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  • RUDOLF STEINER
  • OTHER AUTHORS
  • EDUCATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENTRUDOLF STEINER

    BALANCE IN TEACHING

    BALANCE IN TEACHING

    Speaking to the teachers at the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart, Steiner asserts that the unfortunate presence of dishonesty and alienation in society today cannot be addressed without a completely renewed and holistic education. He states fact that successful teaching requires a living synthesis of the "spiritual gymnast", the "ensouled rhetorician" and the "intellectual professor". Of these, the formative effect of the rhetorician's cultivation of artistic speech is the most important.

    THE CHILD'S CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS

    THE CHILD'S CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS

    As the Basis of Pedagogical Practice

    These lectures are ideal for anyone first approaching Waldorf education. Using language that any teacher or parent can understand, Steiner goes into the essentials of his educational philosophy, providing many examples and anecdotes to convey his meaning. Against the background of the developing child, he allows the curriculum and the method of teaching to emerge as the commonsense conclusion of practical experience.

    DISCUSSIONS WITH TEACHERS

    DISCUSSIONS WITH TEACHERS

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    Steiner does not prescribe specific methods but introduces topics and situations, giving guidelines and allocating practical assignments that are taken up and discussed in the next session. In this way, the discussions are filled with insights and indications in many different areas of teaching - history, geography, botany, zoology, form drawing and mathematics. These fifteen discussions constitute an essential part of the basic training material for Waldorf teachers.

    EDUCATING CHILDREN TODAY

    EDUCATING CHILDREN TODAY

    "Vague and general phrases... cannot provide the basis for a genuine art of education, which depends on real knowledge of the human being. It is not that such phrases are wrong, but that they are as useless as saying that all parts of a machine must be made to work together harmoniously. To make a machine work you have to apply real, detailed knowledge, not phrases and truisms. For the art of education likewise, what is important is specific insight into the way the human being is constituted, and how each aspect develops."

    EDUCATION

    EDUCATION

    An Introductory Reader

    Compiled with an introduction, commentary and notes by Christopher Clouder

    A social basis for education; The spirit of the Waldorf school; Educational methods based on anthroposophy; The child at play; Teaching from a foundation of spiritual insight and education in the light of spiritual science; The adolescent after the fourteenth year; Science, art, religion and morality; The spiritual grounds of education; The role of caring in education; The roots of education and the kingdom of childhood; Address at a parents' evening; Education in the wider social context.

    EDUCATION AS A FORCE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

    EDUCATION AS A FORCE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

    Rudolf Steiner discusses themes relating to education and social life.

    EDUCATION FOR ADOLESCENTS

    EDUCATION FOR ADOLESCENTS

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    In these eight talks on education for adolescent-aged young people, Steiner addressed the teachers of the first Waldorf school two years after it was first opened. An upper school was needed, and Steiner wanted to provide a foundation for study and a guide for teachers already familiar with his approach to the human being, child development, and education based on spiritual science.

    EDUCATION FOR SPECIAL NEEDS

    EDUCATION FOR SPECIAL NEEDS

    The Curative Education Course

    ‘Essentially we do not really have the right to talk about normality or abnormality in a child’s inner life, nor indeed in the inner life of human beings altogether... One does not gain much from such labelling, and the first thing to happen should be that the physician or the teacher rejects such an assessment, and goes further than saying that something is clever or sensible according to the way people are habitually thinking.’ – Rudolf Steiner

    EDUCATION OF THE CHILD

    EDUCATION OF THE CHILD

    and Early Lectures on Education

    A fundamental collection of Steiner's early writings and lectures on Waldorf education including his essential essay, "Education of the Child in the Light of Spiritual Science".

    THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION

    THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    Paperback

    Torin M. Finser (from the introduction): “Some months before giving the lectures contained in this volume, Steiner spoke in England on the theme of karmic relationships. In fact, The Essentials of Education is embedded in his concurrent work on karmic relationships in that the educational lectures were given from April 8 to 11, “bookended” by a karmic lecture on the sixth and twelfth of April in Dornach, Switzerland. Themes, such as human relationships, biography and temperaments, the influences of Sun and Moon, the need to see beyond the sense-perceptible, and much more were developed in great detail in the karmic lectures, and they are echoed in the lectures on education in Stuttgart and Bern.

    FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER

    FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER

    Volumes 1 & 2

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    The Waldorf School movement has its roots in the chaotic period following the First World War. Struggling to create the first school, Rudolf Steiner worked on every detail. Lesson plans, religious education, school hours, course resources, administration, finance, child study; no aspect of school life was beyond his attention.

    THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE

    THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE

    Formerly entitled The Study of Man, this lecture course, newly translated for this series, contains some of the most remarkable and significant lectures ever given by Rudolf Steiner. They include his most concise and detailed account of the nature of the human being, and are therefore absolutely central to anyone seeking to understand anthroposophy and the anthroposophical view of the world.

    GENIUS OF LANGUAGE

    GENIUS OF LANGUAGE

    Observations for Teachers

    Rudolf Steiner demonstrates how history and psychology combine to form different languages and how the inmost kernel of language can be accessed today.

    HUMAN VALUES IN EDUCATION

    HUMAN VALUES IN EDUCATION

    The underlying thesis of these lectures, volume 20 in the "Foundations of Waldorf Education" series, is that true education must be based on knowledge of the whole human being and that such knowledge cannot be attained without love. On this basis, Steiner presents his understanding of every aspect of child development - bodily, psychological, and spiritual. At the same time, he shows that, to prove worthy of their calling, teachers must begin a process of inner development. In Steiner's view, it is human beings who give value and meaning to the world. Modern education, however, is gradually undermining this meaning. These lectures demonstrate that education can heal that lack of meaning and restore the meaning of humankind for the world.

    THE KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD

    THE KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    Perhaps because they were given to pioneers dedicated to opening a new Waldorf school, these talks have been considered one of the best introductions to Waldorf education. Steiner shows how essential it is for teachers to work first upon themselves to transfrom their inherent gifts, and to use humour to keep their teaching lively and imaginative. Above all, he stresses the tremendous importance of doing everything with the knowledge that the child is a citizen of both the spiritual and earthly worlds. Throughout, he returns to the practical value of Waldorf education.

    MODERN ART OF EDUCATION

    MODERN ART OF EDUCATION

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    These lectures comprise one of the most comprehensive introductions to Rudolf Steiner's philosophy, psychology, and practice of education.

    PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR TEACHERS

    PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR TEACHERS

    How do Waldorf teachers put their educational ideals into practice in the classroom? How does a teacher connect geography and art and language in a way that enlivens the souls of children? What does a child's respect for the teacher mean for later life? These are only a few practical aspects of this initial course for Waldorf teachers.

    THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION

    THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION

    14 lectures, Basel, April 20-May 16, 1920 (CW 301)

    RHYTHMS OF LEARNING

    RHYTHMS OF LEARNING

    (Revised second edition) Introduction by Roberto Trostli

    What Waldorf Education Offers Children, Parents, and Teachers

    “The primary task of a Waldorf teacher is to understand the human being in body, soul, and spirit. The approach, the curriculum, and the methods of an education that can address the whole child will grow from this understanding.” —Roberto Trostli

    THE ROOTS OF EDUCATION

    THE ROOTS OF EDUCATION

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    The Essentials of Education, together with its companion The Roots of Education (given three days later), present a remarkable synthesis of Waldorf education for teachers, parents, and anyone interested in education. The Waldorf experiment had matured over the five years since its founding into an established, concrete reality. Rudolf Steiner had guided the school from its beginning, observing very closely all that had happened. Thus, in these lectures, he was able to distil and present the essentials of Waldorf education with elegance and urgency.

    RUDOLF STEINER IN THE WALDORF SCHOOL

    RUDOLF STEINER IN THE WALDORF SCHOOL

    Lectures and Addresses to Children, Parents, and Teachers

    Readers will find here a unique glimpse of what Steiner was really like, and how he viewed the school and the educational philosophy he brought into being.

    SOUL ECONOMY AND WALDORF EDUCATION

    SOUL ECONOMY AND WALDORF EDUCATION

    These lectures constitute one of the most important educational cycles, with separate lectures on the following phases of child development: before the 7th year, 7-10, the 10th year, 10-14, and adolescents after 14.

    THE SPIRIT OF THE WALDORF SCHOOL

    THE SPIRIT OF THE WALDORF SCHOOL

    These lectures surrounding the opening of the first Waldorf School provide an excellent, inspiring introduction to the Waldorf spirit and method.

    THE SPIRITUAL GROUND OF EDUCATION

    THE SPIRITUAL GROUND OF EDUCATION

    'Foundations of Waldorf Education' series

    Given during a conference on spiritual values in education and attended by many prominent people of the time, Steiner's Oxford lectures gave him a rare opportunity to present the principles of Waldorf education at the highest cultural level.

