​The Importance of Music and Games in main lesson #Modernwaldorf #homeschooling #homeeducation #homeed #teachAustralia #lessons #teachingwellbeing #Waldorfcurriculum #steiner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ztL4qwyW4&t=4s​

Are Steiner philosophies relevant in the information age? Why is taking a holistic approach so important in 2023? #Steiner #homeschool #curriculum #holistic #steinereducation #Waldorf #waldordeducation #Education #homeschooling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2vT6XgrYpY 

Parenting is an art in which the parents are the sculptors and the children are the stone that is being sculpted. It is through the tool called “discipline” that the parents achieve this feat. 

The most important and the very first contact a child has with this outer world is with his or her parents. They make a long-lasting impact on the lives of every child.

Whenever children make mistakes, parents discipline them so that they won’t make the same mistake again, but sometimes this disciplining doesn’t always give the intended result. Some may take severe measures to discipline their children while others take the least measure to do this. The doctrine of proportionality says that “the measure must not be more drastic than is necessary for attaining the desired result”. It is in finding the balance between these two that the best parenting lies.


​Before judging whether the children are right or wrong, we should listen to them. As the moral and ethical standards in them are still evolving, they fail to recognise between right and wrong. The intention in the mind of the child may be good while the action which they have taken might be wrong. In these kinds of situations, parents should understand the underlying intentions and try to augment the good part by making them understand the right way to show their emotions.

Every action has its own consequences and like that, every action also has an underlying reason. Sometimes the behaviour of the children must be nothing but the imitation of what the parent shows them. Children are like white paper. Whatever we show them through our habits, they grasp them very easily.   If we need to make a difference then we have to be a model for them, because we are their first teacher.

We all must have heard that “prevention is better than cure”. Preventing undesirable behaviour from happening is better than curing the behaviour. We need to identify the root cause of the behaviour. Apart from parents, a child’s behaviour is determined by other external factors like TV, social media, friends, etc. It is true that we cannot always be on surveillance, but we can spend some time every day talking to them and knowing what happened at school.   

Believe me, children love talking. Once you initiate the conversation, you will get all the details that happened in the school. Thus we will get to know the source of the bad behaviour if there is any. This will help us in taking away the root cause or to at least be cautious of the upcoming behaviour.

There's an old adage that says, "I am their parent, not their frined.'" While this may be partly true, it's also important for us to be a safe space for our chidlren - someone they can go to in times of need.  
When something happens, they should think “my parents are there for me to help me". There is nothing wrong with disciplining them but there is a right way, right time and right level for this. 

We should also make sure that our molding methods are not breaking their hearts and affecting them mentally. Also, the disciplining steps shouldn’t be used to force your own ideologies onto them. Khalil Gibran said about children - “They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.”

At the end of the day, they are children.
Love them and show them how to love.
Nourish them and show them the right path.
Teach them how to think but do not think for them.
Make sure that while sculpting, not to be very harsh on them.
Only chip away those parts that would bring out the best sculpture in them.​

A few people have asked me what 'holistic teaching' means. 
One way to answer this, is to discuss the whole child or person. 
We don't just need academic skills in life. We need social, emotional and spiritual connection and understanding about ourselves, others, and the world around us. We also, as humans, need REAL, practical ways to connect. 

Practicing  'soft skills'  or skills that lend themselves to a growth mindset should be both explicit (taught directly and understood through story, art and discussion) as well as implicitly (living through experiences and reflecting upon them). 

Growth Mindset is not a new thing, but the language surrounding it is relatively new in classrooms. 

"One of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves, Dweck (Stanford Psychologist Carl Dweck) found in her research, has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality. A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled.

A 'growth mindset,' on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. Out of these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early age, springs a great deal of our behavior, our relationship with success and failure in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our capacity for happiness." - Maria Popva Fixed versus Growth Mindsets 

I have developed some Growth Mindset or soft skills cards for discussions or to stick on the walls, so that families might introduce these skills explicitly. 
Email or comment below with questions! 

​Hayley 

Oh my goodness, year 3 creation stories, where do I begin?
I love the idea that grade 3 need stability - they need us to be their anchor as their little worlds change so dramatically.
But there are so many differences in creation stories from country to country, religion to religion. So what do we do? We teach them all! Respectfully, of course.
In grade three we tend to be a little fearful of contradiction, after all, this is the year we start to get 'called out.' One thing I've learned in my curriculum writing and teaching journey is that the common thread of creation stories are not dependent on complete consistency. What I've learned is that the common threads in the stories come through: 
-the beginning
-something stirred
-the stars, moon, sun, and Earth formed
-animals and humans were molded or came forth
-Life abounded
The consistency really is there, and that's all the children need at this stage.
Another struggle here is if you are highly religious, or far from religious ... some of the stories might trigger your beliefs or disbelief. It's important to step back a moment and ask what creation stories teach us
-that we all have ideas about existence
-that we respect all cultures, and their beliefs
-that the stories are beautiful, as is life
So, if you're about to begin, here's some direction for story or poem choices:

1. Genesis
2. The Rooster Emperors
3. Mother Earth
4. Father Sun
5. Pangu Creation Story
6. Tenchikaibyaku
7, Tepeu the Maker
8. Norse Mythology
9. Cherokee Creation Myth
10. Rangi and Papa

Happy Learning,

Miss Hayley