Art as an App

Many people feel strongly about tech.  Cell phones and tablets seem to bring out extreme responses in people.  The way we are focus on these devices so strongly and the way we have wired ourselves into these devices so quickly, integrating them into our lives so fast, is UN-nerving and it is changing how our society interacts. We have become brave new world writers, evident in the morphing languaging of texting and who knows where a universal dialog of text will next take us in this global economy.  So be it our dystopian culture pulling us to a new source of interaction or a simple haphazard turn of events that drags us along kicking and screaming, the tech is here to stay.  Why not embrace it?  At the least learn how to utilizes it to our advantage.  I have found art is one of those areas where we can ease into the transition of tech world.  It is fun and simple to master many of the apps out there for art.
One of the art apps I have fun with is CamVas.   It allows you to use your photo roll of your device, tablet or phone and manipulate your photos into different styles.  You can choose a traditional water color like style and then change the color values.  So your photos, their software, you become an instant fine arts master in moments.

Actual Photo

 In the original photo above of a blooming aloe plant in front of a fire cactus and plastic 3 gallon bucket, I tried to get a textural shot to show how you can manipulate style and color value to create app art.

Watercolored style version

Another tweaking of color and style

You can choose between several different stylizations of art and the manipulate each style by color values.  It really is a wonderful app.

This is the Van Gogh style with the colors tweaked out.

 It is possible to crop with this app but I decided to keep the bucket.  There are all kinds of other features and ways to manipulate your photos.
Here are a couple more style features.  You do get to where you can see the light of you photos and see where certain shots will lend themselves to this app as you get more masterful at operations.  It is a very intuitive app.

A Watercolor style with a little color change

This is a colored sketchbook book style.

The CamVas app is made by the company Auryn INC. You can use the company name to find what they offer. They keep changing the name of this app and I have a hard time looking it up but it is out there.  It was called Auryn Cam when I bought it but it has been renamed.  There is a on line community with the app where you can check out other artist albums.  They also have a pure version art for the purists of water coloring with no photos, just fine art with a finger called Auryn Ink. They also make book apps.

Auryn INC APPS


 They have an adorable version of The Little Mermaid and Van Gogh and the Sunflowers.  My son is past these sweet stories but I never will be.

I wanted to share my Pinterest Board of Art I created with this app.
My Art on Pinterest

I will add to this post as I am still wanting to add other art apps. Almost all the major museums now offer apps.  MOMA app  review and tutorial coming up.
MOMA link

Making Montessori Fit

I have been doing a very open form of Maria Montessori's educational method with my son.  I have many Montessori materials and albums with lessons.  I worked in a Montessori school which wasn't really wasn't a very traditional Montessori school, but I did learn a lot about what to do and what not to do.  We are not purist with Montessori at home.  I tend to try out the curriculum and adapt it to fit my son's needs.  Some parts of Montessori work for us some ideas do not.  I love the math materials and how the learner is followed and is hone to become self directed.  I do pay attention to scope and sequencing but do not follow it religiously as my son is far below his grade level due to his impairments.  We do what we can and try to stick to the over all philosophy, using the materials and lesson but doing things on a different time scale and adjusted my son's learning needs.
Some of the materials that have worked best for him are the math manipulatives.  He love the division board.  Not the beads and tubes long division work, but the lower lesson work.  He says it helps him understand and see it.  He also likes the hundred board and bead work with all the bead materials.  We do an eclectic self directed form of the 3 hour work time.  We take sensory breaks and recess and being as we are at home schooled sometimes my son's work lays our for days till he does it or not.  We recently added up all the squares and figured out how much they came too, also the cubes of our bead cabinet were added up.  If my son makes his own lesson up I follow.  He is learning when he plays with the Montessori Math materials.  I find my son will stay engaged with these materials for long stretches with fewer breaks.  They work interest him.  He needs encouragement and prompts but he is accurate and likes to line things up and index his toys so it makes sense that he would like Maria's materials that are methodical and progressive and follow a sequential pattern.  You get the concept with these manipaultives.  They have been teaching children all over the world for a long time.

