After teaching one year of woodwork at the Sandpoint Waldorf School and nearly half way through my second year of the classes, I have learned a lot about how to set my students up for success in learning a new craft and following through with completing their assigned projects. I work with the 5th through 8th grade and this year have begun a short, weekly class with the kindergarten Elderberries. To give a brief list of the projects, the Elderberries are making toy swords, the 5th grade spatulas and Dala horses, the 6th grade spoons, bows and arrows, the 7th grade three legged stools and the 8th grade carved bowls and shrink containers.
Now that the golden leaves are fading and the days grow shorter and colder, we have the opportunity to cultivate our inner summer, to nourish our inner light. Autumn and winter give us time to pause and turn inward to reassess our actions, to think about the direction of our lives, to reach out to others with warmth of heart, to count our blessings. We celebrate this inner light in a variety of ways in Waldorf education. Just as Michaelmas was the harbinger of Autumn, we have several heralds of Winter, each one created to meet specific ages at our school.
I wanted to thank the school and staff for bringing Diana Graber to speak to Sandpoint about Cyber Civics. As a parent of four children, ages 15, 13, 9, and 3, I was very interested in her topic!
One of my favorite aspects of Ms. Graber’s approach was how respectful it was to our teens and pre-teens. The world is filled with technology, and whether you restrict your children from it or not, they will encounter it. Just like other challenging subjects that tend to come up as our children rise toward adulthood (like sex), it’s best to be honest with them and give them the right amount of accurate information for their age. By entrusting them with the truth, respecting them enough to be honest, and being vulnerable about our concerns (and yes, fears!) in their best interest, we put them in a wonderful position to make healthy, confident choices.
