Inside SWS Blog
Want Your Child to Love Reading? Try Waldorf.
Grade 7 students mentor grade 2 students in reading.
In a recent article in The Atlantic, the author writes that college students, even at elite colleges, may arrive on campus never having read a book cover to cover. They have read excerpts and short articles, but have trouble keeping up with the course load requirement to read a book or more in a week because they haven’t experienced this before. In addition, their attention spans are shorter, they can’t keep up with the pace, and they are less able to persist through challenging texts.
At Waldorf schools, we fundamentally believe in reading and storytelling. Student’s love for reading is nurtured through an immersive approach. Early years focus on oral language, storytelling, and literature-based learning, developing a love of story that helps build concentration and foster the joy of reading. In the later years, students all read the same book to support the skill of discussion and critical reading of texts. Reading and stories are integrated into all academic subjects, and taught in an artistic and multisensory way. Students may be asked to write an essay, create an artistic rendering of what they have read, and present their findings to the class. Waldorf students are given the opportunity to read complex historical and literary texts, develop strong reading habits, talk about what they have learned in small group discussions, and create oral presentations. All of this supports a lifelong love of reading and learning.
In addition, our older students mentor our younger students in reading support. Not only does this foster strong connections, it helps the older students learn how to be patient teachers, approaching each child differently and meeting them where they are.
Want your child to love reading? Try Seattle Waldorf School.
Michaelmas Fall Festival
Fall Festival of Courage
As we transition from the warmth of summer to the crisp days of autumn, we are invited to pause and reflect on the changes around us and within us. This season brings misty mornings, vibrant leaves, and a sense of preparation as we move toward the quieter, colder months of winter. In the Waldorf tradition, autumn marks the time of Michaelmas, a festival of courage and inner strength.
Michaelmas is celebrated in many Waldorf schools around the world as a Fall Festival of Courage. Named after the archangel Michael, a figure in many spiritual traditions, this festival embodies the qualities of strength, courage, and the will to do good deeds. Michaelmas encourages us to face our inner dragons—fear, doubt, and apathy—with the gifts of courage, strength, and love. It is a time to rekindle our inner light and prepare ourselves for the challenges ahead.
This year, at Seattle Waldorf School, our Michaelmas celebration will be enriched by our connection to place and the natural world around us. We draw inspiration from the cycle of the salmon, a powerful symbol of courage, perseverance, and renewal in our local ecosystem. Just as the salmon bravely navigate the waters to return home, we too are called to find our way back to our true selves, our community, and our spiritual roots.
Honoring the Cycle of the Salmon: A Place-Based Connection
In honoring the cycle of the salmon during our Michaelmas festival, we acknowledge the deep relationship between the natural world and our human journey. The salmon’s life cycle—from its journey downstream to the ocean and back upstream to its birthplace—mirrors our own cycles of growth, challenge, and renewal. This journey requires courage, strength, and a deep connection to one’s origins and community.
By celebrating Michaelmas with this focus, we align ourselves with the rhythm of nature and recognize the spiritual wisdom embedded in our local environment. We are reminded that courage is not a single act but a continuous cycle of facing our fears, learning from our challenges, and returning to our community with renewed strength and purpose.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, in her beautiful work Braiding Sweetgrass, reminds us:
“Ceremony focuses attention so that attention becomes intention. If you stand together and profess a thing before your community, it holds you accountable. Ceremonies transcend the boundaries of the individual and resonate beyond the human realm. These acts of reverence are powerfully pragmatic. They are ceremonies that magnify life.”
With this in mind, our Michaelmas festival will not only honor the courage to face our personal and communal challenges but also deepen our connection to the natural world and each other.
–Dru Smith-Crain, Grade School Director
Welcome to the 2024-25 School Year!