division board and tiles with control

It's isn't just the stuff that makes me like Montessori, but it helps.  Sensorially enchanting, engaging neurological materials are useful for small motor work and development as well as cognitive comprehension.  I   love how they educate to a child's organic intelligence and never dumb it down.
We also use  all the other Montessori subjects as well often using  the three card lessons and 5 card lessons. These have helped my son so much with reading comprehension because he is interested in reading about this material. He loves non-fiction and the cards are perfect for his attention span.  He loves science lessons and the physical science materials. Also the geography research materials have motivated him to learn.  I read to him out-loud many of the ETC Montessori upper elementary cards as they are written far above his reading ability.  I am a firm believer and living proof that if you read to a child who cannot read for themselves at their comprehension level for whatever reason, they will eventual become readers themselves.  You fall in love with learning and then push yourself to read. Eventually you figure out decoding and become fluent or you learn about books on tape and libre vox and just soak it up another way. One of my favorite quotes is by Oliver Sacks who said at a conference I watched at MIT that- "We are hard wire to adapt."   I find it true and that we are innovative and resourceful in how we adapt and what we use for tools.  I am extremely dyslexic and am a vicarious reader. My Mother read to me for hours each night and for years.  She made me want to know what was in books.  I have a hard time reading small print these days as my visions even with new glasses is horrible for up close. I do it though, large print, computer aids, love listening to books on audio recordings too.

Measurement cards ETC Montessori.

The Pythagoras Board

The Pythagoras Board is one of Conor's favs.  It helps him nail those trick multiplication facts.  Something that is very hard to do.

Geometry Work

We still use the triangle materials for Geometry.  I bought a set of upper elementary advance geometry lessons and task cards and they will be a challenge for us for a while.

Geography

My favorite the study of the world and cultures.  He likes the science side of it more.  Below is Conor sorting through some more materials from ETC Montessori on Biomes.   We recently have purchased some materials for Biomes lessons from Waseca Montessori.  This company is a small non profit that makes some beautiful materials that I fill so blessed to get.  I will add a page on Biomes as we are about to go into this subject and stay in this unit for the rest of the school year and summer classes.
I have zoology and botany materials to feed into the biomes so it will tie it all together.  I'm really excited about this unit and how Conor will like it and be effected by it.  He is self directing to illustrate and make books of many of the cards we work with.  Creating his own materials is such a measure of learning it is thrilling for me as an educator.  Some Montessori teacher do not like the 3 and 5 part cards.    They work well for us.  I think there is a useful thing about picking up the cards and crossing over the medium of the brain in hand to hand cross cortex matching and organizing.  The trays that come with some cards help with the executive functioning skills of this work.  I do not have any trays like this but need some.

Biomes

Science Fun

My son loves Science.  In this house we try and do some science every day.  I am able to create many experiences with the help of internet and buying curriculums with materials included.   One of our favorites is the Quirkles.   The Quirkles are characters in a series of books based on science. We read the books and do the experiments in the back of the books.  I also bought the curriculum package with a huge boxes of everything you need to do all kinds of other experiments.   This is a fun curriculum and has enough lessons and ideas to keep a student busy for a couple of years.
The Quirkles' Web Sight.

We also have used an online system called Super Charge Science.  This was a more intense and advanced series of lesson and we did not stick with it due to it being a bit over my son's head developmentally.  It's still very good and has so much to offer.  I had issues with loading the videos and also there was so much reading material that was far to advance for my student.  We may go back to this source in coming years.  It is very complete.
Sciencelearningspace/ Super Charged Science


Another venue we use is the Arizona Science Center's homeschool classes program.  These courses are taught by Mary Katherine Campbell a certified teacher.  At least once a month we attend a classes that can range in content from Simple Machines to Insects Study.  Last week was by far my son's favorite as it was a class on organs.  My son was able to dissect a cow's heart, lung and kidney.  Nothing like  project bases learning to give hands on synthesized experiences.  We watched as a Professor from ASU  hooked a shop vacuum up to a cow's respiratory system.  The lungs and trachea were all kept in a plastic bag to keep it neat and tidy.   So the teacher fit the hose of the vacuum on the trachea ( it fit perfectly) and the lungs filled up and the children got to see how and feel the process of full and empty lungs. The kids love it,  I could not help wondering how this experiment was conceived.  I picture grad students in a lab, late at night fooling around with a cow's lungs and the shop vacuum. Someone figured out the hose of a shop vacuum fit perfectly on a trachea.

After the cow lung and vacuum experience we move on to the organs.  Conor was skilled and curious.  He had several tools but preferred the little sharp scissors.  I am squeamish and not the best lab partner on dissecting day but I dealt with it and helped.  Conor was amazing and he rocked.  I kept my self together.  It was a good day with guts.  We go back again this year for pig's eye and rattle snake dissecting classes.

