Around the country, many examples exist of groups of Waldorf home schooling families coming together to create community and support for their efforts. The following are offered as examples of a few such Waldorf enrichment groups. Because they are constantly evolving, the information printed here may change, but it is offered to spark your thinking with things you might do in your area.
In Boulder a group of homeschooling families meet twice each week with Sage Hamilton, who offers community for creative expression and celebration of the festivals of the year. The location is in her home in a magical garden setting on one acre in North Boulder. Children meet twice a week in their age groupings (6-8, 9-11 and 12-14), and all ages come together to prepare for performances and festival celebrations. Sage is a trained Waldorf teacher who completed an 8-year cycle with her class at Shining Mountain Waldorf School; she has worked with people in communities of all ages for over 25 years. If you live in the area, contact Sage at (303) 938-8867.
Kristie Karima Burns ran a Waldorf Enrichment Program from her home in Saudi Arabia for 4 years. She started with one other family and, after four years, the program had grown to include 45 families in the community. Her program invited children from ages 2-10 to participate once a week in Waldorf Enrichment activities such as knitting, felt making, form drawing and singing. It also met three times a year to cooperatively develop and enjoy an Advent Spiral, Thanksgiving Feast and Mayfair. Kristie will be leading a workshop on "Creating a Waldorf Enrichment Group" at the Waldorf in the Home Conference in Fair Oaks in April, 2005. She is currently back in the states and living in Iowa with her three children.
In Portland, Oregon, homeschooling families have come together to form "Shining Star School" which has been created by parents, children and educators who wish to come together to form a healthy social circle, to support the arts and homecrafts, to create a supportive circle of friends, and to further conscious development in a community. Founder Marsha Johnson states, "Shining Star School is a place where people of all ages can come together to enjoy working with their hands, expanding their hearts, and improving their knowledge about families and child rearing." They offer enrichment days for homeschooling families, a four-day program for preschoolers, craft classes for families, family playgroups and much more (see www.shiningstarschool.com). Marsha is a Waldorf parent who became a class teacher and one of the founders of Cedarwood School in downtown Portland.
WISH--Waldorf-Inspired Sacramento Homeschoolers--is a group for homeschooling families in the Sacramento, CA area who are using Waldorf methods, ideas and philosophy, and/or are transitioning to Waldorf methods in whole, or in part, in their homeschooling environments. They strive to offer each other support, resources, information, friendship and a sense of community. They meet weekly for circle time and free play with the children, have field trips several times a year, and celebrate seasonal festivals together. In fall, 2005 there were about a dozen families with children from pre-K to 10 years of age. Contact Sandi Russi at chakralt@surewest.net.
Esperanza Lantro founded Waldorf groups wherever she lived. The first, SolSeeds, grew from the desire and needs of several home educating families in the Los Angeles area. It orignally met to discuss what the adults envisioned and could offer as classes, and quickly grew to celebrate festivals, as well. The group reformed after the first year and expanded to offer a weekly1-day enrichment program with classes set in blocks; families also shared events and festivals. Several families living within closer proximity worked together 3 more days a week. The program grew to have approximately 20 families with nearly 50 children of all ages and uniquely held a sacred space for each of the groups within the group. Eventually, life changes brought a closing to this group.
Whispering Pines was an impulse that developed when the Lantro family moved to Mt. Shasta area in Northern California. A kindergarten-aged group was formed, and Waldorf was introduced (and re-introduced) to an area that geographically could not support a Waldorf school. The following year it evolved into a 4-day program, Mt. Shasta Homeschooling Cooperative, with the Lantro family's converted home serving as a daily classroom setting, serving Class 1 (the former kinder children from the previous year), Class 3, Class 5 and Class 7. All participants contributed in some form and the teachers worked collaboratively for the whole program, yet respectively within their own classes. This program continued after the Lantro's recent move to New York in 2004, with Waldorf trained teachers for Class 2 and 6.
Esperanza shares, "The possibilities for creating community and for groups taking on a form are infinite. Experience has repeatedly shown that the essence, intent and organizational structure ground and hold the group. Balance is required when faced with the many aspects that come from working in a group. It can be very rich and rewarding, and consuming and challenging as well (most often voiced by core participants and organizers). As home educating families, remembering the purpose of our choice of education for our children must be at the center of the group and community work we develop. Please contact me if you have any questions or would like more information: Esperanza Lantro 607-226-3262."