    STUDY OF MAN

    STUDY OF MAN

    General Education Course

    Although these lectures were given to teachers as preparatory material, they are by no means concerned only with education. Study of Man is Steiner's most succinct presentation of his human-centred spiritual psychology, accessible to anyone interested in the riddles of human existence. His approach is unique in that it takes account not only of influences working into humanity from the past, but also of future states of consciousness and being.

    WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY 1

    WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY 1

    Public Lectures 1921-1922

    The first of two volumes of Steiner's public lectures on Waldorf education deals with the role of health and illness in education and the major phases in child development.

    WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY 2

    WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY 2

    Public Lectures 1921-1922

    Themes include education and the moral life, eurythmy, and moral and physical education.

    WHAT IS WALDORF EDUCATION?

    WHAT IS WALDORF EDUCATION?

    Three Lectures

    With an Introduction by Stephen Keith Sagarin

    This is a reader-friendly Waldorf "taster," with three public lectures by Rudolf Steiner on Waldorf education and a thought provoking, accessible introduction by a Waldorf teacher and longtime student of Steiner's pedagogy. These lectures by Steiner present what he sees as the "fundamentals" in a matter-of-fact, objective, non-dogmatic way. The introduction, wide-ranging and informative, treats Waldorf education and methodology in general, explaining that, before all else, a Waldorf School is a good school. This is a must-read for anyone involved with, connected to or interested in Waldorf education.

    THE WORLD OF FAIRY TALES

    THE WORLD OF FAIRY TALES

    “Fairy tales and sagas are comparable to a good angel, granted human beings as a companion from birth on their life’s wanderings, to be a trustworthy comrade throughout—offering comradeship, and making life inwardly into a truly ensouled fairy tale!” - Rudolf Steiner (quoting Karl Julius Schröer)

  • EDUCATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENTOTHER AUTHORS

    ADVENTURES IN STEINER EDUCATION

    ADVENTURES IN STEINER EDUCATION

    An Introduction to the Waldorf Approach

    Brien Masters

    An internationally acknowledged authority in Steiner education, Brien Masters has worked for decades as teacher (both State and Waldorf), teacher trainer, consultant, writer and lecturer. In Adventures in Steiner Education he draws on his rich and varied experience to paint a vivid picture of Waldorf education in practice. Spicing the text with many personal stories and anecdotes, he brings to life the theory behind this increasingly popular educational approach, from the Early Years through to the Lower and Upper Schools. This lively book serves not only as an informative and entertaining introduction, but also as a helpful refresher course for those seeking to become fully acquainted with the basic principles of Steiner Education.

    AN INTRODUCTION TO STEINER EDUCATION

    AN INTRODUCTION TO STEINER EDUCATION

    The Waldorf School

    Francis Edmunds

    'To educate youth ... is to ennoble the mind, to fire the imagination, to fortify the will and to quicken initiative for life.' So writes Francis Edmunds in this inspiring, authoritative and popular introduction to Steiner (Waldorf) Education.

    AUTHENTIC PARENTING

    AUTHENTIC PARENTING

    A Four-Temperaments Guide to Your Child and Yourself

    Bari Borsky

    Judith Haney

    Are you finding it difficult to understand your child? Do you feel frustrated because you often end up in an argument but not sure about how you got there? Authentic Parenting can help.

    AUTUMN SONGBOOK

    AUTUMN SONGBOOK

    Seasonal Verses, Poems and Songs for Children, Parents and Teachers

    An Anthology for Family, School, Festivals and Fun!

    Sally Schweizer

    This treasure trove of an anthology is full to the brim with songs and seasonal verses that will delight children and encourage them to sing and play. Illustrated throughout with colour images, the Autumn Songbook features five thematic sections: ‘Animals and Birds’, ‘Farming-Harvest’, ‘Festivals & Related Themes’, ‘Weather’, and ‘Spooks, Riddles & Odd Things’. Providing ample material for teachers and parents, the book also includes selections of rhyming words, commentary on the significance of repetition, rhythm and beat, suggestions for incorporating movement and gesture, and practical teaching and parenting tips.

