Alan Howard Waldorf School

Parent & Child Fall Session Open. Register Now.

Sara — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:47:50 +0000

Our highly popular Parent & Child Program is now open for fall registration. Learn More

Meet the Grade One Teacher: July 13th, 10:00 am.

Jennifer Deathe — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 12:58:37 +0000

On July 13th at 10 am parents interested in learning more about our Grade One curriculum are invited to meet Ms.Olivia Hannah, the Grade One teacher. Please register to attend. Learn More

The first grade child has powerful new capacities of intellect available as a result of successfully growing into the physical body and developing the senses during the first seven years of life. To begin with, the child’s memory is no longer dependent upon sight or sound for recall. As a result, it now becomes free to serve the learning process.   The entire first grade curriculum is presented in a way that will appeal to the child’s sense of wonder and developing capacity of inner imagination.

Grade one is the beginning of an exciting journey. Our goal is to ignite a passion for the art of learning that will last a lifetime!

Being Excellent at School or Being Gifted.

Jennifer Deathe — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:41:18 +0000

What is the difference between smart or knowledgeable children and gifted children?
In the Spring 2010 Waldorf Research Bulletin, Volume 15, Ellen Fjeld Kottker and Balaz Tarnai write a compelling article called, “Educating Gifted Students in Waldorf Schools.” They explain that in the past giftedness was linked with the concept of genius. “The sole use of intelligence tests are considered insufficient because they do not account for ethnic origin, language, schooling and acculturation.” A table is provided from the Danish Association for Gifted Children that distinguishes the difference between smart or knowledgeable children and truly gifted children. For example a smart child knows the answers, learns easily but a gifted child may have wild ideas, knows it already, and may be intense. ( There are many more examples listed than mentioned here.)

Kootker and Tarnai explain that ‘Giftedness’ is more than intellectual talent; it is creativity, memory, motivation, physical or manual dexterity, social skills and artistic sensitivity. Further studies have revealed that as many as half of all children with IQ scores above 130 receive below average grades and 13% of highschool drop outs could be labeled as gifted.

So how do Waldorf Schools educate the gifted child?
Sir Ken Robinson champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence in a 20 minute piece on TED called, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" However, this is not a new concept for Waldorf Schools but a reaffirmation of what we have been doing since 1919!
Kootker and Tarnai explain that although there are many approaches an individual teacher may take according to the dynamics of their class they will be guided based on the two principles of Waldorf education ; educating the child based on our profound understanding of child development and educating the child according to their individual needs.
“Intelligence, creativity, and other forms of giftedness are gifts of destiny that should be respected, enhanced and helped to grow. Intellectuality, in itself, is not a goal. Many of our brightest and most creative minds may be unrecognized and even falsely pathologized because of a lack of understanding. At Waldorf we will not ignore or misunderstand such a student, nor will we focus soley on that child’s gifts or immature accomplishments.”

A happy gifted child who enjoys his/her childhood is more important to most parents in the end than their talents alone and one can never lose sight of a student’s social-emotional health.
To read more you can purchase the Spring 2010 Research Bulletin, Volume 15 online Walodrf Library

Voice – June 10, 2010

Michelle — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:24:31 +0000

VOICE Newsletter JUNE 10 VOICE

Maypole and School Picnic at Hillcrest Park a great success. Tuesday Handwork craft workshops continuing in June.

Jennifer Deathe — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:26:20 +0000

Maypole Song, ” Here’s a branch of snowy may,
A branch the fairies gave me.
Who would like to dance today
With the branch the fairies gave me?

The beautiful Maypole celebration and potluck picnic at Hillcrest Park was a delight. The famous and adored family musician duo from GirlFish Music Leah Salomaa and Sahra Featherstone accompanyied our talented ECE faculty. Fairy wings, Peter Pan Hats, daisy garlands, picnic baskets were brought and bread was broken with the Waldorf community.