Cow's heart

Cow's Lung

Cow's Kidney

Another science homeschooling resource for us is Mr. Q. at http://www.eequalsmcq.com/  He covers K-8 in Life, Earth, Chemistry and Physical Science.  Eh also has some advance studies for High schooler's in Biology, Anatomy and Physiology.

All our favorite links to cool free things.

newtons-laws-of-motion-learn-about-auto-physics

National Science Foundation resources K-12

http://smartr.edc.org/

http://snap.berkeley.edu/ programming with blocks

http://www.brainpop.com/

http://scratch.mit.edu/

Nasa Mission

BBC UK schools resource link

Maker's Camp Google + community

http://az.pbslearningmedia.org/

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

We also watch TED Talks and many You Tube videos on science.  There is so much out there for free if you google search for it and are curious.
My Pinterest board for Science has some fun stuff on it as well.
http://www.pinterest.com/desertnocturn/science-fun/

The Accidental Bystander goes Beyond Curriculum

I always struggle with staying on track with curriculums. Keeping to the structure of a one size fits all education plan of anything is difficult for any educator. Trying to make a neurotypical geared curriculum fit my child's needs educational always takes adaption and innovation.  I have not had the best of luck with the big curriculum packages that are sold as special need's curriculums.  Often they are pricey and not that workable for my child.  I like bits and pieces of different programs but to just go with one whole package never seems to work for my learner.
 For one thing these bundled curriculums that are sold specifically for special need's students do not take into account that cognitively no two neurologically diversed students are on the same level developmentally.  There is vast spaces on the spectrum of autism alone not to mention the many other cognitive impairments that effect learning.  Just because children have the same diagnosis and are in the same grade doesn't mean they can function of the same level intellectually.   The one size fits all plan of education for all students is not a plan, it is sales tactic, driven by marketing and commerce.  Following someone's designed plan as how to educate my child is hard for me to just blindly accept especially when I have never met the creator of the program and they have never assessed my child.  I compare it to allowing a stranger to buy clothes for your child, who has never seen your kid and bases their purchase on your child's age or grade. It basically comes down to someone forcing their consciousness and agenda your child.  Maybe it fits, maybe it doesn't.  Who is writing the curriculum is as important as what is in it.  Common core or state standards, it doesn't matter, the question ultimately is where are they taking my child?  How are they preparing him for his future. So why do we blindly follow these so called experts?

The Assessment

Needs 
Defining the students needs requires some assessment.  I look at what we need academically as:
 A. What we need now?
B. Where are we going next? - What we will need at the next developmental level?
C. Big Picture-where we are going in the big picture?
D.What does my child want to learn and How do I best teach to how his brain learns it?

At this point my son is young and needs more guidance at learning the basic core concepts of how to learn and what is considered a primary education.  He will grow into a more self designing learner as he finds his own way. As he has a harder time assessing his own needs at this time, I have to observe and assess more for him and make adaptations in the classroom, so he can eventually self educate as a life long learner.   He does lead and I do follow his needs and desires.  How he learns and the flow of his thoughts is how I gear his lesson's or focus the lens on what I am going to bring to him, to engage and sequence his learning.  To me learning is thinking.  If I am the source of what he will learn and how,  I need to constantly reassess his needs and I must create a rhythmical flow of his needs based on my observation of them.
Considering the end needs is crucial in evaluating the whole picture.  Ultimately marketable skills fall into necessity.  We must pay the rent and eat.
Along the way to living authentically independent lives comes the desire to do meaningful work.
Satisfaction with oneself is paramount and I focus on the intention to teach/mentor to all my kids the way to a skill or skills where they can develop the ability to be creative.
The emotional intellegence skills of being adaptive, resilient and able are equally as important.  You need a boat load of faith to get by and you need confidence and the discipline to keep going and bounce back in a world that will knock you down.

Abilities

I have a visual learner with high functioning ability to spatially size things up.  My learners is creative and artistic, can work for long times at what interest him.  Amazingly ability to detail he works best alone. Another strength is his an acute senses and fine tuned sensory perception.   He is interested in science, art, designing, gaming, engineering, some math, geometry and algebra.  He likes nature and animals.  He is social and likes people but struggles with social skills. Almost photographic visual memory and universal pitch in music.