    THE BURNING BUSH

    THE BURNING BUSH

    Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy, and the Holy Scriptures: Terms & Phrases

    3rd revised edition

    Edward Reaugh Smith

    More significant for Christianity than the twentieth-century Dead Sea and Nag Hammadi discoveries is the growing North American awareness of Rudolf Steiner's works. No Bible commentary has yet reflected the remarkable spiritual insights of Anthroposophy. In The Burning Bush, Edward Reaugh Smith combines his own extensive traditional biblical knowledge with his years of concentrated study and reflection on hundreds of assembled works by Steiner. The result is the first Bible commentary in the light of anthroposophic insight.This volume is based on the anthroposophic understanding given to humanity by Rudolf Steiner during the first twenty-five years of the twentieth century. The dramatic newness of anthroposophic thought means that the usual method of Bible commentary is not appropriate here. Much of The Burning Bush is devoted to laying an anthroposophic, or spiritual-scientific, groundwork. A major assumption indulged in most Bible commentaries—that one can go directly to portions dealing with given passages of scripture and understand what is being said about them—does not fit.

    THE CHILD AS A SENSE ORGAN

    THE CHILD AS A SENSE ORGAN

    An Anthroposphic Understanding of the Imitation Processes

    Peter Selg

    “Because children’s ability to observe and perceive is unconscious, one does not notice how intensely and deeply the impressions coming from the surroundings enter their organization—not so much by way of various specific senses as through the general ‘sensory being’ of the child. It is generally known that the formation of the brain and of the nerves is completed by the change of teeth. During the first seven years, children’s nerve-and-sense organization, in its plasticity, could be likened to soft wax. During this time, not only do children receive the finest and most intimate impressions from the surroundings, but also, through the working of energy in the nerve-and-sense system, everything received unconsciously radiates and flows into the blood circulation, into the firmness and reliability of the breathing process, into the growth of the tissues, and into the formation of the muscles and skeleton. By means of the nerve-and-sense system, the body of children becomes like an imprint of the surroundings and, particularly, of the morality inherent in them.” —Rudolf Steiner
    (Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy 2, p. 68)

    CHILDHOOD

    CHILDHOOD

    A Study of the Growing Child

    Caroline von Heydebrand

    Caroline von Heydebrand, a teacher in the first Waldorf school, traces human development through childhood. She describes the spirit and soul as the child incarnates and how the individual comes to expression in various ways, including the particular temperament; the unique formative forces that give shape to the physical body; the development of consciousness; natural transitions in the child's life; and the child's destiny and relationship to the world.

    THE DEVELOPING CHILD

    THE DEVELOPING CHILD

    Sense and Nonsense in Education

    Willi Aeppli

    This experienced Waldorf teacher allows us to enter his classroom and gain insights that serve as valuable guides for both parents and educators. Aeppli also presents a challenge to teachers: penetrate the subject, grasp its essence, transform it artistically, and present it to the children in a way that fits their evolving inner orientation. This fresh approach is not just another theory about good education. Aeppli writes out of practical experience with the intention of sending young adults into the world who can stand on their own two feet and accept responsibility for their own actions.

    THE DIGNITY OF THE YOUNG CHILD, VOL. 1

    THE DIGNITY OF THE YOUNG CHILD, VOL. 1

    How can we keep the young child healthy?

    Care and up-bringing in the first three years of life

    Michaela Glöckler

    Claudia Grah-Wittich

    New and successful insights for the care and raising of the child in the first three years of life.

    A DROP OF LIGHT

    A DROP OF LIGHT

    Educating for the A-ha Moment

    Liz Attwell

    with contributions by Josie Alwyn and Catherine Fenton

    A-ha!

    EDUCATION FOR NONVIOLENCE

    EDUCATION FOR NONVIOLENCE

    The Waldorf Way

    Torin M. Finser PhD

    Education for Nonviolence describes how we can actually do something about our increasingly violent world. Few in the media draw a clear connection between the all-too-frequent tragedies we hear and read about in the news each day and the way as parents and teachers we raise and educate our children. Abstract concepts, rote learning, and standardized tests cannot develop the emotional and social intelligence our children need later in life to build relationships, contribute to society, and succeed in the workplace. The author describes how Waldorf independent and charter schools provide much-needed pathways toward wholeness—sensory and nature-based education; the arts; character education; community building; traditions of hospitality; meeting the needs of boys...to name just a few of the topics covered in this book.

    EDUCATION IN SEARCH OF THE SPIRIT

    EDUCATION IN SEARCH OF THE SPIRIT

    Essays on American Education

    John Fentress Gardner

    Real education will always seek to strengthen what is best in the human soul: its longing for the experience of spiritual truth that brings into the self an objective appreciation of the noble aspects of its own nature, together with a subjective sense of real affinity with the rest of humanity, the earth planet as a whole, and the great cosmos above and beyond.

