Handwork in the Waldorf curriculum offers a unique meeting place between the inner life of the child and the outer rhythms of the world. Through meaningful work with the hands, students engage not only in the development of practical skills, but also in experiences that nourish imagination, strengthen the will, and cultivate a sense of connection to the seasons and the community around them. As Rudolf Steiner emphasized, education in the early years must arise from doing, from movement, and from lived experience.

All the subjects in a Waldorf school have the possibility of weaving together, giving students an integrated experience of learning. This integration is something that continues to reaffirm my interest in teaching, and gives me the inspiration for continued learning. With this spark, I knew I wanted to center my capstone on the intersection between handwork and another subject. After considering the possibilities of woodwork, world language, or history, I landed on “handwork and math.” However, I didn’t pick this entry point because of any particular proficiency in math, or a fond memory of math homework. As a student, I generally felt lost and lacking confidence in math classes, especially through middle school and high school. That whole time, I excelled and loved handwork, as you might imagine. Through examining the connections between a beloved subject and one that was frustrating, I was curious about what they might have in common. How are math and handwork connected? Where do they overlap and support each other?

Paper Coming Soon

Paper Coming Soon

According to the legend, when Saint George slayed the dragon, its blood spilled onto the ground and from it a rosebush grew. The knight then picked a rose and offered it to the princess. This image of courage, sacrifice, and love has become central to the celebration. On Saint George’s Day, the streets are transformed: book and rose stalls fill public squares, people adorn themselves with floral decorations, and handcrafted and fresh roses, together with books, are exchanged as gifts.

Printmaking is an important part of our human history and evolution. It is one of the oldest forms of art. It can be found in the handprints of Stone Age caves, as woodblocks on silk clothing from the Han Dynasty in China, and in the intricate etchings of European Renaissance artists such as Rembrandt. It was the first technology for making copies of artwork (and the written word) allowing knowledge and ideas to be spread faster and further than ever before. Today, printmaking continues on, fresh and alive, through the hands of contemporary artists the world over.

I feel there is the idea of oneness threaded throughout the works of Rudolf Steiner. He wants us to see the relationship between everything in nature: the cosmos, plants, animals, minerals and humans. The aim of my final project is to bring together the message that Steiner shares, that all things are connected. I do this by bringing children into the garden. In addition to bringing a feeling of oneness among all things, I felt it was important to bring these projects in a developmentally aligned way that meets the Waldorf-Steiner curriculum. Now I would like to share an image with you that hopefully brings to life a vivid imagining of our connection to everything in nature.

As a child, growing up in a forest commune school in the frozen woods of Northern Maine, light kindled my heart, brought me courage and ignited a passion in me to create beauty and harmony in the world. It showed itself to me in the candles my mom would light on her goddess shrines, and the bonfires that our lead teacher would tell us stories by, golden firelight flickering on his lined face and white beard, or in the sticks we children would ignite in the bonfire and twirl around, drawing letters and shapes in ember-bright swirls on the dark night sky. This primal magic has stayed with me throughout my life and so it came naturally as a theme for my capstone projects. The Waldorf curriculum's delight in festivals, especially ones that contain lanterns and candles, made it easy to come up with projects for all eight grades.

Handwork project skills are carefully scaffolded from one year to the next by the teacher, creating

projects that not only meet the children’s physical and intellectual capabilities, but (and I would argue,

more importantly) created to meet the child on a deeper level to support and mirror their growing and

ever expanding soul capacities.