. Why? In some ways it’s to get them hooked early, so when they get older they can nag their parents into making purchases. Texas A & M’s McNeal estimates that advertisers spend $50 billion a year marketing products to kids ages zero to 16. That’s actually a pretty good investment, since McNeal says those kids now influence an estimated $1.2 trillion dollars in spending by their parents each year.”

Source: Waldorf Today, citing research by James McNeal, professor emeritus at Texas A&M University