CAAAAKEE!!! :D

[fireheart]

Quick background: I am at a Steiner/Waldorf school for my teaching practical at my request. I am so far loving it. Kids at a Steiner school do not start "Formal" education until age 7, so generally they will attend "kindergarten" which is generally mixed from ages four to almost seven and is located on the same site. I am with Class Six, which is mostly 12-year-olds.

End background.

So they've started a new term with some good news: one of the teachers is now a daddy! He has a daughter with the name Yemaya (I THINK it's pronounced Yeh-MAY-ah). I can't wait to see photos!

But on top of that, over the holidays, there were five birthdays: those of one of the Kindergarten teachers, the Tech teacher, one of the front office ladies, the craft teacher and someone else. So of course, EVERY day this week, I have had cake for morning tea. (with more to come tomorrow and Friday )

They have been DELICIOUS cakes though: orange, poppyseed, berry....SO yummy.

Oh and we all sing a short verse, which I've been able to memorise by today, but I still can't recite the morning meditation or the class verses...go figure. The song is:

"We congratulate you <person's name> on your birthday, for the coming year..." with the next line becoming a round of sorts. It's very harmonious.

And I WASN'T expecting cake in my first week haha!

[LillFilly]

From your title I immediately thought of 'The God of Cake!'

Heehee.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Quick background: I am at a Steiner/Waldorf school for my teaching practical at my request.

I initially read that as "Statler/Waldorf" and was somewhat disappointed.

[rose_metal_nz]

So... the cake is NOT a lie?!

[fireheart]

I initially read that as "Statler/Waldorf" and was somewhat disappointed.

the reason why the schools have two different names is that the school is based on the belief system of Rudolf Steiner. However, he first founded the movement in Waldorf-Astaria cigarette factory (I think). Hence the two names. For the most part, in speech I refer to it as Steiner.

So... the cake is NOT a lie?!

No, it's not. I also have to bring in cake on my last day (just gotta decide what I'm going to make)

[wolfie]

the reason why the schools have two different names is that the school is based on the belief system of Rudolf Steiner. However, he first founded the movement in Waldorf-Astaria cigarette factory (I think). Hence the two names. For the most part, in speech I refer to it as Steiner.

Just watch out for any students who seem to be fond of dragons - you might be dealing with a Kurita spy.

[fireheart]

Just watch out for any students who seem to be fond of dragons - you might be dealing with a Kurita spy.

que?

[Zoom]

Quick background: I am at a Steiner/Waldorf school

Um, what?

[fireheart]

Um, what?

STEINER/Waldorf, not Statler and Waldorf

But I'll try and explain this the best I can:

A Steiner school is a school based around the educational pedagogy of Rudolf Steiner, although it was originally founded for employees of the Waldorf/Astaria cigarette factory, hence the names.

A Steiner school differs from a mainstream school in the following aspects (this I'm explaining WITHOUT explaining his theory of child development, so it's from practical views):

-Steiner kids don't start formal education until age 7 or close to age 7. They get around the "kids need to be in school from age five/six" ruling by having kids attend Kindergarten, which is usually located on the same site as the school. The kindergarten is VERY different from a normal pre-school.

-Teachers in Steiner schools generally stay with their class from Class One through to Seven, although sometimes this isn't possible.

-The curriculum in a Steiner school is VERY artistic, music forming a big part of the curriculum. All kids learn how to play recorder in the primary school, moving from pentatonic in Class 1 to diatonic in Class 2/3. In Class 3, students pick up the violin/viola/cello and from Class 4/5 they can switch to another instrument if they so choose. All kids sing across the board, in Classes 1-4/5, they sing as part of their morning circle and in music, while in classes 5-7, they all sing in choirs (which are sometimes split according to gender)

-Other things that form part of the curriculum at the school (and are taken by other teachers) include: Gardening, Woodwork, PE, Soft crafts (knitting and the like), Bothmer and Eurhythmy. Bothmer is a form of gymnastics that helps with students balance, co-ordination and rhythm (balance and rhythm are more soul/spiritual than practical), while Eurhythmy is a form of movement art where every sound and musical note is represented by a movement.

-For 2 hours or so every morning, students undertake a Main Lesson, which can be either English/Literacy, Maths, Science or History/Geography. This is a topic that is studied in intense detail and is then integrated into other subjects (so for example, a Main Lesson topic might be studying about Vikings, so students might do naalbinding as part of their craft class and learn how to cook a Viking meal and so on). The topics are very set in their Year Levels. The students each make a "textbook" of sorts about their Main Lesson topic.

-There is an emphasis on the natural and the beautiful at the school, with students learning how to write in cursive (which I can't do!), almost EVERYTHING being made from natural materials (they learn how to sculpt with beeswax and make their own recorder bags from 100% wool) and the classrooms both inside and out, being wooden where possible.

-This is more relevant to Australia and the UK, but Steiner kids generally don't have a uniform, rather a dress code. Their dress code is a bit more stringent than most though, forbidding clothing with commercial logos, encouraging natural fabrics and in some schools, banning black and fluro coloured clothing.

-While they TRY to have all Steiner schools going up to Class 12, this isn't always the case. A lot of schools will end in Classes Six and Seven.

There is more I can write, but I am going to school, so will write more later

[Jay 2K Winger]

Words

Stop trying to burst our bubble. It's funnier our way.

[fireheart]

Stop trying to burst our bubble. It's funnier our way.

Believe me, I'm sure the kids would love it if I had the puppets in class

[AccountingDrone]

-For 2 hours or so every morning, students undertake a Main Lesson, which can be either English/Literacy, Maths, Science or History/Geography. This is a topic that is studied in intense detail and is then integrated into other subjects (so for example, a Main Lesson topic might be studying about Vikings, so students might do naalbinding as part of their craft class and learn how to cook a Viking meal and so on). The topics are very set in their Year Levels. The students each make a "textbook" of sorts about their Main Lesson topic.

If you need help working food into lessons, I have resources for medieval and rennaissance europe, medieval persian and 12th century chinese as used in the Mongolian court. I can rummage about for simple meals that are able to be made with children. If you have the time, Stefan's Florelegeium is great s it is around 20 years of the proceedings of various SCA usenet and email lists on a wide ranging bunch of subjects. [and it is internally searchable]

[Divra]

que?

You don't play BattleTech?!

Okay. One of the great powers in the BattleTech-verse is the Lyran Commonwealth, whose leaders are the House Steiner. Their arch-enemies are the Draconis Combine, led by House Kurita. House Kurita's symbol is a dragon.

[ralerin]

So they've started a new term with some good news: one of the teachers is now a daddy! He has a daughter with the name Yemaya (I THINK it's pronounced Yeh-MAY-ah). I can't wait to see photos!

Oooh, named after the Yoruban/Santerean (sp) goddess of the ocean and salt waters! Awesome!

[fireheart]

Oooh, named after the Yoruban/Santerean (sp) goddess of the ocean and salt waters! Awesome!

Yep. I got to see some photos the other day: her eyes are HUGE.

There's also a custom that is REALLY awesome (and may be a custom I might pick up if I end up at a small primary school) among Waldorf schools, which is that when a new baby is born to a family that's at a Waldorf school, they will give them a baby quilt made by members of the community. It might be the whole community, or it'll be just the class in question. Usually it's knitted squares.