Waldorfish Blog
Celebrating Waldorf Festivals with Teens: A Time for Changing Roles
Festival life is the heartbeat of Waldorf Education.
Festivals as practiced in Steiner schools and homeschools are linked to larger rhythms in the natural world, the meanings of which have been interpreted over time and passed down along cultural and generational lines.
The youngest of Waldorf students are so earnest in their participation in these rituals. But what happens as our children reach their teens?
Do we give up on festival life and hope that they remember these early days and ways of relating to the world, researching them on their own when they are adults?
Festivals can be a family affair, for a wide range of ages!
Maybe. But perhaps there is another way.
My son’s earliest memories of Waldorf festivals are from the brick-and-mortar school he attended between the ages of 3-7. Of that period of time he shares:
“I always had a lot of fun. Advent was one of my favorites, I loved the spiral. I also liked the May Faire and the May Pole, seeing all the patterns get braided…those are the two I remember the most.
On Candlemas our teacher gave us two strings with metal nuts tied to the ends. We’d line up next to a big basin full of melted wax, and take turns dipping, walking in a circle over and over until we had full-sized candles.
In Kindergarten, on Santa Lucia Day, an 8th grade girl came through our classroom with lit candles in a wreath on her head with all the second graders following her, singing. I enjoyed that festival.”
(At this point he begins humming the song associated with Santa Lucia: “Santa Lucia, Thy Light Is Burning…”)
Simple, meaningful work makes festivals special and enriching for the whole family.
Beauty and ritual make an impression on the soul – he is now 13.
What stands out to me through the soft focus of memory is the anticipation of seasons: color, a return to the same rituals year after year, a sense of time passing and miles traveled along with the safety of a return to a spiritual home base.
Festivals have the power to connect us to one another and the natural world in ways that supersede language. We feel the magic of the Mystery to which most all spiritual disciplines point as our genesis.
The wonder inherent in these festivals is very easy to communicate to young children non-verbally, because their experience of the world does not shift to the intellectual sphere until late childhood.
“The third seven-year phase of childhood is one in which thinking prevails…[the] capacity for critical thinking shows itself in a pronounced way with the onset of adolescence and particularly at the beginning of high school. ”
I have found that if I am subtle about the approach to festival life, my son is more than happy to participate in the rituals that defined his younger years. From reading stories to activities such as baking bread, making candles, crafting floral arrangements and doing art, we always seem to find common ground related to a feast day.
This past February, to acknowledge Imbolc (the calendar day between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox) we made beeswax candles, but not before an -- awkward, truthfully -- exchange about how to approach the related story from “A Festival Year”.
I began to read it aloud, and immediately felt self-conscious. I subsequently handed it to my son, who then began reading it silently to himself. Suddenly, he stopped and looked up at me. As if reading his mind, I smiled and said, “You want me to read it.”
“I do,” he replied.
So I did.
At the end of the tale, which was listened to with this whole being, he told me that he still loves hearing stories in my voice.
A final thought, about families with multiple children: festival days are a great way to give the older kids an opportunity to teach the younger ones.
How can your teenager take on more of an active role in your family’s festival life?
Menu, craft, and activity planning are all aspects of festival life in Waldorf education that need attending to. Our experience has been that they LOVE being tasked with helping to bring the festival to the younger children. This shifting of roles helps to re-awaken what’s already living inside them.
Ask them what they love most or remember the most vividly from past years, and be sure to include those elements. Remember that children in the middle grades may land somewhere between wanting to participate without doing the planning, and taking the lead on doing the planning themselves.
This is developmentally appropriate, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
The most important aspect of festival life is to remain curious and open to the spirit of the season, trust that it will speak through your family, and above all, enjoy it.
*Cue Celebration, by Kool and the Gang*
Cristina Havel lives in Southern California where she and her husband have worked together for nearly 2 decades. They homeschool their son using the Waldorf pedagogy as a guide and believe in the transformative powers of art and nature.
Doing it Your Way: Celebrating Michaelmas!
Happy fall! (Well, almost. Can you tell we’re just a little excited for the change of seasons?)
Fall is a wonderful time to enjoy the change of seasons, and celebrate Michaelmas!
In our part of the world, this season brings with it the start of a new school year, and with that, a new routine, curriculum, social group, and so many other things! It’s certainly a time of excitement.
It can also be a time where things feel challenging, and possibly, as though they haven’t quite fallen into place yet.
So, it can feel like a lot when we remember that Michaelmas, one of the major festivals for the year, is just around the corner after school begins!
But there’s no need to worry – Michaelmas (as with all festivals, in our opinion, click here for more on that!) does not need to be complicated, and should not induce more stress in your daily life.
It’s hard not to get caught up in the FOMO for this particular festival, especially when some Waldorf schools and families dedicate a large amount of time to building elaborate dragons, or baking all day, or...or...or!
Fall pumpkins: a wonderful subject for your next watercolor painting!
But before you find yourself spiraling, take a minute to ask:
What is meaningful to MY family?
What would feel sincere to us?
And above all: how can I make this festival feel special in a simple, doable and enjoyable way?