    ENCOUNTERING THE SELF

    ENCOUNTERING THE SELF

    Transformation and Destiny in the Ninth Year

    Hermann Koepke

    A lucid explanation of events in the life of a child between the ninth and tenth year, a time when the ego incarnates more deeply.

    THE ESSENCE OF WALDORF EDUCATION

    THE ESSENCE OF WALDORF EDUCATION

    Peter Selg

    "It is a simple but essential principle: education aims at the future, at a time that we as educators do not yet know and cannot foresee. The challenges that will confront the children in the future are not those of the past - of our past, of our life story and our horizon. Times change, so do the realities of life, and in our times they change quickly and dramatically. Education aims at the future and that puts us as educators in a difficult situation: this future is not - or is only to an extent - identical with our past, with our life experiences. My youth, your youth: they are not identical with the adolescent constitution and life reality toward which we currently have to direct our educational efforts. Yet educate we must, and educating means preparing for a future." - Peter Selg (from the book)

    THE FALSE DOOR BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

    THE FALSE DOOR BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH

    Supporting Grieving Students, Teachers, and Parents

    Torin M. Finser

    When a school community loses a child, parent, or teacher, the experience can be devastating to the whole community. Few things in life can prepare anyone for such a tragedy. Teachers and parents often struggle with how to speak with the children and may have important questions, such as:
    What is the best way to work with grief?
    What happens after death?
    How can we stay connected?
    Working through shock, grief, and even depression is a necessary step in life following a death in one’s community.

    A GRAND METAMORPHOSIS

    A GRAND METAMORPHOSIS

    Contributions to the Spiritual-Scientific Anthropology and Education of Adolescents

    Peter Selg

    "A tumultuous situation arises in the relationship between the adolescent...and the world. This tumultuous situation is necessary, and as teachers, we need to have it in mind during the years leading up to it. Overly sensitive teachers might get the idea that it would be better to spare young people this upheaval. However, in so doing, they would make themselves the worst enemy of youth." - Rudolf Steiner.

    HEAVEN ON EARTH

    HEAVEN ON EARTH

    A Handbook for Parents of Young Children

    Sharon Oppenheimer

    Photography by Stephanie Gross

    As we witness the shifting of old forms that once stood as the foundation of our daily lives, parents - who must prepare the next generation to meet this changing world - have more questions now than ever before. Although our culture and the nature of the family may be changing, the atmosphere in the home continues to create the foundation of a child's life. In Heaven on Earth, parent and educator Sharifa Oppenheimer reveals how to make the home environment warm, lively, loving, and consistent with your highest ideals.

    HOW THE FUTURE CAN SAVE US

    HOW THE FUTURE CAN SAVE US

    Fresh Perspectives on Waldorf Education: Principles, Methods, Curriculum

    Stephen Keith Sagarin, PhD

    “Education prepares us for an unknown, uncertain future. Conformity, convention, and a lack of creative thinking and action will not serve us fully to face this future. We cannot know, and can only guess, what the future will bring, and we educate truly when we educate for inspiration—for insight and creativity—in the face of the unknown. We aim not to define our students, not to pigeonhole them according to our own inevitably partial and too-narrow view of the world they will inhabit and make. We aim to educate them while leaving them free to rebel, not for no reason, but for a reason, for a cause.” —StephenSagarin (from the introduction)

    I AM DIFFERENT FROM YOU

    I AM DIFFERENT FROM YOU

    How Children Experience Themselves and the World in the Middle of Childhood

    Peter Selg

    In many of his lectures to teachers on education, Rudolf Steiner called attention to a significant but often overlooked change in the way children experience themselves and the world that occurs in the middle of childhood, in the ninth or tenth year. "There comes a time when children show, not in what they say but in their whole behaviour, that they are struggling with a question or a number of questions that indicates a crisis in their soul life. It is a very subtle experience for the child that requires an equally subtle response."

    MILLENNIAL CHILD

    MILLENNIAL CHILD

    Transforming Education in the Twenty-First Century

    Eugene Schwartz

    Today’s children are like an endangered species. Many have lost their childhood and have been prematurely thrust into the confusing and chaotic world of the adults. Schwartz points to the radically new paradigm of childhood development offered by Waldorf education. Parents, teachers and child psychologists will find here a wealth of insight concerning educational questions.

    ON THE THRESHOLD OF ADOLESCENCE

    ON THE THRESHOLD OF ADOLESCENCE

    The Struggle for Independence in the Twelfth Year

    Hermann Koepke

    This book tells the story of how Suzanne, a young Waldorf teacher, struggles with the changes her class is going through. The problems she and parents must deal with are familiar to all parents - drug use, smoking, lack of responsiveness, rebelliousness, and moodiness.

