6 Waldorf-Inspired Principles for Families

02/28/2019

6 Waldorf-Inspired Principles for Families

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.
Maya Angelou

Sanya Pelini, on the website Mother.ly describes six Waldorf-inspired principles that she says would be possible and beneficial for every family to adopt:

“1. Childhood isn't meant to be a race…

Children do not all develop in the same way, nor do they develop at the same rhythm. Waldorf education teaches us to be attentive to the needs of each individual child and to stop expecting our kids to be what they're not.

2. Become a storyteller

Stories help children to connect, they teach them new words, and they take them to places they've never been. Waldorf education emphasizes the importance of telling stories rather than reading stories. Storytelling builds a child's imagination. Making up stories can be difficult but it gets easier with time. You can also tell simple stories you remember from your childhood…Young children like to listen to the same story several times so they'll be happy with the same story repeated for a while.

3. Connect with nature every day

Children thrive on physical activity. Playing outside also spurs their creativity. Connecting with nature means teaching our children to be more attentive to the world around them…

Opportunities to connect with nature abound: smell flowers, pick flowers, collect pebbles, take pictures of insects, pick leaves, paint or draw still life objects, play with sticks, build forts, dig, play with sand, scavenger hunts, etc.

4. Teach your kids to play

Waldorf education is based on the principle that the simplest toys foster the greatest creativity…

Waldorf education favors simple and eco-friendly toys to which everyone has access: pinecones, shells, acorns, yarn, silk rags and handkerchiefs, sticks and branches, wooden blocks, acorns, stones, cardboard etc.

5. Establish routines…

There are many benefits to establishing routines. The authors of the book Simplicity Parenting (incidentally, one of the authors is a Waldorf educator) are convinced that rituals and routines give children a sense of security and provide them with roots. They believe that establishing routines can simplify parenting and make parenting a more fulfilling experience.

6. Make room for art

Making room for art means providing our children with unstructured moments in which they can practice creative play. It is in these moments that they develop their creativity…

Source:“6 Waldorf-inspired principles every family should adopt,” by Sanya Pelini, Mother.ly

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