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How to Create Inspiring Learning Space in your Home

Submitted by Lindsay Machak on Thu, 04/23/2020 - 10:55am

Set your student up for success by creating a learning space that excites your child and helps them dive into learning each day.

Waldorf classrooms are designed specifically to accommodate student development and welcome learning. While classrooms emanate warmth and are designed specifically for children we know an exact classroom replication isn’t a possibility for many parents engaged in distance learning.

However, there are ways to create a space that will inspire your child to be creative and stir up excitement for projects each day.

Digital Divide: Keeping Balance in Distance Learning

Submitted by Lindsay Machak on Thu, 04/16/2020 - 2:07pm

Our teaching staff is using creative solutions to keep a balance between screen time and other educational activities based on developmental capacities.

On any regular school day a guest could walk into the Waldorf School of Baltimore and find children engaged in activities from reading to playing string instruments to exploring the great outdoors.

What guests won’t see are children glued to screens – in fact, a guest would be hard-pressed to find a screen at all. The school embraces slow technology and is screen-free during the school day on the Pre-K through eighth grade campus. As the school transitioned to distance learning, continuing to be conscious of developmental needs is a continued, top priority for the school during this time said Executive Director Pat Whitehead.

Parenting Advice: Mindfulness And Remembering To RAIN

Submitted by Communications on Fri, 04/10/2020 - 1:29pm
Trees and blue sky

Our guest blogger and school counselor, Christa Marvenko-Athas, has some useful insight for coping with our feelings during this stressful time. Take a look at her simple mindfulness practice.

During highly stressful times I find it difficult to stay grounded in the present, although that is one of the best ways of coping with the stress response. Tara Brach, a psychologist, author, and proponent of Buddhist meditation, explains the use of the acronym RAIN as an easy-to-remember tool for practicing mindfulness.  I recommend creating reminders to take moments throughout your day and take a moment to:  

R – Recognize what is going on. 
A – Allow the experience to just be there.  
I – Investigate with interest, care, and kindness
N – Nurture with love and compassion

Helping Your Child Find Joy in Independent Play

Submitted by Lindsay Machak on Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:43pm

During this hectic time, children can be ushered into developing valuable life skills.

Allowing children to have ample amounts of self-directed, independent play is part of our Children’s Garden daily rhythms. Waldorf children are able to develop imagination while working through challenges with free play during their earliest developmental years and experts say these skills can last a lifetime.

Digital School Spirit Week

Submitted by Communications on Thu, 04/02/2020 - 5:59pm

 

Digital School Spirit Week

Don’t let distance learning completely disconnect you from our community. Next week we will be taking part in a second spirit week in an effort to bring us back together digitally.

Take a look at the list below and snap a photo each day and send them to Lindsay: Lmachak@twsb.org

At the end of the week she’ll post a gallery on our website and across social media platforms.

Children Processing Current Pandemic Through Play

Submitted by Lindsay Machak on Thu, 04/02/2020 - 11:41am

Experts say children who are openly talking about the worldwide pandemic are having a normal, healthy response.

If your child is casually mentioning COVID-19 in their day to day activities, you shouldn’t be alarmed, experts told The Atlantic.

Parenting Advice: Navigating Distance Learning Feelings and Emotion

Submitted by Communications on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 11:28am
School Counselor, Christa Marvenko-Athas

Our guest blogger and school counselor, Christa Marvenko-Athas, has some useful insight for coping with our feelings during this stressful time. Take a look at her suggestions of how to approach this unprecedented situation at home.

As we all are determining how to manage our lives, obligations, and feelings regarding the coronavirus, it is important to consider we are being flooded with information regarding COVID-19.  This information is upsetting, concerning, and scary; our fight-or-flight responses are being activated not only daily, but also for days on end.

With each new piece of information most of us experience mounting stress.  In response to acute stress a cascade of stress hormones are produced in the body, which produces physiological change.  We are not meant to sustain this high level of fight-or-flight for long periods as this can create problems of its own.  Many of us are not only managing this stress response in ourselves but also in our children.  As we continue to face this challenge, I feel it is important to focus on a counter measure to this fight-or-flight response in order to calm the body, the mind, each other, and our children, and stay in touch with our strength and resilience.

An Eighth Grader Interviews her Grandmother - Fairy Grass Jelly and Chicken Nuggets

Submitted by Communications on Mon, 12/02/2019 - 9:54am

Over Thanksgiving break, each eighth grade student interviewed a grandparent, or other beloved elder, and wrote out the answers to some twenty questions about his or her childhood. When they returned to language arts class, they wrote extensive descriptive essays based on their interviews. Take a look at this interview from Abigail S.:

My Grandma

Stepping On Stage

Submitted by Lindsay Machak on Fri, 11/15/2019 - 10:14am

Class plays teach life skills and invigorate subject lessons as an important part of Waldorf education. Find out why class plays are an important part of Waldorf education.

Parent Chat: The Talk: October 16th, Tamarind Hall 6:30 pm

Submitted by Communications on Thu, 10/03/2019 - 12:30pm

Mark your calendars for The Talk: October 16th, Tamarind Hall 6:30 pm

Today, children often get introduced to sexual themes earlier and earlier. It is a challenge to figure out how to create an open environment at home to have honest, age-appropriate, and value based conversation about human sexuality. We believe that adults need to lead the conversations, not media or peers.