Child's Wants

Ultimately this rules.  We only learn what we want to well so why not embrace it and bring the lesson into the perimeters of the students interest. Make it interesting,  Make it something they want to learn. If it isn't change it into something they are interested in.  The individual's educational plan is all about what the child is willing to learn.

Limitations

I refuse to think in this way. Limits can be strengths. It all depends on your thinking and thoughts.

Instruction and materials.

I am a firm believer in using whatever it takes to teach. One hundred different tools or the one, the tools can be homemade or specifically geared for what ever you are wanting to learn and teach with it.  I like open ended questions and materials.  I am educating a problem solver, I am instructing a life long learner and i want to cultivate that longing to know, I am educating a whole person and I do not know what his life will be or where he will go as he makes his way and finds his own purpose as to why he is here on our planet living.  My hope is to have the wisdom to prepare him for his purpose whatever that will be.  My favorite question for my learner is: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LEARN TODAY.

Finding Our Way Back from Winter Break

Back to school after the holidays is always a challenge for me.  Getting back in the groove, finding the pace, re-adjusting to the the classroom and my mid winter classroom overhauls.  I find being present in the moment and living authentically requires planing and strategy.
We are settling into this 2nd semester with more emphasis on physical science and language arts.

Language

I have been sorting and organizing for weeks the Montessori grammar language cards that I got from ETC Montessori.
http://www.etcmontessorionline.com/curriculum-bundles/language-reading-bundles/lower-elementary-reading-bundle-level-6-9-1

It has taken me a while to figure out how to sort it for one, but since I did not buy the traditional montessori many colored rectangular boxes for speech I had a hard time figuring out how to present the materials in a functional way.  I did get it figured out with my friend/mentor Liza.  She suggested the little drawers you get at hardware stores for screws and bolt organizing.  It worked beautiful and now I can pull out a couple of lesson's at a time and rotate the material in and out till he masters it.  It is the early years of elementary education for language arts but I am baffled that this material is introduced so young in the Montessori system.  Seems to me very few children of 6-9 can understand language taught at this level.  Perhaps a few super students but for the masses I consider the approach too advance for most children of this age. Try thinking of how to explain and definite and indefinite article to a 6 year old?  I was taught the parts of speech in this detail in Jr. high and really it did not sink in until college how language all comes together.  I learned Spanish as a 2nd language with a similar approach with emphasis on the part of speech rather than conversational organic learning.  The organizing of the mass of manipulative cards that came with the bundle is done now and I am able to use them to teach.  My student can now go and select a lesson and self direct his learning.  My son rarely chooses language art anything so I usually pull it out and present it to get him to engaged in learning it.  The work we are working here is the grammar boxes, where we use language cards to identify parts of speech.

Parts of Speech Symbols

Grammar Box Cards

Language Shelf

Science

We have been using the ETC Montessori materials for physical science too.  Here are cards and materials on light.  He looks at theses cards, matches up label and pictures to definitions and then writes the definitions down in a journal.  Sometimes we make our own little books of the cards.

Music

I am also teaching Conor how to read music on the piano.  I have been trying to do this process for several years.  He resisted music lessons and after years of music therapy he was non compliant on participating in any form of music, be it lesson or therapy.  One of the issues we face with my son is due to all the years of multiple therapies and the influx of professionals who have worked with him with music, occupational, speech, behavior and habilitation therapies is, he is sick of people telling him what to do.  Who would like all these professionals coming in who you have no relationship with really, that you do not know and don't know you, who come in and have him jump through their hoops, having him do the task, many of which are pointless and ineffective.  We have had some great therapist and we have had some real stinkers too.  After ten years of therapy he has learned some tricks to asserting his will over theirs.  So my challenge in teaching him anything is getting him to see the worth and advantage in learning the particular skill.   He doesn't want to learn to read music or play the piano so I have to make him.  Just like any neurotypical child I have to force him to play and practice.  Just like my Mother did to me.  In the last post about Waldorf I lied and said I would not force him to practice but sometimes I do make him play and practice. It would be great to figure out a way to get him to want to but I haven't yet.

The Accidental Bystander's Favorite Choices for APPS in Education.

Technology is one of my passions. I love the World Wide Web and how the internet levels us and the playing field we all communicate on and creates a platform of communication where we are rendered equal in ways our social and econmics status limit us in real life situations.

