A Waldorf Journey Podcast

Latest Episodes:

AWJ 43 | Waldorf Curriculum Focus: Life Science Aug 13, 2019

Show notes

The Waldorf life sciences curriculum is pretty amazing, which makes sense for a philosophy that puts so much value on the natural world. When I first started teaching, I was a little intimidated about doing the sciences right, in a way that aligned with Waldorf philosophy and that phenomenological approach that really values the natural world. That intimidation inspired me to really dive deep when it came to preparing the sciences, so it ended up being a good thing. It didn’t take long for me to realize, though, that as long as I was keeping the wonder alive, then I was doing it right and I didn’t really need to worry all that much.

This episode is being brought to you by my curriculum guides, which you can find at my website. I’ve got a variety of guides throughout the grades -- including ones for the life sciences, which we’re talking about in this episode. Whether you’re teaching Botany, Rocks and Minerals, Physics or Astronomy, I’ve got a guide that can help you out. Homeschoolers and classroom teachers in a variety of settings have found my guides to be helpful, so I hope you’ll check them out. And if you’re just wondering about how to go about setting up your main lesson structure, every guide includes my Main Lesson 101 material, which will break it all down for you. Just this information alone is really valuable, so you might consider purchasing a guide, just to help you get started with your planning. I really recommend either my Astronomy or my Rocks and Minerals guides -- those subjects are just so fascinating and both of those guides give a really good picture of what it’s like to plan a Waldorf Main Lesson.

Sponsor the podcast with Patreon.

Resources

AWJ 42 | How to Be a Waldorf Parent in the Summer Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

Summer is not an easy time to be a Waldorf parent, and I know plenty of parents who struggle with this time. I’ve been talking this summer with friends and colleagues who are sharing the struggle, and I thought I’d share some of it with you. In my neck of the woods, at the time of this recording, we’ve got a month left of summer. Just about the time that things are starting to feel hard. You’ve made the most of summer vacation and the novelty of the summer has worn off, so what now?

Just as I was putting together my thoughts for this episode, an article from The Waldorf School of Philadelphia came across my facebook feed. There are also a few other resources that you might find useful in figuring out how to get through the summer.

Article from Waldorf School of Philadelphia

Whole Family Rhythms article

This episode is being brought to you by my ebook The Waldorf Home. If you’re interested in reading ideas, suggestions and tips for making your home more aligned with your children’s Waldorf Education, check out my book at www.thewaldorfhome.com.

Also, if you’re a homeschooling parent or a teacher, check out my curriculum guides at www.awaldorfjourney.com/shop. There you can find my first grade bundle where I go through how to introduce the consonants and vowels through the fairy tales. It’s one of my most popular guides, so I hope you’ll support the podcast and check it out.

Or consider sponsoring the podcast through Patreon.

My main tips:

Rhythm
Get outside
Structure
Freedom
Working
Compromise

AWJ 41 | Waldorf Basics: The Documents You Need to Create to Have an Organized Year Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

This week I’m here to talk with you about the Waldorf basics -- documents you need to create to guide the work that you’re doing during every school year. What are the things you need to think about to give structure to your school year?

This episode is being brought to you by my Basics series. If after listening to this episode you realize that you need some help putting things together, then you’re going to want to look at my basics collection. For each grade I’ve got all of these basic documents put together, available for you to download.

Other things I mention this episode:

Patreon
My favorite curriculum resource
Waldorf Inspirations -- really great free resources to help you create these documents

AWJ 40 | 5 Must-Have Waldorf Curriculum Resources Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

This week I talk about some of my favorite resources. These are the books I turn to again and again and recommend to friends and colleagues. If you’re wondering what books will give you the most bang for your buck as you grow your Waldorf library, these are the ones to get.

Links to things I mentioned this week:

My Summer Productivity Course

A blog post with a rundown of these resources

The resources:

AWJ 39 | Why I Love Summer Planning (and you should too) Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

This week I’m here to talk with you about summer planning. As much as I love taking a break from the classroom during the summer, I also love doing my summer planning. Today I want to talk with you about some of the things you should be thinking about with your summer planning, and things you should not be thinking about.

This episode is being brought to you by my Summer Productivity Course. I’ve been running these seasonal productivity courses over the past year, and the response has been fantastic.

Age-specific resources

Broad overview resources

School as a Journey by Torin Finser

Chicago Waldorf School website

How to Write Your end of Year Reports Apr 28, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I go through the different kinds of end of year reports. I also share the framework that I've settled on. Whether you've started your reports or not, it will give you some good food for thought.

Want to donate to the podcast? Click through to make your donation through Patreon.

Interested in signing up for the 30 days till summer report writing challenge? Enter your email in the form below and you'll get an email every day in June. If you want to purchase the guide instead, click here.

Blog post about my amazing Waldorf community.

How to Become a Waldorf Teacher Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

How do you become a Waldorf teacher? That's what this episode is all about.

I describe my own path to becoming a Waldorf teacher, as well as some of the pros and cons of Waldorf teaching.

For more information . . .

Read the blog post on which this podcast is based. There's lots more information about the different kinds of teacher trainings and things to think about before deciding. Make sure you read the comments to read A Waldorf Journey readers' thoughts about their teacher training experiences.

Download the Waldorf teaching cheat sheet. This checklist based on the 7 Questions You Should Ask About Every Lesson will help you make sure your lessons are interesting, inspiring and productive.

Don't forget about my Spring Productivity Program! Early-bird sign-ups close in just one week. Make more time this spring and make sure you stay on task and get your work done. Spring productivity course topics include:

Professional Development Planning and Self-Evaluation
Student Assessment
Students with Special Needs
Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences
Writing Reports
Planning Your Summer

The Facebook group.

Follow me on Instagram.

A Waldorf Journey #35 | A Story about Stories Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

Find more information about the podcast, blog and other content at www.awaldorfjourney.com.

Join the email list to get notified about content releases by texting WALDORF to 444999.

Support the podcast by donating through Patreon.

Mentioned in this episode

A Waldorf Journey Teacher Tribe on Facebook.

Information about the Spring Productivity Course.

Waldorf Literacy, an interview with Janet Langley, co-author of Roadmap to Literacy, part 2 Jan 13, 2019

Show notes

Ways to support the podcast . . .

a donation through Patreon
purchasing one of my curriculum guides
clicking one of the Amazon affiliate links on my site.

Here are links to some of the things mentioned in this podcast.

Waldorf Inspirations-- the amazing Waldorf teacher resource site developed and maintained by Janet and her partner Patty Connelly
Information page about Roadmap to Literacy on the Waldorf Inspirations site-- including the table of contents and sample pages.
To order the book from Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore.

As I mention in the podcast, this is a book you'll want to have. It lays out the language arts curriculum for the first three grades, saving the trouble so many Waldorf teachers have had in the past, reinventing the wheel and "Waldorf-izing" mainstream resources.

Janet has been kind enough to share a free downloadable resource with A Waldorf Journey listeners -- a main lesson planning template. I use something like this every day and I can't imagine teaching without it. Enter your email in the blog post that goes with the episode to download the template.

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Watch my End-of-Year Report Video

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