    PARABLES

    PARABLES

    Torin M. Finser

    “One could say that a parable contains a larger lesson in a bite-sized portion. Using other words, a parable is a simple short story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.... The word parable can be traced back to Middle English and Old French origins as parabole and to the ecclesiastical Latin sense of parabola, meaning “discourse, allegory, or comparison.”... Parables use comparison, allegory, imagery, analogy, or a short story to convey a larger meaning.” (from the book)

    RECOGNIZING REALITY

    RECOGNIZING REALITY

    Youth Education in a Time of Global Crisis

    Peter Selg

    “[Children and young people] should know—and really sense and feel—that viruses are not ‘evil’ but a part of our organism, of our organic ‘self,’ and that also the group of mutable coronaviruses has been known for many years; we also live with them and deal with them, especially in the upper respiratory tract, although not with SARS-CoV-2, which is a new challenge for the human immune system, though not quite as new as initially assumed.” — Peter Selg

    SCHOOL AS A JOURNEY

    SCHOOL AS A JOURNEY

    The Eight-Year Odyssey of a Waldorf Teacher and His Class

    Torin M. Finser

    A lively, colourful, absorbing account of one Waldorf teacher's journey with his class through the curriculum from first through eighth grades. A moving story, told in a straightforward, anecdotal, humorous style, it is an excellent introduction to what goes on inside the classroom of a Waldorf school.

    SCHOOL RENEWAL

    SCHOOL RENEWAL

    A Spiritual Journey for Change

    Torin M. Finser

    In today's educational crisis, many people are coming to realize that there is far more to a school than imparting knowledge and skills and administering tests. Schools are communities, and like all communities, they can be healthy or unhealthy. School Renewal speaks to the problems and challenges of developing healthy schools. Using mythology, personal experience, and his research, Torin Finser describes how teachers and parents can handle such common problems as burnout, organizational stress, interpersonal conflict, and change.

    A SECOND CLASSROOM

    A SECOND CLASSROOM

    Parent-Teacher Relationships in a Waldorf School

    Torin M. Finser

    What does a healthy, successful school look like? Is it all about measurable outcomes, test scores, and pass/fail grades set by the government? Can learning be quantified in short-term measurements or does real learning take years to manifest in a career or biography. All seem to agree that a healthy school is also a community and that community depends on the quality of relationships—chiefly the relationships among students, teachers, and parents.

    SEX EDUCATION AND THE SPIRIT

    SEX EDUCATION AND THE SPIRIT

    Understanding Our Communal Responsibility for the Healthy Development of Gender and Sexuality within Society

    Lisa Romero

    A healthy relationship to gender and sexuality supports our well-being, both as individuals and as a community. The form of sex education that we bring to children and adolescents not only needs to combat the inner disturbances and imbalances created by social media and exposure to pornography—as the most prevalent sources of implicit sex-education in our time—but it also needs to serve them in cultivating useful capacities with which to meet the growing societal changes around this fundamental aspect of being human.

    SILENCE IS COMPLICITY

    SILENCE IS COMPLICITY

    A Call to Let Teachers Improve Our Schools through Action Research - Not NCLB (No Child Left Behind)

    Torin M. Finser, Ph.D.

    What if the voices of our teachers were truly heard in today's public discourse? Teachers work with children everyday and have always understood intuitively the materials and curriculum needed. Teacher research, however, allows teachers to go beyond intuitive understanding to a level of documented inquiry that can stand the light public scrutiny in publications, news media, workshops, and town meetings.

    SOLVING THE RIDDLE OF THE CHILD

    SOLVING THE RIDDLE OF THE CHILD

    The Art of Child Study

    Christof Wiechert

    It may be a truism to say that every teacher should make efforts to understand his pupils. Our real understanding, after all, can be a sure foundation and support for children’s whole development; and without this our lessons will be a random undertaking that connects with our pupils, at best, only in a superficial way. A skilled teacher seeks to understand his pupils so that he can raise learning beyond mere compulsion or drill. It was Rudolf Steiner’s ideal that the weekly pedagogical meetings in Waldorf schools should support teachers’ continually developing insight into their pupils. He exhorted them to ‘become psychologists’ but did not mean this in the commonly understood sense. He himself demonstrated this ‘art of evolving insight’ in the faculty meetings in which he participated on many occasions. One can say that it is an essential part of the quality of our work as teachers for us to develop these skills of perception, reflection and insight. Christof Wiechert here picks up these suggestions of Steiner’s anew. He elaborates from them the art of the child study as a key tool in nurturing pupils’ development and, at the same time, teachers’ own growing powers of insight. In short, the approach described here can enliven the educational and social dimensions of a whole school community.