I have found gaming to be an excellent tool in education. I spoke about Minecraft and touched upon Scratch Programing and Makey Makey in an earlier post.  My son uses the internet for research and I encourage him to use apps on his iPad for education as well.  

For math we have found there are a huge amount of choices out there for learners and developers are coming out with more all the time.  Some of our favorites are SushiMonster Math by Scholastics and Dragon Math which teaches algebra concepts.  We also have found Montessori math apps.  My son also likes an app called Rocket Math. The Geoboard has been engaging for him too. He 

will play with these apps on his own and spend free time playing math games for fun.

I rearranged the math apps on the ipad screen and make files for apps that teach the same subject matter or are at the same developmental level.  I think the Physics app needs to go to another file but my son likes it and I am hoping if he clicks into where it is he will use other apps that are on the same page.

We have also used the Mobile Home Store apps that were created by a father of a child with autism.  These app are language based and also address social situations.  Below are some of the apps that focus on language skills.  They have proven invaluable for teaching language skills and sentence structure.  My son like the Conversation Builder app that addresses social situations and is interactive with the learner allowing for them to record correct responses to social situations.  A kind of mini social story situation practice.  These are worth the price of the app.

I like the interactive story book apps.   Some of the apps read the text to the child, some do not.  My son struggles with reading and decoding.  He loves the books that read the story to him and allow for some interaction best.  Many times I have gotten apps for free on sights like Free App Friday, Free Apps or a4cwsn.com.   I have found Facebook to be the best source or portal for groups and promotional deals from developers and reviewers of new apps.  I spent hours researching this subject when we 1st got ipads in 2012.  We soon had what we needed and I have slow down with researching new apps that are out there.  Thousands come out everyday.

We also use app for writing.  Text to speech and many Aug Com apps are out in a lite version that allow you to try them before your buy.  Even for neurotypcial children there are many tools and apps that encourage journaling, story telling and writing.  Here are some of our favorites for writing

I like the sequencing and story boarding of MyStories and Comic Life. Captions allows you to make your own story boards.  These help us with social situations and sequencing. We can print them up and make a hard copy poster or journal to prompt my son to do anything from getting dressed to doing chores to how to order food and ask directions.  We make picture directions for making breakfast and prompts to help with many house hold responsibilities.   I have also used these for my Mother who is struggling with old age memory loss. Picture schedules help me when I am rattled too from all the stress of my life.  I forget things too.  A bit like putting a sticky note on the door to remember something.  Still have not figured out how to prompt myself how to find my car at the grocery store.

We keep buying more apps occasionally.  I like problem solving apps and educational apps. 

We recently bought Social Stories Express which is fantastic for helping Conor navigate the ever confusing social situations, hidden social meanings  and nuances of teenage life.  

Here are some more random ones that we get.  I also like Evernote and Dropbox that allow for downloading files or PDF's.  I do much of my on line learning with MOOCs education on my ipad. We stream movies off of Itunes and Amazon too.  We listen to books out loud on Audible.  None of these apps or the ipad were covered by my State's voucher program. The program covers software but nothing from the ITunes store, This is due to the possible misuses of funds risk.  I am a Tax Payer too and am all behind the building of the integrity of a program like this that can not be abused.   The Ipad is an investment I am willing to provide and sacrifice for to help my son in his educational journey.  He is engaged by a computer, he self directs to this medium. Research is showing more and more how gaming can be a important tool in teaching kids.  Scratch teaches programing but is open ended in it's possibilities.  One of my educational super star heros is Mitch Resnick, who instructed a recent on line class I was luck enough to take part in last spring.  Here is more about his work.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/mitch_resnick.html

Minecraft can be used to teach a plethora of lessons. Conor has created worlds, learned about sustainability, roads, hwys and infrastructure, transporting and power grids, rail roads and commerce, supply and demand and what it takes to make a community. These tools in gaming are keys to motivation and innovative problem solving skills.  Kids do not even know they are learning.  They are. If the game brings in a chat feature then they are also learning how to type communicate and resolve conflicts and bounce back form disappointments.  

How do you define learning?

Many apps use gaming to an advantage that a workbook or teacher cannot.  Whatever it takes to get us there and again you have to re-define what is learning?

 I have no idea why I have two Dr. Who Apps on this page.  My son is crazy about Dr. Who and somehow I ended up with duplicates of an app. 

