Anthroposophy ~TRAILER FOR SEASON 3~
This trailer was so fun to create and so different than any episode I've done before.
I am most excited to announce the theme for season 3 which is.... Anthroposophy! It's a huge topic, but something I've really wanted to do a deep dive in for a while.
To give you a quick explanation of the relationship between anthroposophy and Waldorf education, I make a comparison of anthroposophy being like a tree. Waldorf education is like a branch of that tree. Then there are other things that the founder of Waldorf education Rudolf Steiner had developed views on as well. Things like biodynamic farming, social finance, medicine, and these are things that would also be branches on that anthroposophy tree.
If you want a good overall introduction to anthroposophy I recommend going back and listening to episode 101, "What is Anthroposophy?".
I mention in this trailer that although I want to give you all the clearest, simplest, most in depth information about anthroposophy, know that some of what I'll cover in this season I may not agree with or subscribe to. Some of Steiner's ideas are really interesting, and some are really out there. Just know that I am not by any means prescribing anything we're discussing.
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Most of this trailer, after announcing and speaking about the theme for season 3, I spend answering listener questions. There were over 50 awesome questions submitted. I was not obviously able to get to all of them. I did take a good variety of questions to answer and I hope you enjoy the responses! Some questions I knew right away how to answer, a few I had to reach out to other sources to get clear on before I spoke about them. So below I've included the resources that I mention in this episode as a way to connect you with even more information surrounding each question.
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RESOURCES:
Before even announcing the theme for this 3rd season of the show I answer a question, "What the best first reads for those new to Steiner's work?" I did reach out to Annie of thechildisthecurriculum.com to answer this one. She mentions, "The Child's Changing Consciousness" being the easiest of Steiner's work to pick up but also, "Kingdom of Childhood" being a great read if you're about to enter homeschooling first grade.
A listener asked "I'd love to hear more about Waldorf special needs." There are two great resources in reference to this question. One is the extra lesson.
Another resource relating to this question is the Camp Hill Movement. Both the extra lesson and the Camp Hill movement I'm hoping to speak about more in depth in episodes this season.
A few times in this trailer, while answering questions I speak about Respectful Parenting or the RIE Parenting method. Here are my favorite resources in reference to Respectful Parenting.
"Your Self Confident Baby: How To Encourage Your Child's Natural Abilities -- From The Very Start", by Magda Gerber and Allison Johnson.
Janet Lansbury's podcast "Unruffled".
"Elevating Childcare: A Guide To Respectful Parenting", by Janet Lansbury
"No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame", by Janet Lansbury
More than once, but definitely relating to discipline and creating a healthy play space I reference Kim John Payne's book, "Simplicity Parenting", which I strongly recommend.
Also in speaking about creating a Waldorf playroom or play space I reference to posts that I wrote, one about why everything is made of natural materials in a Waldorf classroom. The other is about the intentional use of color in the Waldorf classroom.
A listener asks for resources pertaining to implementing Waldorf in their home and for starting their own Waldorf playgroup. I recommended, the book, "You Are Your Child's First Teacher", by Rahima Baldwin Dancy. Particularly for starting a playgroup or starting a Waldorf home childcare I recommended the LifeWays North America site. It's also just a great parent resource.
I loved that a listener asked if I could do an episode about warmth. I don't think that there's quite enough for a full episode on this but I did find this great article that goes more in depth on this topic.
Another great question was about how to create "Waldorf" birthday traditions. I recommended two books relating to this. "Through The Rainbow", by Lou Harvey Zarhra, and "The Birthday Book: Celebrations For Everyone", by Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-Clinton, and Marije Rowing.
A listener also asked about ways to deal with tantrums. Here's a link to a list of some posts by Janet Lansbury about tantrums. I really like her approach.