In a nutshell, celebrating Michaelmas is about standing up for what’s right, taming the “dragon” within, and choosing to follow the path of light, joy, and goodness, even in the most difficult and challenging of circumstances.
With that in mind, we’ve got some resources for you, to help you design your Michaelmas celebration in a way that fits your family best. (Just click the links below!)
For some, making wooden swords is a Michaelmas tradition!
Dragons for Michaelmas
Building a dragon is a popular activity to celebrate Michaelmas, so we’ve put together some inspirations for you! Perfect for little and big hands alike.
On Dragons and Making Swords
What exactly is Michaelmas, and how does it apply to raising children in our modern world? Enjoy this piece written by our guest writer Christy Corp-Minamiji, and discover how Michaelmas can lead us to talking with our children about the dragons we encounter in our everyday lives.
In Praise of Balance
The title speaks for itself: we are all about building a festival life that’s in balance, and truly meaningful experiences that work for you and your family. This blog post is the perfect place to go if you need a little encouragement, inspiration, and permission to keep it simple!
Head to our Pinterest board for Michaelmas and Autumn seasonal inspiration!
Michaelmas Pinterest Board
Dragon bread, dragons, swords: our pinterest board has it all!
Festival Life in 2020
It’s safe to say that our lives aren’t quite back to the “normal” we knew before 2020, and we’re all still trying to find the best and most doable ways to make festival life work in these new times. Be sure to check out this blog post by our guest writer Cristina Havel, and find some inspiration for how to make Michaelmas and other festivals feel special, even in trying times.
Enjoy!
About the Authors
Robyn Beaufoy is Waldorfish’s CEO, and a course instructor for two of our courses - Waldorf Art for Beginners and Weekly Art Foundations. You’ll find her intuitive touches and influences throughout everything Waldorfish offers! Robyn has been in the world of education for almost 30 years, with an MA in Education and a certification in Waldorf teaching - she also homeschooled both of her children. In 2012 Robyn co-founded Waldorfish.com, creating it with the vision of making Waldorf inspired-art and pedagogy more accessible, joyful, and doable to homeschoolers all over the world.
Caitlin Amajor is Waldorfish’s course instructor for Geometry grades 5 & 6, and Botany, as well as our Administrative Assistant. From a young age, Caitlin has been immersed in Waldorf education, attending a Waldorf school from K-8. After receiving a BA in History, Caitlin gained her certification in Waldorf teaching, and spent seven years as a Waldorf class teacher in the upper grades. With a special fondness for watercolor painting and geometry, Caitlin loves bringing Waldorf education to her students all over the world, and seeing their own individuality and style bloom from the curriculum!
We Won! (Thanks to YOU!)
Happy August everyone! We’ve got some exciting news…
We won!
Our Weekly Art course series won first place in the i-Learn (art) category for the 2021 Practical Homeschool Awards!
Each year, Practical Homeschooling Magazine (an awesome resource for homeschool families!) requests reader nominations for its i-Learn and Reader Awards. Thousands of homeschool families vote for their favorite curricula in a variety of categories (such as math, language arts, vocabulary etc.) and we’re proud to say our Weekly Art courses were voted #1 for online art curriculum.
Art is for everyone to enjoy together!
We are so thankful to have won this award, and we want to share a resounding THANK YOU to our community for casting their votes!
Waldorfish has been around for eight years now (wow!) and it’s still so fun to share our love of Waldorf education with such a creative, resourceful, and down right cool community.
If you’re looking for an art curriculum for your homeschool year, our Weekly Art Foundations course is a great place to start, and enrollment is open until the end of September!
We’re so thankful to share Waldorf art curriculum with YOU!
About the Author
Robyn Beaufoy is Waldorfish’s CEO, and a course instructor for two of our courses - Waldorf Art for Beginners and Weekly Art Foundations. You’ll find her intuitive touches and influences throughout everything Waldorfish offers! Robyn has been in the world of education for over 25 years, with an MA in Education and a certification in Waldorf teaching - she also homeschooled both of her children. In 2012 Robyn co-founded Waldorfish.com, creating it with the vision of making Waldorf inspired-art and pedagogy more accessible, joyful, and doable to homeschoolers all over the world.
4 Tips for Planning Your Homeschool Curriculum
Whether you’re a home or classroom educator, summer involves a different kind of work for many of us: preparation for the year to come!
Self-rejuvenation is just as important as curriculum planning!
I’m all about prepping for the future school year, but I’m also a huge believer that a teacher must actually take a break and recharge! For educators who are at-home or in a classroom, preparation is key to a successful year, but it can also become all consuming and stressful, and can burn-out an educator before the school year has even begun. In most Waldorf schools, and in the homeschool classroom, we move on to a new grade every year- which means learning and prepping new material every year!
When I started teaching, I prepped for hours every day during the summer, and yet, I also still prepped for hours during the school year. Why so much? Because I wasn’t working in a smart way- somehow along the road, I associated lots of prep with success (more work, more reward!) but I quickly learned this was very inaccurate.
Working smart gives more reward.
Here’s some things I learned (and asked myself) along the way to preparing wisely, and finding balance in prepping for a new year.
