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Waldorf Handwork Educators Blog


Mending - why bother?
We hear a lot about mending these days, it seems to be a moral imperative – “Mend that hole, save the world!” But how many of us really...

elizabeth
5 min read


WHERE CAN I GET A WALDORF KIT? Not Here! The Curriculum? Maybe
Waldorf education is not something you can buy, plug in, or put on a table with a lovely plant-dyed silk. It’s a daily practice, and an...

elizabeth
5 min read


SOMETIMES, it’s nice to be getting older.
I can look back on the seeds I have sown by teaching basic handwork skills to children, teachers, and parents, I can see how they have...

elizabeth
2 min read


Developing a Child’s Sense of Touch - the Value of Natural Materials
Our sense of touch connects our bodies to the outside world. Humans use this sense to gather information about our surroundings and as a...

Shellie Smith
3 min read


CRAFTIVISM AND CROSS STITCH
Textiles convey meaning in a strong and enduring way that can impact us in a silent, subtle way. So much in our work as handwork teachers...

elizabeth
1 min read


Stories, Handwork, and More Neuroscience
Listening to stories together can synchronize heart rhythms in the listeners; this is more effective when the listeners are able to...

elizabeth
3 min read


WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO? What does this have to do with wooden spoons?
Michael Howard was a guest teacher at our Summer Handwork Teacher Conference, July 2021, and has written up and expanded his presentation...
Michael Howard
1 min read


Craft, Flow, and Cognitive Styles
Originally a talk to the Waldorf Handwork Educators Teacher Conference on the 15th of July, 2021. Watch a video here. Hopefully this is...

Shellie Smith
14 min read


Questions, questions
Have you ever had a day when nothing seems to go right, when nothing seems interesting or engaging? I had one of those days recently. My...

elizabeth
3 min read


Exciting review for our 1st grade handwork curriculum for homeschoolers and new teachers
We were so thrilled to read this reflection on our first grade handwork curriculum, we could not wait to share it with you! We were so...

elizabeth
2 min read


Knitting Grannies
Preparing for our next conference, I’ve been thinking a lot about clothing, about how first impressions are made by clothing, how there...

elizabeth
2 min read


Handwork Teacher Workload & Recommended Best Practices
Waldorf Handwork Educators has been working with the Fiber Craft Studio in New York to establish a Handwork Teachers’ Association to...

Elizabeth
5 min read


Who WHE Are - Waldorf Handwork Educators
The Wonder and Wisdom of Handwork was founded in 2013 for anyone who self-identifies as a teacher of handwork in a Waldorf setting. We...

Shellie Smith
2 min read


Distance Learning Gifts & Challenges
“Where is the book in which the teacher can read about what teaching is? The children themselves are this book. We should not learn to...

Shellie Smith
3 min read


Color and DEI in the Handwork Classroom
How do we welcome and affirm children of different cultural, social, racial, or ethnic backgrounds into our handwork classrooms? This...

Elizabeth
2 min read


Prepping Handwork Kits for Sashiko Flute Cases!
Prep, prep, prep those kits! I’m preparing to send home a simple sashiko flute case project for my Second graders. As we have been online...

Shellie Smith
1 min read


Cell biology, human development, organizational theory, love, - and HANDWORK?
Yes. I want to share one of my favorite thoughts with you, as we handwork teachers enter new and un-chosen territory: teaching online as...

elizabeth
2 min read


Can Knitting Cure Covid?
NO. Can it help? Yes. Knitting, or most any other handwork activity which requires rhythmical repetitive movements will promote the...

elizabeth
1 min read


Advent Candle Holders
This year has been filled with many losses. But there is so much beauty and abundance to be found in nature and in our communities....

Shellie Smith
1 min read


Reflection Questions For The End Of Each Day
These prompts for reflection have been gathered (and modified) from the input of multiple experienced teachers. Steiner insisted that the...

Elizabeth
2 min read
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