I love geography apps. Gaming and playing with memorization works wonderfully with the subject of Geography.  Clicking and dragging, stacking, matching and gaming  countries is an excellent way to make learning fun.  We use Google Map and Google Earth for geography too.  Also a resource on line is National Geographic's web sight for kids. PBS Learning Media is also invaluable as a free source for researching and finding lessons and materials. You must sign up for the PBS Learning Media but once you do it is all aligned to state standards and common core guidelines for your own state's requirements. Last I looked PBSLM had over fifty years of PBS programs and around 35,000 entries of lesson and teaching resources, all free.   No apps but plenty of free resources and printable lessons and worksheets.

Another subject that I have found a wide range of apps for is chemistry.  Atoms HD teaches atomic elements by building your own atom, ion or isotope.  It is a lot of fun. 

There are many apps for vocabulary memorization of scientific concepts and of Periodic Table. Many of these can be used for children even though they are written for high school and college students.  Apps for all the sciences abound.  Botany, Zoology and Biology, just type in the subject you are looking for in the apps store.  

Finding NEW APPS

Another portal for finding apps and free promotional offers to get them is regular google searching for reviews on educational apps. Some of these tend to be very old.  I also use social media for finding reviews and the latest new apps coming out.  Free App Friday and Free Apps, both on Facebook have an excellent source of promotional deals.  Don't forget some of the Podcast and app that has 1000's of shows on every subject imaginable.  Search on education and special needs for shows on apps or demos and reviewers.  I also use Itunes University for free text books and resources to help me be a better teacher.

The Accidental Bystander's views on Waldorf education methods.

Being an artistic and creative person and seeing my child in that way too, I have gravitated to finding engaging materials that will develop these skills and encourage him to use his natural gift as an artist.  I knew very little about Waldorf education until 4 years ago.  I began by buying the book "Waldorf Education A Family Guide.
Rudolf Steiner was born in lower Austria in 1861.  Like Maria Montessori he saw the change of an agricultural or agrarian society transitioning into an industrial one.  A gifted son of a railroad official growing up in small peasant villages, Steiner ended up taking degrees in mathematics, physics and chemistry.   He later wrote a philosophical thesis for his doctorate.  He worked as a tutor, while studying, to a special needs child of a wealth Jewish family in Vienna.  He then took part in the rich cultural life of that city and is influenced by the Goethe scholar, Dr. Karl Julius Schroer.  Schroer is instrumental in getting Steiner the job of editing Goethe's scientific work for a new complete edition of Goethe's materials.  He spends seven years, by invitation, as a scholar at Weimar, the famous German city center of Central European culture and an archive for the writings of Schiller, Goethe and Schopenhauer.  Here he is surround by the scholars, artist, writers and great minds of central Europe. Weimar, Germany was one of the hubs of cultural and artistic figures at this time.

Steiner wrote prolifically at this time,  he lectures at Berlin Worker's Training school, but refuses to toe party line and soon after the turn of the century he is forced to drop out at this Marxist type school in Berlin.  His life begins to change dramatically at this point.  He begins to speak out publicly about his views on the inner faculties of the spiritual perceptions.  The impossibility of life concept began to be publicly spoke of now.

" n the spiritual domain, a new light upon the evolution of humanity was seeking to break through into the knowledge gained during the last third of the 19th century.  But the spiritual sleep caused by the materialistic interruptions in knowledge prevent any inkling of this, much less any awareness of it.  Thus the very time arrive, which ought to have developed in a spiritual direction of it's own nature, but which belied it's own nature - the time which began actually to bring about the impossibilities of life."         -Steiner

Steiner's spiritual awakening or rather his public speaking of his views on this subject changed the direction of the journey his life was taking.  He was a fascinating thinker and I could write a book just about him but I am wanting to move onto his educational method.

Educating the Spirit

It is hard to sum up all that Steiner contributed to here in his writings and life's work. The work of this man focuses on the individual, not just what the system of education forces the institution to address. The focus on our current education system is the adult's consciousness is pressed on the child in the name of academic achievement.
We all have a mission, a task and purpose, we need to be groomed in our evolution for ourselves and humanity. Here is a link to a documentary on Rudolf Steiner. 

Steiner Documentary

One of the things I learned in this excellent documentary was the connection Steiner made to a herbal vendor he met in Vienna during the time of his studies.  It seems it was a catalysis meet for him. Like so many moments in our life where by chance we meet a individual that helps of bring our lens into focus. I feel that the alchemist and seer that Steiner became from the scholar and research of the Vienna and Weimar days must have been an accumulation of the boy the man and the inner question.   I think the herb vendor did something to him, reaching him on some level. The non academic naturalist herb vendor gave Steiner a key to door he had forgotten about.