How do I learn the best?
When I first began teaching nearly ten years ago, I was given a big box of thick books to read over the summer as my prep materials. I would spend hours, and hours (and hours!) trying to trudge my way through them, taking copious notes and trying to squeeze out the information I would actually use for future blocks.
What new planning methods are you going to try?
However, I came to realize something about myself- I am a slow reader. I enjoy reading, and like to take my time. Trying to rush through a dense book, and desperately trying to identify any helpful information gave me a stress headache, and was slow (like...tortoise slow) going. So, I reassessed.
How do I learn best? How do I retain information well?
For me, it’s through auditory learning. Give me an audio book, or listen to a documentary, and I’ll be good to go, especially if I can keep my hands busy. I’d often draw future chalkboard drawings/MLB pages while listening to my prep. Not only did my days get less headache-y, but I was working smarter! So ask yourself, how do you learn best, and go with it! Honor how you learn, and don’t feel like you “have” to prep in some specific way. It’s got to work for you!
What are my strengths and areas of weakness?
Prep smart! I learned to take my summer months to prep for those things I struggled with, and knew the least about. For these blocks, I needed sufficient time to gain my confidence and feel strong enough to bring the material to my students. For me, these blocks were always having to do with science and math. So I took my time in the meandering summer hours to practice chemistry experiments or complicated algebra without the stress of having to teach it the next day.
How can your interests help you become a better planner?
On the other hand, my personal strengths are in history and language arts, so I would prepare for these blocks in the summer by listening to documentaries, podcasts, and reading children’s books – I made general outlines of what I wanted to accomplish, and the skills I wanted to highlight for my students. I knew that when these blocks came around in the school year, I’d be familiar with the material well enough to do my prep the weekend or evening before, without much stress or anxiety.
So, ask yourself- where does my stress lie, and what can I do to mitigate it?
Do you want to take an hour everyday to draw? A once-a-week “science day”? A week dedicated to practicing woven forms? What will help you gain confidence, and what subjects can be put off for a little while without stress?
Focus on those areas where you feel less than confident in these summer weeks where you have the gift of time- you won’t regret it!
Choose materials made for children.
In Waldorf education, we’re all about painting pictures with words, setting a scene, and enlivening stories of the past with language. So why not prep by using stories? Once I discovered the youth/children's section of the library, I fell in love and jumped for joy.
“Children’s books offer so much to us as teachers- there is beautiful language, images, and more that we can be inspired by!”
A change of scenery can be a source of inspiration- try somewhere new!
Can you create your own stories and images as you see fit? Of course! But why not start with materials meant to be seen through a child’s eyes? Supplement with other materials as well if you choose, and build your lessons with a little boost from established authors, historians, and mathematicians.
Where can I add a little something special? (And also give myself a little break!)
As educators, we are used to holding each and every day and many subjects by ourselves. Some are lucky to have the support of specialty teachers, but in general, we are still holding the whole picture of the day. It can be a lot!
So- can you give yourself a moment or two during a block where you don’t have to hold the whole lesson by yourself?
Where would be a good place to bring in a guest speaker?
Visit a museum with a docent?
Go on a hike for student-lead nature observation?
Of course, you’ll still have planning on your part, but there is so much value in having your students or child learn from someone else or be given space to work independently, and to allow you to step back for a moment! I would suggest adding these special activities especially in blocks that are not one of your “strengths.”
“As educators, we aren’t always good at asking for or giving ourselves support, but we really want to encourage you to work smart, and allow yourself the gift of help and time. I’ll say it again- give yourself the gift of help and time! ”
What resources can provide support to enlivening your curriculum?
At Waldorfish, we offer fully online courses built for educators and/or students that do so much of the prep for you! Instead of having to start from zero, our courses provide a full block or year’s worth of content, along with detailed supply lists and support from our experienced instructors.
*So, where do you need support?
Art, geometry, science courses, watercolor painting, form drawing, inspiration for festival life?
Start here and let the stress go, we’ve got you!
Sit back for a moment, have a sip of iced coffee (that’s what we’re drinking in blazing California, at least!) and reflect upon your remaining weeks of summer.
How can you prep smart, and take plenty of time to rest, rejuvenate, and enjoy?
More support for your planning:
About the Author:
Caitlin Amajor taught in the Waldorf middle school for seven years, and is also a Waldorf student herself. She currently works as an administrative assistant for Waldorfish, and is also the instructor for their grades 5 and 6 geometry courses. Caitlin enjoys baking, gardening, and spending time with friends and family.
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Welcome to Waldorfish! We started this adventure in 2012 out of a desire to make Waldorf training more accessible to class teachers in remote locations and to homeschooling families everywhere! Read more, click here.
WE WON! Our Weekly Art courses were voted “best interactive art program.” Learn more about the award, here.
Click here for a full list of schools we work with.
A few of our most popular blog posts:
Who are our courses for?
Starting Waldorf First Grade
4 Things to Know Before Planning Your Homeschool Year
In Praise of Balance: A Healthy Festival Life
Science in Waldorf Middle School: Starting Something New!