Sunday, October 29, 2017

Library Workshop: Waldorf Science and Math Main Lesson Blocks

I'm leading a workshop series at my local public library on progressive education. The sessions will take place on Tuesday evenings from October 3 to December 12 (not including Halloween).

Some of the sessions are on Montessori and some are on Waldorf. Here I will put a corresponding series of blog posts listing what materials I took with me, both to help out other people who may be leading similar workshops and to help me out if I do another set of workshops like these in the future!


Waldorf Science and Math Main Lesson Blocks


This was a great workshop setup. I brought a ton of things and it was so pretty!

One table was covered with a 6 ft long red/purple silk and it held the handouts and general books about Waldorf education and another table was covered with a 6 ft long yellow/green silk and it held books for Science main lesson topics. A long counter held the books for Mathematics main lesson topics (and I included form drawing and form modeling in that category). Our long conference table had a display of various main lesson books on it. Another table held the math gnomes and their silks and gems, my basket of beanbags, plus a full Nature table set-up for Autumn. And, last but not least, there was a table with a pitcher of water, cups, napkins, and snacks.

Here are my notes as to what I brought:


Handouts -- All in PDF Form


Math Gnomes

    basket of beanbags
    wooden treasure box of glass gems
    four math gnomes
    four silks (green = Plus, blue = Minus, yellow = Times, red = Divide)


Nature Table

    orange silk
    bird nest built with some mud in it
    dried sunflower head
    paper wasp nest
    different kinds of pinecones
    different kinds of acorns
    ceramic hedgehog curled up
    wooden bear
    dried teasels
    ceramic mushrooms
    needle felted corn girl
    felt Autumn fairies set (mushroom, autumn leaf, pumpkin, sunflower)


Science Books Display

Also, The Human Being and the Animal World by Roy Wilkinson, Shanleya’s Quest Patterns in Plants Card Game, The Metamorphosis of Plants by Goethe, A Phenomena-Based Physics for Grade 7 and A Phenomena-Based Physics for Grade 8 by Manfred von Mackensen, and Food, Nutrition and Health by Eric Fairman.


Mathematics Books Display

Also, Form Drawing by Hans Niederhauser and Margaret Frohlich, Form Drawing for Better Handwriting, volume 1 by Joen Gladich and Paula Sassi, Beginning with Form Drawing from Live Education!, Geometric Drawing and the Waldorf School Plan by Hermann von Baravalle, Mathematics for Waldorf Homeschoolers grades 1-3 by Barbara Dewey, Teaching Mathematics for First and Second Grades in Waldorf Schools by Ernst Schuberth, Geometry for Sixth Grade by Barbara Dewey, and Making Math Meaningful: 8th Grade Workbook Teacher’s Edition by Jamie York.


General Resources

Also, Will-Developed Intelligence: Handwork & Practical Arts in the Waldorf School by David Mitchell and Patricia Livingston, Resource Guide for Waldorf Teachers Kindergarten to Grade 8 by David Mitchell, and Eric Fairman’s Path of Discovery Series.


A Sprinkling of Books for Early Childhood

And Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures: Movement Enrichment with a Therapeutic Approach for Early Childhood by Nancy Blanning and Laurie Clark. I would also recommend their Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures, volume 2.


Main Lesson Books and Student Work

    Example student rough draft of summary and illustration for MLB
    (math gnome - Minus)

      “Mestr minues was a por man bcus he gav awa.
      evrething and he had nuthing at aol not.
      1 ting bcus he wantd to be felpful!”

      “Mister Minus was a poor man because he gave away everything and he had nothing at all, not one thing, because he wanted to be helpful!”

    Some sample work which I did:

      The gem covered "book in a box" Math Gnomes MLB

      My watercolor pencil drawing of the threefold human being
      head Sun, trunk Moon, hands Stars

    Several brand new Mercurius MLBs: orange, yellow, green, blue

    A large collection of Math and Science main lesson books made by my daughters. Links below are to my blog posts with pictures of the pages of these books. Not all of them have been photographed.



homeschool organization: Becca's plan book, my plan book, box of Lyra Waldorf Selection colored pencils, Prismacolor gold and silver pencils

business materials: business cards, attendance sheet, session topic handout, lending library materials (box storing circulation cards with due dates for books which have been checked out, extra book pockets, extra circulation cards), book group flyers, books for Autumn book group (The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath for early childhood and School as a Journey: The Eight-Year Odyssey of a Waldorf Teacher and His Class for the grades)

This post contains affiliate links to the materials I actually use for homeschooling. I hope you find them helpful. Thank you for your support!




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