Open House Images

It was fun to have so many families at our Open House this past Saturday! And, even though we do this every year, walking through the grades with all that beautiful work on display never gets old. Here are some images from the morning....

1st grade math processes illustrated, and presented in story form, with problems written out too (notice the mistake turned into a flower) ; the 2nd grade room with both math and language arts books, flute cases and poetry on the board.

3rd grade showed multiplication table review, liquid measurement studies and the start of their 'Shelters Around the World' block.

4th grade was full of neighborhood maps and animals and fractions.

One more 4th grade image -- a form drawing precursor the geometry to come in 5th grade. And, the 5th grade room with their Ancient Civilization and Botany books out, as well as a wall of recent watercolor paintings.

6th grade was full of geometry, geology and the Middle Ages.

7th and 8th grades showed off their books together, including drawing, Renaissance and revolutions studies, and human physiology.

Sharing AWSNA's Core Principles and Musings On Waldorf Education's Relevance for Today's World

Edited from a letter originally written by our Head of School for our weekly school newsletter, January 10, 2017:

Dear parents and friends,

Over the holiday I took a big break from all things electronic: no email, phone or movies for 10 days.  Instead, I savored the opportunity to sleep and dream deeply, to exercise hard every day with my family, to eat well (if a tad bit too much!) and to read a lot.  I've been wandering through all kinds of books and seeing threads and connections everywhere I go, which I'll attempt to share over the next weeks and months. 

I have been thinking broadly about the role of education in our lives and in American society and the unique niche that Waldorf education in particular occupies.
Recently, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), of which Madrona School is a developing member school, ratified a new set of guiding principles for all Waldorf Schools.  This document was the product of many hours of work by a broad constituency of representatives from all of our member schools.  I am excited to share it with you here, as it articulates in a newly concise language the core principles underlying our educational philosophy.   I am looking forward to using it increasingly to inform, guide and explain our education.

The second principle particularly caught my eye in writing today.  It says: Waldorf schools foster social renewal by cultivating human capacities in service to the individual and to society.  Waldorf schools foster development so that, throughout life, individuals are motivated to serve humanity with strength of will, depth of feeling and clarity of thought, and the ability to work with others.  The educational program is designed to strengthen these fundamental human capacities in our students.

I am increasingly compelled by this statement because of reading Thomas Friedman's newest book, Thank You for Being Late, in which he sketches the almost unimaginably accelerating changes worldwide in digital connectivity, climate change, and globalization.  Its makes for a fascinating (if sobering) read and I highly recommend it if you are interested in trying to understand the many tectonic shifts that are happening on various fronts simultaneously.  

As I read along, the perpetual question in the back of my mind is: OK, so if all of this is true, how do we educate our children for an unknown and increasingly unknowable future? How can we cultivate in them the qualities of character that they will need to succeed in such a new world order?  Can we actually cultivate the flexibility, resourcefulness, confidence, courage and engagement in lifelong learning that Friedman posits will be increasingly necessary for survival?
While there is much still to wrestle with in this book and how it relates to education, I do see a germ of hope in considering these two things side by side: Waldorf education's mission to cultivate a commitment to the service of humanity paired with the vast and turbulent needs that will be unfolding in new, never-before-imagined ways.  

I don't feel I have all the answers, but this is to me an interesting question: How is our education uniquely preparing the children for the rapidly morphing future?  I'd love to open the question for a wider dialogue.  You have chosen this educational stream for your child.  Would you be willing to share with our community what you perceive to be the merit of this style of education?  I look forward to hearing from you, and sharing your thoughts in newsletters to come.
Sincerely,
Missi
 

Teaching Reading at Madrona School

Excitement over winning the Reading Champions trophy through the public library this summer!

Learning to read can be a real joy and is an important academic milestone in a young student's life. In Waldorf education, we help a child's capacity for reading develop naturally, and offer lots of opportunity to fall in love with words and story.

In an ideal world, young children enjoy exposure to the world of language and literature through their parents. Hopefully, books represent beauty, humor and love to a small child -- they soak in illustrations, they giggle at funny words or at the voices an adult uses to read, they cuddle with a loved one to hear a story -- or five. Reading becomes aspirational, as they see a parent enjoy reading, or that stack of books by an older sibling's bedside. Further, in a Waldorf kindergarten classroom, a reverence for language and for story is reinforced through a daily story told by the teacher, by a ready basket of beautiful books for quiet times, and through ample opportunity for imaginative play, play that lays the groundwork for eventual understanding of abstract concepts.

In grade school, reading instruction is a part of language arts as a whole. In 1st grade, Waldorf education introduces reading through stories. Children discover letter forms out of a story their teacher tells, listening and then drawing, molding and moving through letters and their sounds. In other words, we take a multi-sensory approach, engaging a child auditorially, visually, kinetically, and at heartfelt level.They revel in the unique sounds of a letter as they practice writing simple sentences from the stories they are hearing and the pictures they are drawing. They write letters, then sentences and eventually, longer stories, until one day, it may dawn on them that they are reading what they are writing. Do you remember this eureka moment in your own life?

