Waldorf Home Schooling and Learn Waldorf Home School Basics

With so many home schools teaching programs and options now becoming available for parents who want to educate their children at home, the problem is no longer where to find the programs you need, but rather which one to use. The Waldorf system, used in both regular schools and for home schooling is one that is becoming increasingly popular. The Waldorf Home School system in unconventional in its approach to education and while it has been proven to produce intelligent, articulate and well rounded children, its unconventional nature makes many parents hesitate about using it.

Developed by Rudolph Steiner in the early 20th century, the concept behind a Waldorf home school is what he called “developmentally appropriate education.” That is, it the way knowledge is imparted changes as a child develops. For this reason the Waldorf Home school system is divided into three distinct approaches to learning. In the early years children learn best through movement and imitation so the Waldorf home school system provides a program of imaginative play activities, rhythm based activities and music rather than teaching of common core subjects like maths and reading. The theory is that stimulating the mind at an early age prepares it to better absorb knowledge in later years, so that the standard subjects, although begun later that in in other systems, are understood both faster and in more detail. The Waldorf home school program is based on the concept that creativity encouraged in the early years will remain throughout life.

In the middle years, from 7 to 14, more conventional subjects ate taken up, but still with the imaginative approach. History is taught not just a dry facts and dates, but as adventures that happened to real people. Writing is taught by first teaching children to copy letters and than working with them to put the letters into sequences that become words. The logical process of creating a written text is emphasized. Reading come after writing and it is the child’s own writing work that serves as the first reading exercises.

After the age of 14, children have developed a sufficient intellectual capacity for them to pursue high levels of learning and it is from this age that the Waldorf home school aims at achieving higher levels of academic performance based on the child’s highly developed intellectual and creative abilities. The Waldorf home school system believes in children’s abilities to explore subject themselves (with, of course, adult guidance).  While there can be a focus on special subject such as physics, maths, history etc., other subjects are not ignored as only a well rounded individual can excel in specialized fields.

The basics of the Waldorf home school system are:

• Learning first by doing and then theoretical understanding is introduced
• While some subjects may be given a greater focus, no subjects should be ignored as they all form part of a holistic knowledge base.
• Life values of truth, loyalty, goodness and beauty and so on are imparted not by just telling children about them, but by placing the children in an environment where they form a part of their daily lives.
• Children are discouraged from watching TV, playing video games and using computers (although computers may be allowed for older children) as they do not encourage the child to think and therefore inhibits his or her intellectual growth.