Tag: anthroposophy
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3D Geometry
From our last two posts on math education and teaching geometry in grades 5-7, you should understand that math education is about developing the capacity to think. By 8th grade, we move into 3D geometry which capitalizes on previous skills and carries them further. Yet, it is important we do this not just through head-exercises…
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Teaching Geometry
When we consider the best method for teaching geometry, we should consider how to compose such a curriculum. Like the movements in a symphony, teaching geometry should follow a natural and beautiful logic based on the developing human being. It should unfold in an arc that parallels the blossoming capacities of the adolescent and harmonizes…
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Middle School Science
Last week, we wrote a post where we outlined why we teach each of the school subjects. In a classical education, including the curriculum of Enkindle Academy, these topics each serve vital developmental purposes. (They don’t just serve bureaucrats’ inexperienced ideas about what students should be taught, even though such reasoning often guided mainstream education,…
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School Subjects
I’d like to explore why we teach the different school subjects and make a case for each. Although this post is applicable to all teachers, I usually talk to homeschoolers many of whom unschool. It’s becoming increasingly trendy to walk away from academics entirely, preferring instead to learn building, survival skills, gardening, navigation, tracking, etc.…
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Building Neuroplasticity
Last week’s post was called Brain Hemispheres in Education. There, we discussed the differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain and how this knowledge can inform education. In this post, we want to give some more practical indications for bringing this wisdom into our teaching and homeschooling. We want to understand the…
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Brain Hemispheres in Education
In this post, I’d like to explore the brain hemispheres and their relationship to education. Modern neuroscience and Waldorf pedagogical science are finally coming together in some exciting ways. We can use those insights to help us in our teaching and thereby bring more balance to our children. Are you right brained or left brained?…
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The Benefits of Homeschooling
The benefits of homeschooling have struck me again. I had the enchanting opportunity to meet one of my students and his family for a picnic at a beautiful botanical garden today. The whole family came along, including mom, dad, and his two siblings. Since much of my teaching is online I often don’t get to…
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Mentors for Teens
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by
Today, we will turn to the age old conundrum that has no doubt plagued parents for centuries. It goes something like this, “Why doesn’t my teen listen to me anymore?” We’ll unpack this all-too-common challenge and propose a solution that has to do with finding mentors for teens. The Need to Rebel It’s true. Adolescents…
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Nature and Learning
In this post, I’d like to discuss nature and learning. That is to say, specifically the seasonal cycle and how it affects students’ ability to learn. Perhaps it’s because in the spring, students seems to just fall off their seats laughing for no apparently good reason. Or, perhaps it’s because it takes us fifteen minutes…
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The Four Temperaments in Education, Part I
In this first of two posts, we will examine the four temperaments in education. For Part I, we will characterize each of the four temperaments. In Part II next week, we will look at how to work skillfully with them. To begin, what is a temperament and where does it come from? To answer that,…