Tag Archives: kindergarten

The Wisdom of Play Based Learning

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Betty Merner has been a faculty member of Meadowbrook Waldorf School for more than 22 years. She taught in public schools for 18 years before discovering Waldorf education. Following 15 years as a class teacher Betty became the school’s Resource Co-ordinator overseeing special services for students in need of extra support. Here she considers the results of a study into play based learning in light of her extensive experience of the Waldorf approach.

The HighScope Educational Research Foundation of Ypsilanti, MI recently published the results of its longitudinal study, the HighScope Preschool Comparison Study. HighScope followed the lives of 68 young people born into poverty from ages 3 and 4. These children were randomly assigned to one of three early childhood programs: the Direct Instruction model, where teachers followed a script to direct the learning of academic skills; a Play-Based model, where teachers responded to children’s self-initiated play in a loosely structured setting; and the Highscope model where teachers set-up the classroom and a daily routine within which children could create and do their own activities. The study followed these children until age 23 and looked at their success in a number of categories that affected their lives on a number of levels. Continue reading →

Who are these people anyway?

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I mean, what sort of people sign up for a Waldorf school?  I had decided to sign my children up for a Waldorf education 15 years before the first one was born, sold on the idea by a Waldorf teacher-in-training I knew back then.  My children’s father had few happy memories of school and was delighted to find a philosophy that welcomed him in as a parent and shared our values in nurturing childhood.  We signed on five years ago and quickly came to love the thoughtful, active parent community we are sharing our journey with.  I have been going through this year’s photos from our daughter’s class.  Taken by parents at gatherings and on field trips, they are mostly images of 2nd graders in various states of high excitement.  But some are of us parents, this one prompted my post:

Pirates of the Cider Pressing!

Are these typical Waldorf parents?  Deborah is an Anglophile seldom without her pearls, she devotedly renovates historical buildings.  Brad is an entrepreneur who develops custom computer software for inventors and Stephen is a scientist working in regulatory compliance for a major pharmaceutical corporation.

Our career choices don’t say everything about who we are but it’s where we often start when we first meet someone.  Let me introduce you to some of my other Meadowbrook family.  Here are some dads and sons picnicing – Hutch was a science teacher at a Montesorri school now he works as a farmer and general contractor, Mike is a musician and chef, Peter is an estate manager and Paul works for the Navy in weapons and environmental safety.

Hank is a doctor with the VA.

 

Colleen is an early childhood educator, I work in development, Judy is our class teacher and Kristen is an engineer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teri, well as being imaginative with breakfast is a therapist, farmer and unabashed canning queen, husband David is the Director of the Natural History Survey.

Jan is a research specialist with the RI Dept of Education

Many paths lead to the Waldorf school, you never know who you’re going to meet when you get there.  So who are you Waldorf parents at large? Share the story of how you came to be at a Waldorf school.  Don’t be shy – here I am in full field trip glory!