Waldorf in the Home

SUNFLOWER CELEBRATION by Esther Leisher

[Esther Leisher is a frequent contributor to this site, who will also be presenting a workshop called "Create Your Own Family Celebrations" at the Whole Parent, Whole Family conference in Boulder in October, 2006. Here she shares a spontaneous summer festival from when her children were young.]

Imagine a dry, rocky land with few wildflowers, and those few so precious. Then imagine a year of abundant rain, flowers everywhere, and in an open space, nature’s own forest of sunflowers. Late one afternoon--a dreary time when nothing ever seems quite right--though I felt too tired to do anything and supper was not yet started, on the spur of the moment I decided we should celebrate sunflowers. Paul, 1½ , had just become confident in his walking. Laurel was four. Off we went down the road to the sunflower place. I took a small pair of scissors in hopes that the Sunflower Spirit would give us some flowers for our hair.

Healing our Children with Attentional, Emotional and Learning Challenges by Susan R. Johnson MD, Raphael House, No. 30, 8/9/2006

[Note: Susan is a frequent presenter at our conferences and will be sharing in September, 2006 on "Treating Allergies--What I Have Learned So Far."]

There is an epidemic in our society. More and more children are being assigned to more and more labels. Labels such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), receptive and/or expressive language disorders, learning disabilities that include visual and/or auditory processing disorders, and the autistic spectrum disorders like Pervasive Developmental Delay (PDD), Aspergers Syndrome and Autism, to name only a few. What is happening to our children? What do these labels really mean?

Birthday Poems
by David Darcy

[Note: David Darcy is one of the keynote speakers at the Sept. 2006 "Waldorf in the Home" conference. This article was taken from his website, www.ddarcysview.blogstream.com.]

When I was learning to be a Waldorf teacher, I was taught that I should write a short poem for each student as a gift on his or her birthday. Each student would then be assigned a day of the week, and each week on their day they would speak their poem for the class.

Forgiving the Judge
by Penni Sparks
[Note: Penni will be offering pre-conference workshops in both California and Colorado. This article was reprinted from her summer newsletter, which can be requested from info@pennisparks.com

I find myself doing it constantly. I often don't realize that I'm doing it until I'm embroiled in it. Then I get hooked into thinking it's the right, 'grown-up' thing to do, and I can usually find plenty of evidence and good reasons for doing it.