Check out the latest ECE Newsletter; From The Garden

From the Garden ECE – Spring Issue

Michelle — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:45:08 +0000

From the Garden is the AHWS ECE Newsletter – This Spring edition includes:

- Instructions for a simple, beautiful butterfly
- Biography of a Waldorf Nursery Teacher – Diana Miklos
- Parent education with Gordon Neufeld
- A bit of history about Alan Howard
- Waldorf in the home - the senses

- Festivals Family and Food - book review

- Announcements and healthy recipes

View Newsletter

VOICE – May 13, 2010

Michelle — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:10:11 +0000

VOICE Newsletter MAY 13 VOICE.

Every Tuesday an Alan Howard Waldorf Artisan will hold a craft session at 9am.

Jennifer Deathe — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:26:15 +0000

Cost: Current AHWS Parent- donation for materials appreciated. If you do not have a child registered with the school there is a $15.00 fee to cover materials. Please register with Sara Anderson admiss@ahws.org

Focus on the Grade 4 curriculum: This is my place and time.

Jennifer Deathe — Mon, 03 May 2010 01:22:37 +0000

This is my Place and Time.
The teacher of the fourth grade class increasingly experiences the children as emerging individuals with strong personalities and distinctive gifts and talents, as well as challenges.
* Focus on group activities draws the class together as a social whole: plays, movement lessons, games, stage performances and the ‘week in residence’ at Black Creek Pioneer Village all support this end.
* Students need a great deal of form to meet school tasks, both academic and otherwise. Self-discipline and healthy work habits are developed at this age, often through spelling words and vocabulary lists in French or German.
* Increasing objectivity permeates the curriculum, such as the first overt science study: study of the self and observation of similarities, differences and relationships between the human being and animals. This study is extended through painting, modelling, play acting and poetry recitation.
* Geography study starts with the local area and its geographical characteristics. . Learning to make maps of their classroom, school and neighborhood and discovering the directions of north, south, east and west as they are manifested by the movement of the sun and planets gives the children a sure way to find themselves in the here and now.
* The week-long experience conducting classes at the Black Creek Pioneer Village school is a highlight of the year as students attend daily, in costume. The experience extends to appropriate lunches (in baskets and Mason jars) and recess activities including stilt walking, skipping and marble playing.

Main Lesson Subjects

* Arithmetic (fractions), long division, advanced multiplication
* Reading, grammar, spelling, composition, dramatization
* Local geography and history
* Norse mythology and sagas
* Study of humans and animals
* Two class plays.

Skills Lessons

French and German grammar and reading, music classes continue with singing canons, singing rounds, and using harmonies. Instrumentally, the children continue recorder playing and playing the violin in a group, both of which now require reading from notation, eurythmy (a movement art), painting, embroidery, hand sewing and cross-stitch, physical education, form drawing.

Field Trips:
Fall: Black Creek Pioneer Village for one week.
Winter: Alpine, Nordic skiing, and skating.
Spring: Bike trips
June: End of year trip to Pinecrest Camp for 4 days.

A former student at the Alan Howard Waldorf School, as well as a recent recipient of a Rhodes scholarship. More than a coincidence?

Jennifer Deathe — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:23:47 +0000

AHWS Alumna awarded Rhodes Scholarship. Bruce Nicol writes a few words about his daughter’s recent achievement.
“I can say a few words about what Rosanna might have taken with her from her time at the AHWS, both is terms of her immersion in Waldorf Education, and the time she spent with her teachers.
The Rhodes Scholarship is awarded on four attributes: academic excellence, natural leadership
ability, athletic ability, and an instinctive desire to help the weak and downtrodden. There is an
obvious similarity to three-folded learning that is at the core of Waldorf education. When it comes to
test scores, class sizes, course content, grading, and so on, it is easy to compare Waldorf to public
schooling. The subtle but pervasive notion of engaging the whole child is easy to overlook. A
child who learns through the head heart and hands has a much greater chance to grow up to work and
live in a more integrated manner. Waldorf education is built on this foundation. In my view, this is the principle difference between Waldorf and public school teaching methods.” to read more please see the April 1st Voice.