Waldorf to me is summed up in Warm Honey Toast. When I began this blog as an outlet for all of the essays floating around in my head I asked God for a name that would complement its content. I was given “warm honey toast”. This was a reminder of our nightly tradition of having a slice of sprouted bread warmed with a touch of honey and some milk. We learned of this beautiful tradition from the book “Heaven on Earth” by Sharifa Oppenheimer. 

These three words encompass the “Heart, Hands, Head” approach Steiner (the founder of Waldorf Education ) spoke of. In many traditional public schools children are taught with only the “head” in mind. It is a very linear and unbalanced approach to education. Steiner believed we are spiritual beings multi faceted and in turn we should teach with this underlying truth. The warm represents the heart. It is with the heart we love and share warmth to our children. Warm is the care we give each other, the patience and understanding. Warm is the tone of our lives. Honey represents the head/soul. Honey is many things. It takes a community to make honey, a colony of bees.  Honey sweetens life, and it literally heals. And toast represents hands. We make bread with our hands. The bread of life is our food. We are conscious that we are beings in a body and using that body is good for our whole selves. What we do to the body affects our whole self.

In turn, everything we do we try and filter it through our hearts. For us specifically that means a heart yielded to God so its (our hearts) intentions can be as pure as possible this side of life. I don’t follow a strict Waldorf day to day but what fits for our family we are committed to. For example we don’t eat a specific grain each day…we meal plan and based on organic bulk offerings we eat our grains. We do however follow most of the recommended time frames for teaching. As I write our 6yr is about to start 1st grade. This means she has a basic understanding of letters and numbers though not fluent in all her upper and lowercase letters. We will be learning to read this year most likely as she is showing extreme interest in it. Waiting for the child to be ready is very important. I learned this first hand with my son through the early years of homeschooling. We use mostly open ended toys and limit media. Nature and outside adventures are a big part of our life and our everyday. We cook together, clean together, build together, plant together, etc. We just live life together. No longer harsh are the lines between being a kid and being an adult. If I sew as a hobby, my children will learn to do the same. As we repair our vehicles, the children watch and participate as they can. As an adult the children will have every skill we do plus their own. And our prayer is they will do the same with the next generation; giving birth to a multiplied inheritance of abundance.