    SPRING SONGBOOK

    SPRING SONGBOOK

    Seasonal Verses, Poems and Songs for Children, Parents and Teachers

    An Anthology for Family, School, Festivals and Fun!

    Sally Schweizer

    This treasure trove of an anthology is full to the brim with songs and seasonal verses that will delight children and encourage them to sing and play. Illustrated throughout with colour images, the Spring Songbook features four thematic sections: ‘Animals and Birds’, ‘Nature’, ‘Dancing and Games’ and ‘International Greetings and Foreign Languages’. Providing ample material for teachers and parents, the book also includes selections of rhyming words, commentary on the significance of repetition, rhythm and beat, suggestions for incorporating movement and gesture, and practical teaching and parenting tips.

    STEINER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES

    STEINER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES

    How Waldorf schooling addresses the problems of society

    Brien Masters

    Is the philosophy by which we choose to educate our children responsible, at least partially, for the attitudes and general tone of our societies? A recent Unicef report on wealthy countries ranked the United States and the United Kingdom at the bottom of a table that measured quality of life for young people across a wide range of headings, including poverty, health, drugs, friendships and happiness. Experts observed that the nations that performed best in the survey have created 'child-friendly' societies in which, for example, young people are not pressured to achieve academically until their teens.

    SUMMER SONGBOOK

    SUMMER SONGBOOK

    Seasonal Verses, Poems and Songs for Children, Parents and Teachers

    An Anthology for Family, School, Festivals and Fun!

    Sally Schweizer

    This treasure trove of an anthology is full to the brim with songs and seasonal verses that will delight children and encourage them to sing and play. Illustrated throughout with colour images, the Summer Songbook features four thematic sections: ‘Animals and Birds’, ‘Nature’, ‘Dancing, Rounds and Games’ and ‘Silly Verses’. Providing ample material for teachers and parents, the book also includes selections of rhyming words, commentary on the significance of repetition, rhythm and beat, suggestions for incorporating movement and gesture, and practical teaching and parenting tips.

    TEACHING AS A LIVELY ART

    TEACHING AS A LIVELY ART

    Marjorie Spock

    The author, an experienced Waldorf teacher and eurythmist, radiates her enthusiasm and sense for beauty as she takes us through the various stages of development of the child. She shows us that nothing can be taught to the child until he or she is ready to receive it. This book will help us approach the child with sensitivity and insight.

    TEACHING, THE JOY OF PROFESSION

    TEACHING, THE JOY OF PROFESSION

    An Invitation to Enhance Your (Waldorf) Interest

    Christof Wiechert

    To be a teacher and teaching children and youngsters is still a wonderful profession: it never gets dull or boring. But it is also a professional life under pressure. Complex demands, a high profile in professionalism, delivering sound results, yet also being attentive to the individual needs and development of the students and helping parents to understand their own child. All this demands from the teacher a multitasking talent. The teacher is constantly serving others, without time for him or herself. Working in this profession you can easily lose your balance – the balance between inner needs and demands put on you by children, their performances, the parents and the school organism as a whole. If that happens, then we grow sour in this delightful profession. This book is a guide to find that balance which means gaining access to more energy.

    THE THERAPEUTIC EYE

    THE THERAPEUTIC EYE

    How Rudolf Steiner Observed Children

    Peter Selg

    Rudolf Steiner's extraordinary ability to perceive the inner nature and development of children provided insights at many levels and areas of the creative learning process. He spoke of this ability as a precondition for all forms of healthy childhood education - including special education - and suggested that teachers should develop such a capacity within themselves.

    TRANSFORMATIONAL TEACHING

    TRANSFORMATIONAL TEACHING

    Waldorf-Inspired Methods in the Public School

    Mary Goral

    Mary Goral explores ways that Waldorf principles can be applied in public schools to educate children for life rather than simply to meet the demands of rigid, one-size-fits-all programmes. She points out ways that Waldorf methods require teachers and parents to engage more fully with students, to practice ways of self-development, and to build a greater sense of community. Using the concrete example of the 'Waldorf-inspired Cadre' - a group of state-school teachers 'who have agreed to go on such a journey, take risks, and learn new skills along with their students' - Dr Goral shows how teachers can bring many of the benefits of Waldorf education into the public setting, with remarkable results.