GRADE ONE STUDENTS WITH THEIR SUNFLOWERS
It was a joy to greet new and returning families (and a flock of ducks) at school last week. The ducks only stayed briefly, but the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful weather and warmth of our community. The Flower Ceremony was sweet and touching as our Grade School welcomed our new First Grade students. Afterwards many hands came together to quickly move back chairs and benches to where they belong.
As we begin the 2024 – 2025 school year, it’s heartening to see how our community comes together, not just in moments of celebration, but in the small, everyday acts of support and care. Whether it’s planting flowers to add beauty to our campus or offering a kind word to a nervous student, these gestures remind us that we are all part of something larger than ourselves.
This sense of “we”—of shared purpose and connection—is what makes our school so special. It’s a community where each of us plays an important role in creating an environment of learning, courage, and joy.
— Vanessa Kolhhaas, Head of School
Handwork Teacher Growing through Training Program
Our Assistant Handwork teacher Zan Edson is currently completing a two year Waldorf Handwork Teacher Training program with Waldorf Handwork Educators. She’s learning all sorts of lovely new handwork projects to knit, crochet, cross stitch, and sew while also learning about spinning fibers, dying yarn, anthroposophy, storytelling, eurythmy, painting, singing, child development, and more.
“I am so excited to have begun this training! The teachers are wonderful and I’m greatly enjoying learning new knitting and crochet techniques and adding new skills like dying and spinning yarn to my toolkit!” Zan says. “I have been working at the Meadowbrook campus going on seven years now, but had not previously had Waldorf education before. It is so eye- and heart-opening to learn about the depth of thought, understanding of child development, and profound philosophy behind this approach to education. I really look to forward to furthering my training and skills and becoming a better teacher.”
Inspired by the new skills she is learning, Zan has been teaching beginning knitting and beginning felting classes for adults at her home studio over spring break and will also be offering classes for adults and children over the summer. So, if you have been wanting to learn some handwork skills or your kids are excited to pursue their favorite projects a little farther, this is a fantastic opportunity!
If interested, you can email Zan or reach out through her Facebook page.
What Does it Mean to be in Waldorf Community?
As someone who left the Waldorf community at the end of elementary school as a student and then re-entered it towards the beginning of adulthood as an administrator, I have a very clear feeling of what this means to me. It is a place where you can talk to someone and not necessarily agree with their point of view but believe that their intentions are good and true. It feels like a place where you can show up as yourself, and it feels like a place where you can learn about yourself. You feel a sense of belonging with others through the shared experience of working on honest personal growth.
In my experience outside of the Waldorf community, there is an impetus to maximize time and capabilities in a way that isn’t always true to one’s self. A positive result of such a focus is achieving things that can be seen as significant. A sense of belonging can be felt through contributing to those accomplishments in the field or subject material, but what can often be lost is a focus on personhood. When times are not great, when there is self-doubt, uncertainty, and loss, it can be hard to find a grounding force. There are times when going inward to find strength is important, and it is comforting to be able to do that in a space where others understand and support that experience.
Observing our high school students, I see a strong desire from them to exit the sandbox of school and enter the world. I am excited for them to have new experiences and to find their place in the world. I believe that along their journey, they will all find value as I did, and do, from the lessons I learned and am learning by being in this special community.
-Jonah Sulla-Menashe
Grade 6 Trip to Mt. St. Helens
Grade 6 had a wonderful, adventurous trip to Loowit (Mt. St. Helens) in mid-October. The trip was tied into their Geology block, in which students studied the science of the forces of the earth and how they affect the landscape around us, as well as minerals, rocks and the ways humans use them. Volcanology was a part of our block, and students learned about the eruption of Loowit in 1980, then visited the mountain, viewing the devastation and regrowth. We journeyed through Ape Caves (a 1.5 mile underground lava tube) with headlamps and lots of bravery! We also camped beside the Toutle River, visited several visitors centers, and hiked at the foot of the mountain in the misty fall rain. This was a challenging, adventurous, and exciting trip—a rite of passage in many ways for the students.
