Berkeley Rose Waldorf School

We are so grateful to our families who are hosting our backyard learning support pods. We have the California sunshine on our side. Also on our side: visits by mourning doves, neighbor cats, butterflies, recess in a nearby park. Working against us: wind, "a bird pooped on my paper," cold morning fingers. But, we're not in Wisconsin. You are setting a nice example, Prairie Hill Waldorf School, and your morning fingers are colder than ours. https://www.nytimes.com//27/us/outdoor-classroom-design.ht

"We do with feelings what we do with food we take in what nourishes us and then expel what doesn't serve us anymore." Hand in Hand Parenting has always had the corner on the market of understanding tantrums. Great read!

"Meltdowns, common as they are among young children, are a complicated physiological response related to the brain’s threat detection system. Mid-freakout, it’s helpful for parents to understand what’s going on beneath the surface, then to mitigate the threat by establishing a sense of safety."

"Far from staring at computer screens or spaced apart in an indoor classroom, students at Aurora Waldorf School in West Falls immerse themselves in nature, with classes held outside most of the time. The school, a half hour's drive south of Buffalo, emphasizes outdoor education, movement and play. Its approach to learning in many ways fits the Covid moment."

Children receive many benefits from doing chores. They learn to manage responsibility and understand the importance of contributing to the family. There is also a great mind/body connection associated with physical tasks.

Boredom is essential to childhood. As one of our BRWS kindergarten teachers once put it, "When a child is bored, what happens next?"

"The communication that starts with parents and children is one of the most influential and persuasive ways children can learn to socialize throughout their lives" https://www.nytimes.com//parent/safe-space-kids-talk.html

Thank you, AWSNA, for sharing a wonderful resource!

Our fifth grade in their "math monastery," where they are preparing to do math in silence (notice the almost-'cloister' befitting the situation). Emphasis is on reading directions, checking their work, not quitting if it gets hard. #berkeleyrosewaldorfschool #waldorfeducation

Michaelmas blessing to all the helpers! Chalk drawing by Marina Taylor, 3rd grade teacher.