This unfolding and discovery allows for the love of language and of story to grow. The children work at decoding through phonics and sight word recognition too, but the emphasis remains on comprehension. Stories are told throughout a Waldorf education, and the overall literacy of a student grows with each passing year -- including vocabulary, grammar skills, and cultural and historical knowledge. With such a robust and supple beginning to language arts, Waldorf education actively cultivates space for developing capacity, both in interest and skill. Reading comes from the inside out, and while the time to master the mechanics varies, the intrinsic motivation and engagement with language is indicative of the lifelong joy of choosing to read!

For more, ask your child's teacher, or:
Read this blog post by the Waldorf School of Philadelphia, full of links to recent research in reading instruction, originally posted September 21, 2016: Reading in Waldorf Schools

For a parent's perspective, read Myth Busting: How Reading is Taught in a Waldorf School by Sarah Baldwin, Moon Child blog, originally posted June 6, 2011.

And an excellent article describing more of the art and mystery inherent in the act of learning to read: There's More to Reading Than Meets the Eye by Barbara Sokolov, Renewal, A Journal for Waldorf Education, Vol. 9#1, Spring 2000

Sometimes, reading comes along unusually slowly for children because there are underlying issues such as dyslexia.  When it becomes clear that extra help in mastering the fundamentals of reading are needed, we work with the parents to arrange for supplemental help.  Sometimes this means that a child works with a tutor at school once, twice or more times per week.  This extra help in 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade can make a big difference in a child's confidence and image of themselves as a successful reader.

Madrona School Alphabet (G)

We've reached the letter 'G' in our alphabetic journey to celebrate what makes a Madrona School education unique  ... and Graduates!

From a 1st grader's main lesson book, the beginning of a school journey...

From time to time, we have the pleasure of checking in with some of our alumni. They truly are the best representatives of all that makes Waldorf education unique. Our graduates exhibit self-confidence and a sense of purpose in pursuing interests, in both high school and beyond. They prove well prepared for life after Madrona School!

Since 2005, Madrona School has graduated 44 students from 8th grade. The first graduating class has finished college, while other graduates are in college or high school. Initially, our alumni go on to succeed in the variety of local high school programs: Bainbridge High, Eagle Harbor, Seattle Waldorf, West Sound Academy, and Seattle Community College's Running Start program. Most of them attend college, including: Bates, Beloit College, Lewis and Clark, Canadian College of the Performing Arts, Mount Holyoke, Sarah Lawrence, Smith, Western, UW and Whitman. They are budding scientists with biology and geology majors, musicians, Spanish scholars and theater majors.

Our school home is a beginning...

According to the Research Institute for Waldorf Education, and their interview-based study of 526 former Waldorf students, 94% of Waldorf school graduates attend college. Among other outcomes, their research offers three key findings about graduates, including 1) the ability to think creatively and embrace lifelong learning; 2) placing a high value on human relationships; and 3) bringing a strong sense of ethics into adulthood. We have a pamphlet in the office, entitled "The Results of Waldorf Education" with more on this research. You are welcome to come and pick one up!

Keep your eyes open to opportunities to support our current 8th grade class as they prepare for school beyond Madrona School -- we'll have a 8th grade project presentation in the spring, and graduation in early June is a wonderful evening where we are welcome to celebrate with our new graduates!

--edited from our school newsletter, February 4, 2014

Working Together: The 2016 Annual Fund

With the school year off to a joyous start, we invite you to come together to support the school's important work. Our annual fund helps us fully fund our program each year, as tuition alone does not completely cover the cost of a Madrona School education. The theme for this year's campaign is "Working Together".

One thing that sets Waldorf education apart is its focus on guiding children toward becoming constructive members of a group. In a time of increasing social fragmentation in the larger world, our commitment to educating children to be compassionate, engaged members of their communities has real-world relevance.

Your generous gift today contributes to this legacy of caring involvement. Please join the board, teachers and staff of Madrona School in supporting the 2016 Annual Fund. Help sustain this special environment where your children can practice working together as they grow and mature into the people they are destined to become. See the appeal letter in your mailbox, or donate online here: madronaschool.org/annual-fund.

On behalf of all the children of Madrona School, we thank you!

Class Teachers and Building Relationships with Students

Long-term teacher-student and teacher-family relationships are a vital way a Waldorf school builds community and delivers education. Just as we see the curriculum on an arc of several years, we also value a growing and ever-evolving relationship between a teacher and a student.  

In our early childhood we achieve this with a mixed-age kindergarten where a young child gets to know their teacher (and assistants) over two to three years of time together. We are fortunate here to have an experienced and stable early childhood teaching team, and teachers who are raising their own families in Waldorf education. Our teachers offer a partnership with parents, a wonderful resource through early childhood development; where parents see their own child, our teachers see many children.