What drew me to this man's method was his views on educating the whole child. the education principles that respects all races, ethnic groups and religions, while finding a place for all the many cultures in it's curriculum. A world view that is taught to the child to help them arrive at their own place in the global community.  There is a deep respect for the individual in Waldorf education.  The child is seen as a human being, not just a brain you pour information into, but a being of will and feeling as well as intellect.  It 's goal is to ensure that education does not create a one side individual, who is incapable of emotional well being, who's nature as a feeling person is un-exercised and thwarted by a system that only focuses on rout memorization and blind obedience outcomes, is fully addressed.  The arts and practical skills curriculum educate the whole child in heart, brain and hand.

The Teacher as a Storyteller

While the main job of the teacher is a nurturing story teller and guide, the educator spends years with the child as they move through the seasons of education.  Each year is planned out to address the child's developmental milestones and broaden awareness of where and how they fit into their perceptive of the world.  The teacher spends much time in story telling and students are guided through creative differentiated lessons. This means a teacher must do hours of prep time and no child will be plopped down in front of work box book to do procedural math drills or even practice math skills.  The down side to this, some learners need procedural math practice. The artistic lesson in art are wonderful in my opinion but for our needs the story telling aspects  and my son's limits with auditory processing and languaging issues means he needs visual manipulatives.  The chalk board art aspect of Waldorf provides a visual model.  While this helps I know from my own experience that practical marketable skills in the arts are necessary to pay the rent and live.

Form Drawing

This is another favorite in our house.  Drawing out the geometerical shapes and learning the process of form drawing, shading, shaping and shadowing.  We spend hours with this and are thrilled to have wonderful books and resources to teach up fine arts and geometry in it's scared form.

Balance in the Real World

One must have balance.  Many Waldorf schools shun technology and even make parents sign agreements not to allow their children to watch TV or play video games. No way would this fly in my home.  Technology is here to stay and my child needs marketable skills to survive in a global community. We are not going to live in a cloistered nunnery.  We have to compete, like it or not in a global economy and since many children are become bullies from our brutalizing public education system, my son has to be able to navigate and survive living in their world too.  The key compromise for me here is to teach my son entrepreneurial marketable skills.  Yes be an artist, but realistically you must be tough and resilient and able to market yourself and thick skinned enough to survive, while sensitive enough to create.  Some of the more fervent Waldorf philosophies leave me wondering where will these kids go and how will they be prepared to live in our world.

Music

There is also a musical piece to Waldorf where all students are made to play an instrument.  My son balks at this.  He has been in music therapy for seven years and grew to hate being forced to play or participate in any musical context.  I taught him the basics of piano and he can sight read at a beginning levels.  The thing is, he doesn't want to play an instrument right now so I will not make him.  He loves to sing and listen to music and to me that is enough.  I am a musician and have instruments all over our school room.  He is free to make music or not.  I will never force him either way.   He is a gifted singer with perfect pitch and total musical recall.  I would never jeopardize these gifts by forcing him to perform.  When he is ready the environment is there for him and I will be his greatest support and audience.  I hope he make use someday of his gifts.  Of course I still have days where I call him to the piano and make his practice what he knows like mother did to me.  It's always a balance of learn this skill because you will not be sorry some day and I do not want to do this today.   Music is a right and I do not want him to miss an opportunity to learn something that he is good at and is in his ability to master.  Wish I could find a way to lead him to wanting to learn this skill instead of resist it.

World History and the Myths

This is my son's favorite part of Waldorf education.  He loves the history and stories of myths.  I too love this component. There are also many themes that are seasonal and stories that we connect to that are part of this curriculum. Pinterest Waldorf ed pages have many ideas to help the homeschooler with ideas.  Here is my collection of Waldorf ideas on Pinterest.
http://www.pinterest.com/desertnocturn/waldorf-education/

Waldorf Manipulatives

Many of Waldorf materials can be made at home.  I love the natural plant dyed scarfs that younger kids can use for any kind of creative play.  I cannot afford many of these lovely natrual fiber and homemade items.  We make do.  We have bolts of old fabric we use for tent and fort building. Something we all love to do in this house anyway.  We do improvise more than traditional Waldorf allows for.  For example putting a bed's feathered comforter covering called a duvet on the bed and tying the opening around a large fan, turning the fan on so that we have an instant cave.

