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Waldorf Handwork Educators Blog


Safety Pin Syllabus
It’s often up to us to make sure that things are held together, that students make it from one place to the next while looking their best.
Patty Urda
4 min read
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The Swings of Middle School
Do you know middle schoolers who at times can giggle for hours with their friends? And at others they seem contentious or disengaged?

Shellie Smith
4 min read
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What are the hidden skills of handwork?
Where are these foundational skills being learned? Are we assuming they are being taught elsewhere, perhaps in kinder or in morning lesson?

Shellie Smith
3 min read
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Renewing the Festivals
At this time of year, Waldorf communities everywhere are preparing celebrations of the seasonal festivals. In the Northern Hemisphere,...
Meg Quinlisk
4 min read
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Temperaments - Helpful Tool or Dangerous Stereotype?
We would like to hear from you: In a recent handwork teacher training weekend discussion, we delved into the temperaments. Each small...

Elizabeth
5 min read
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Hand Sewing Through the Grades: Building Foundations and Meeting Individual Needs
Last month in our online Handwork Teacher Development program we had a wonderful discussion with our students about spiraling handwork...

Shellie Smith
3 min read
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Michaelmas - A Festival for our Time
In our society today we live in a time of polarity & divisiveness. But, the legend of Michael & the dragon is not an “us against them" story

Shellie Smith
3 min read
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Moving Forward in Harmony: The Value of Verses for Transitions
Parents often ask, why do we use opening and closing verses in Waldorf education? What is the point of reciting the same words every day?...

Shellie Smith
3 min read
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Sowing a Seed! Sharing the Fruits!
Collaboration & Innovation in Waldorf Special Subjects: Hands and Voices Across the Curriculum Our first all-subjects conference in July...

elizabeth
2 min read
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Beginning First Grade Handwork
The first few weeks are the most important time for setting children up for success. Simple one-day handwork projects can gently welcome in

Shellie Smith
2 min read
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Why is this so difficult?
Why is it so difficult to work with and through other teachers’ work? Why do we feel so isolated when we teach,?

elizabeth
3 min read
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What is the secret to classroom management?
In any classroom, we have a wide variety of skill levels, learning styles, and social and emotional needs. It can feel like a juggling act.

Shellie Smith
3 min read
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Disobedient or Disoriented?
No one likes to be disoriented. But children are particularly vulnerable when it comes to feeling lost and unsafe.
Kim John Payne
4 min read
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Taking it personally?
Just about every expert expounds on how we must stay calm in the face of bad behavior. Good advice, but how?
Kim John Payne
4 min read
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Where Do We Start?
In teaching, you have to start somewhere. The trick is to know what you’re starting from & why.

Kevin Avison
6 min read
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Is The Waldorf Curriculum a Checklist?
Should we follow a checklist? Or be guided by developmental needs, local culture and community, and cross curricular connections?

Shellie Smith
4 min read
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To Be a Teacher You Need to Be a Learner!
As we work to support the healthy development of our children & young people, we also work on ourselves.

Shellie Smith
4 min read
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African Mud Cloth
We appreciate the artisans of Mali and their willingness to share techniques with us. May our hands unite in the joy of making.
Patty Urda
4 min read
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Seeing & Saying! The Words we Choose
The question is not what you look at, but what you see. Henry Thoreaux

Kevin Avison
6 min read
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An Attentive Teacher?
To teach children, it is essential to see & experience, to attend, to them.

Kevin Avison
5 min read
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