    UNDER THE SKY

    UNDER THE SKY

    Playing, Working and Enjoying Adventures in the Open Air

    A Handbook for Parents, Carers and Teachers

    Sally Schweizer

    'An uplifting philosophy on childhood and life, and an absolute treasure trove of information for anyone who believes nature and childhood are perfect companions. Sally Schweizer manages to combine magic with common sense in this wonderful book, which is authentic from cover to cover. What she writes with such lively enthusiasm, she has also lived.' - Sally Jenkinson, author of The Genius of Play

    UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN’S DRAWINGS

    UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN’S DRAWINGS

    Tracing the Path of Incarnation

    Michaela Strauss

    It is not uncommon for children’s drawings to end up in the wastepaper basket. Yet these early artistic expressions indicate how children communicate with their environment. From the first scratches and scribbles to the detailed sketches of houses and people, the drawings and paintings of our young ones are significant manifestations of inner processes, containing important statements about their development and gradual incarnation into a physical body.

    THE UNIVERSITY AT THE THRESHOLD

    THE UNIVERSITY AT THE THRESHOLD

    Orientation through Goethean Science

    Nigel Hoffmann

    ‘Concern for the world today provides the impetus to ask of ourselves a profound question… how can our way of knowing, the very style of our thinking which informs our research and our teaching, come to express care, to reveal itself to be a deed and duty of care?’

    WALDORF KINDERGARTEN SNACK BOOK

    WALDORF KINDERGARTEN SNACK BOOK

    Lisa Hildreth

    Illustrated by Jo Valens

    Here is a useful compendium of information, recipes, and anecdotes from Waldorf kindergarten teacher Lisa Hildreth - a rich book for teachers, parents, and anyone who cares for young children.

    THE WALDORF SCHOOL

    THE WALDORF SCHOOL

    An Introduction

    Christof Wiechert

    What is distinctive about Waldorf or Rudolf Steiner schools? How do their pedagogical aims relate to the wide range of educational provision available today? Many people have heard of these schools, but few know much about them.

    THE WAY OF A CHILD

    THE WAY OF A CHILD

    An Introduction to Steiner Education and the Basics of Child Development

    A.C. Harwood

    Pressured by exams and premature academic demands, surrounded by screens and technology, children today face huge challenges. Childhood itself, it could be said, is facing a crisis. Are children in danger of losing their natural imaginative faculties, which are the source of all creative activity in later life? As a society, are we in danger of losing childhood altogether?

    WELL, I WONDER

    WELL, I WONDER

    Childhood in the Modern World

    A Handbook for Parents, Teachers and Carers

    Sally Schweizer

    'Have we come to misunderstand children? Have we forgotten that children's consciousness, their minds, are intrinsically different from ours? And is that why we are trying to train them to become 'adult', rather than realizing we need to relearn our way of thinking in order to understand children?'

    WINTER SONGBOOK

    WINTER SONGBOOK

    Seasonal Verses, Poems and Songs for Children, Parents and Teachers

    An Anthology for Family, School, Festivals and Fun!

    Sally Schweizer

    This treasure trove of an anthology is full to the brim with songs and seasonal verses that will delight children and encourage them to sing and play. Illustrated throughout with colour images, the Winter Songbook features four thematic sections: ‘Christmas’, ‘Winter Indoors’, ‘Wintry Weather’ and ‘Winter Outdoors’. Providing ample material for teachers and parents, the book also includes selections of rhyming words, commentary on the significance of repetition, rhythm and beat, suggestions for seasonal stories, and practical teaching and parenting tips.

    WITH STARS IN THEIR EYES

    WITH STARS IN THEIR EYES

    Brain Science and Your Child’s Journey toward the Self

    Sharifa Oppenheimer

    In this book readers will find not only a heart-filled rendering of the gentle ways young children have been traditionally raised and educated, but also cutting-edge research that supports these practices. With love as the foundation, and through the neural tapestry created by joyful movement, music, art, stories, and play, we feed and bathe the brain of the young child. These deep connections with life are woven together during childhood to become the wholeness we call “I”.

    YOUR REINCARNATING CHILD

    YOUR REINCARNATING CHILD

    Welcoming a Soul to the World

    Dr Gilbert Childs and Sylvia Childs

    The primary contention of this book is that, as a spiritual being, each of us lives beyond death, and eventually returns to earth in a new human body. With this knowledge in mind, the authors give much sound practical advice as to how parents, and others who spend time with children, can welcome a soul to the world and help it grow into a healthy and responsible human being.