Post 381: Why I love Waldorf

I am sure I have gone on and on about my love of the Waldorf School concepts and practices, perhaps not, but it makes no difference because what I know is that my kids are thriving in all areas of life as far as I can tell and their school supports a diversity I don’t see happening in other areas of education.

There was a handout at a recent parent night about researchers who have studied child development in hunter gatherer tribes. That children in these cultures are allowed (and encouraged) to play, play, play until they are fully ready to take on the challenges of adult life, Like until the are seventeen or eighteen. PLAY is the key!

Homework bad, play good!

What recently became apparent to me with Luke was his unbridled enthusiasm about this last “handwork” creation. This is a boy who loves baseball more just than about anything, plays football by himself (as well as any other sport you might care to mention) but when he brought home his “needle book” and showed it to us, the light in his eyes, the profound confidence he displayed describing every stitch, this made me see a whole person, a whole being. A lovely boy in every way imaginable.

For Lily it is her inner ability to create worlds. She has got so many little secret worlds floating about it is impossible to keep track. Yet if you ask her to describe what that pile of scarves, papers, stones, sticks and blankets are, she will give a detailed and well thought out description of that world.

For me this took on more “real world” experience when after a huge storm, one that knocked out power for thousands of residents and downed many trees in our neighborhood, I went outside to purvey the damage in our yard and what I saw was this:

A Fairy House she had made before the storm and was completely un-harmed.

Resilient.

Post 336: Camerawork

I have spent much of my life behind the lens of a camera, literally millions of feet of film have passed by my eyes.

When I was young I had this stigma about still photography, simply that when I saw a beautiful picture, I felt like, geez, I could have taken that if I was there at that moment? So what’s the big deal?

What I learned over the years is that the point is I was not there at that exact moment and did not choose to release the shutter at that very instant.

As the beloved photographer Henri-Cartier Bresson eloquently called, the decisive moment. 

I also know that the viewfinder through a childs eye can be a fun and often an insightful look into their world. There have been many times at work where we are trying to emulate what a child might want to see, the perspective of a child being so unique, and it is not easy to do. There have been many instances of wonderful photography done by children.

With all that said I gave Luke and Lily an old camera to do with what they wish. Lily took it to school one day and I just love the “day in the life” of her photographs.

 

Post 295: Foxes, Squirrels and Cherries

2016Marchuntitled-2

Random comments from Luke that I cannot seem to get out of my head.

“I was ALMOST bitten on the eyeball by a fox”

“A squirrel dropped a nut on my head”

and on a completely different note:

“The cherries taste like you didn’t wash them and that they are not organic”

To this last comment I honestly don’t know and he might be right on both accounts, what should I say in response?

Post 287: Odds and Ends

2016Februaryuntitled-2
Trip to my optometrist

2016Februaryuntitled-6-2
Diaperhead2016Februaryuntitled-8-2
Trip to the Doctor. Lily has had herpagina (hoof and mouth disease) as well as rotavirus (stomach flu) in the last two months. It often feels like I cannot keep the kids sick-free for more than a day or two before something comes up.
2016Marchuntitled-20
Luke loves to have the the windows washed at the gas station. He finally had his chance to do it himself. I remember how much I loved going to a gas station when I was young.