In the grade school, class teachers loop up with their students through the grades. While not necessarily unique to Waldorf education, "looping" teachers are relatively rare in American education. A class teacher has been a fixture of the Waldorf grade school since Rudolf Steiner founded the first school; Steiner believed that the strong relationship forged between a teacher and a student was essential to a robust education, and an aid to healthy child development. Our students begin each day and have main lesson with their class teacher, even while they have a chance to learn from other teachers in the specialty classes that follow. When a teacher spends this much time with his or her class, education is truly a child-centered journey, allowing a teacher to know a particular constellation of students and bring and build on developmentally appropriate and emotionally engaging education each year. Both teachers and children are engaged together in a variety of ways, and each one of them is an artist, a scientist, a mathematician, a poet and a musician, experiencing the breadth of human endeavor together; children have a chance to try on a variety of skills and disciplines on their way toward adulthood.

Relationships are fostered over many years, and class communities are built and tended through inevitable ups and downs. It is the necessary work of the teacher to know and see each student and to strive to meet them where they are developmentally. Learning to relate to one another in a constructive and loving way is essential human work, and a long-term, trusting relationship between teacher and student in a Waldorf school is one valued way we can model the importance of this.

Parent-teacher conferences are coming up -- dare we suggest that you hug your child's teacher? Talk with them, take advantage of their skill and deep knowledge of your beloved family members, speak openly about challenges and questions, and ask for what you need! We invite you to strengthen our community by celebrating the blessing of these relationships.

To read more:

• Missi Goss wrote her letter in our weekly newsletter to accompany this article, October 18, 2016.

• Multi-year Teaching in the Grade School, The Waldorf School of Philadelphia blog, October 30, 2015.

• Class Teachers in a Waldorf School, by Christof Wiechert, Pedagogical Section of the Goetheanum Journal, no. 54, 2015. 

• Characteristics of a Steiner/Waldorf School, Pedagogical Section of the Goetheanum Journal, no. 53, 2014.

• Looping: Supporting Student Learning Through Long-Term Relationships, the LAB at Brown University, 1997.

Madrona School Alphabet (F)

As we continue to celebrate what makes a Madrona School education unique through the alphabet, we have reached the letter 'F' ... for Field Trips and Festivals!

Field trips take Waldorf education on the road, and many of our field trips are regular and highly anticipated additions to the curriculum.

As many of you know, and your children experience, our early childhood classes are outside each week -- to Lowery Farm, as well as each Friday to other island parks and beaches. Our young students, in full weather-appropriate gear, make a colorful and energetic addition to our community, and they are able to fully engage in the outdoors in a way that is just not possible in our smaller play yards.

Many field trips are designed to enhance the grade school curriculum. They become rites of passage too -- trips to look forward to as you move through the grades. In May, our third grade will embark on their first overnight, to Pioneer Farm near Mt. Rainier, to help wrap up their year long study of the practical arts. Earlier this year, our fifth grade made a trip to the Hoh rainforest during their botany block, getting creative when their trip fell smack in the middle of the government shutdown. And our sixth grade trekked overnight to Mount St. Helens for a geology block. What natural riches we have to explore in our backyard!

And we offer trips to build community between the regional Waldorf schools, too. Beginning in fourth grade with a potlatch on Whidbey Island, our students meet with other area Waldorf schools to explore common themes from their year. In fifth grade they gather and compete in a Pentathalon; in sixth grade they participate in Medieval games; in 7th grade they enjoy a Renaissance Faire. All wonderful opportunities to spread their wings a bit, and meet other Waldorf students beyond their class communities.

Festivals are a vital part of the rhythm in our community's year. Celebrating the passing of the seasons, festivals also offer the opportunity to come together and socialize school-wide. In September, we mark Michaelmas, with a re-telling of the legend of St. Michael and the dragon, playing through challenges that remind us of our inner strength and resolve as we move into the darker and wetter time of the year. Highlights of this festival include crawling through the dragon's lair built by our 8th grade, and feasting together on potatoes from our school garden. In November, the story of St. Martin illuminates kindness and generosity to strangers, and our students revisit his story and mark the dark night with lantern walks and songs. In May we celebrate the burgeoning of spring with May Day festivities, making flower crowns and dancing around a maypole. It is a joyful, colorful end to our festival year.

Reading Champions!

We are proud of our enthusiastic readers! 

Madrona School won our local public library's 'Reading Champions' trophy for the highest percentage of students participating in the Kitsap Regional Library's summer reading program, compared to other independent schools on Bainbridge Island. We enjoyed a visit from our local children's librarian today, and she brought with her this lovely trophy -- so grateful for local treasures like our public library and their staff that spread the love of reading. We will take good care of this trophy all year, and are resolved to win it again next summer. Hurray for books -- and the adventures they inspire, the empathy they instill and the information they impart!

While we're on the topic of reading, you might be interested in this beautiful take on the power of reading in our lives: Neil Gaiman on Why We Read and What Books Do for the Human Experience, brainpickings.org, August 3, 2016.