  We like to use tech to invent which is a not so Waldorfie.  I allow for this Mother of necessity force in Conor's creative play so it is all good in this house.  We use apps to create beautiful art from photos.  Conor did this one.

 We did try dry and wet felting with the needles but it was a disaster.  I love it but need more help to do it and right now I am over whelmed with teaching.  Hard to find the time to create.  Creativity comes and goes with me, so I am putting felting on the back burner for now. Conor isn't into dolls or making them, but he would be into creating anything from Dr Who tv show.  We have done some paper crafting of the T.A.R.D.I.S.   Conor hates for me to make him do projects.  I just put the stuff out and let him go. Again it is about balance, time and money.  Waldorf uses natrual materials, bee's wax crayons and modeling clay.  The things are costly. I do have a grant but it only buys curriculum and materials that the curriculum requires. Because of the contract I am limited on many of the materials a Wadorf classroom provides.

However we did make a math manipulative for multiplication that is pretty cool that I found on Pinterest. I found this to be something I needed my husbands help with. He did it all in a few minutes. I spent $1.73 on the materials. 

shown is skip counting by 3's

Vendors of Curriculm and Resources

I purchases Live Ed curriculum and Christopherus homeschool Resources.  Both are very good.  I personally like the Christopherus system better, it is easier to teach from and the vendors were much nicer to deal with.  The Live Ed person I spoke to was not easy to deal with.  I never have heard back from that company, they are suppose to contact you for some follow up instruction, it is on their web sight, it never happened.  Also it took them a long time to return my calls or respond to my request for them to sell me materials.  Then, when the guy did call me back he was curt and act as though he was doing me a favor by selling me, a lowly homeschooler his materials.  It was unpleasant to deal with him and when the materials came it clouded my perception of them for a long time, because of his attitude.  The materials are fine though, easiy to navigate and I like being able to compare one curriculum to the other.  Keep in mind that all these curriculums are something the educator reads and tell in story using the chalkboard or paper to draw examples. There is no handouts to practice or workbooks.

I have also bought Bearth digital materials, a hybrid of Waldorf Ed. I found that system a tangle of confusion to teach with.  The good part is you get for a family life time membership the complete all grades of training.  The bad news is it is, there is so much to wade through and sort out that for me, it renders the whole program a big mess.  The materials are decent and the creator brilliant but I cannot organize with her digital platform and support is not what I need or available when you need help figuring out how to organize the material. It would cost a small fortune to print up all the materials in the files we got from our membership.   I use bits and pieces and find everything useful and informative it just is difficult to find things digitally and navigate the Dropbox component and all the headaches of being forced to look on a computer when you love books.  It is a personal preference for me not to have to wade through digitally recorded materials.

Another system I checked out was Enki Homeschooling Ed. This also is a form of Waldorf but only goes up to 4th grade using the Live Ed curriculum and resources.  I felt it was high priced for what you got.  Comes with a Yahoo group and support on line. No one answered or followed up on any my questions of how to adapt or gear lessons for special needs learners.  

The Special Needs Child ACCEPTANCE and Waldorf Education

I am not really sure how Waldorf schools are with their special needs people.  I have seen this refusal to label children or accept labels in the alternative educational schools.  By refusing to label kids with learning disabilities or call a child on the spectrum autistic an educator can do some damage and set a tone for non-acceptance of all the shapes of people in our society.  Teachers need to observe and see.  You can not go into educating with a mind so full of learned facts you can not see what is happening each moment.  Autism does not go away because you are unable or unwilling to call it by it's name. I respect and tolerate educators who do not want to label children by any of the many and over diagnosis conditions that doctors slap on kids today.  However ADD, ADHD, SLD, PPD, ASD and OCD conditions do indeed exist and in my opinion you do a disservice to children by not getting them diagnosed as soon as possible, as this leads to getting them into the therapy and early intervention programs that can help them be all they can be while leading full and productive lives.  Ignoring a thing does not make it go away.  Refusing to call something by it's name and address the behaviors and issues is dangerous and dishonest.  It can also have life long effects on a child.  

I love the Waldorf Method and philosophy of education.  I think I love who Steiner was even more.  Fascinating how his minds in the 1800's came up with and created so much information in education, science and living arts.