—Ashley Mullen-Umlauf, Grade 6 Teacher
World Cooking Elective
In the World Cooking Elective, middle school students embark on a culinary and cultural adventure that involves all of their senses as they learn to create delicious food from around the world. Focused on the humble pancake, students develop their knife and cooking skills while making and eating pancakes from different cultures. An open mindset is encouraged as we use different ingredients and cooking techniques to prepare sweet and savory pancakes that includes French crepes, Japanese okonomiyaki and takoyaki, German dutch babies, Indonesian serabi, Danish aebleskiver, and Korean pajeon. Students learn some of the stories and folklore beyond the invention of the different types of pancakes and are asked to take what they learn home to cook a pancake of their choosing from anywhere in the world for their family and friends. Choosing a pancake from their cultural heritage or from a culture they want to learn about is encouraged. The home cooking assignment is designed to showcase the students skills and bring families together at the breakfast, lunch or dinner table (pancakes are not just for breakfast!!) and includes students receiving responses to their cooking.
Many of the students chose to make a pancake from their cultural heritage. Grade 7 student Melina chose to make Finnish pannukakku bringing back memories of her great grandmother, saying, “I felt that I was at my great grandmother’s house chomping down on it with her.” Melina’s mother, Anu, praised her daughter saying “She found a new recipe, and this was perfect. It was exactly like my grandmothers. I wasn’t able to replicate hers from the few recipes we tried before, but she did it…The pancake reminds me of my grandmother and childhood. Exactly like she would make it. Fluffy, almost pudding-like.” I have heard that this pancake recipe is once again a family favorite.
Melina with her Finnish pannukakku
Another Grade 7 student, Mahveen chose to make chitta pitha (chita roti). Mahveen described her Mother’s reaction to her pancakes as “a bunch of jumbled words in Bengali loosely interpreted to be ‘Wow, this is really good. You did a great job! Your ancestors would be proud to see you keeping their traditions alive!’”
Riley, another Grade 7 student chose to make Australian pikelets which, according to his Dad were “a delight for the senses. They reminded me of my childhood. Buttery and good.” Other students made crepes (Jaya, Grade 6), Brazilian pancakes (Sky, Grade 7) and Dutch Baby pancakes (Marcella, Grade 7) to the delight of their families.
Riley making Australian pikelets
Research shows that sharing meals with others offers numerous benefits, including improved mental and physical health, stronger relationships, better eating habits, cultural enrichment, and increased overall happiness. In world cooking, we see that cooking and sharing meals together kindles warmth and friendship—a cherished tradition we hope extends to everyone during the holiday season and beyond.
—Dr. R., Director of Environmental Sustainability and Gardening
Chess Club: Learning and Competing
The 1500-year-old game is alive in Chess Club. During our first weeks, we focused on learning the rules of the game and getting some matches under our belts. Then we focused on chess notation, so we could go over our old games, and so the students could take decades-old games from professional chess players and re-create them if they wanted. Puzzles and strategy discussions sprinkled in between practice games all in preparation of our first tournament.
Playing against each other dozens of times can only improve our skills so much, so on October 21, we went to our first organized event! Hosted by Lakeside School, this Swiss- style tournament welcomed students from all over the state to compete. Not only was this an excellent time to face new opponents, but also this was the first time the players had the opportunity to receive ratings from a regional organization.
The games were tough. We faced strange strategies and new players all under the banner of friendly competition. Each student faced five new opponents and we even managed to make some new friends because of it. While none of the students walked away with any trophies, they left with something better—new experiences.
Register for Winter Chess Club now to be a part of the future of Chess!
Reflecting on the Value of Rhythm
by Hannah Adams
Rhythm is a word we come across very often in Waldorf education. There are many questions that may arise in relation: What makes rhythm different from routine or schedule? Why do we put so much emphasis on the importance of rhythm? How do I maintain a rhythm in my home?
As we return to our daily life after the holiday season, I am reminded of how easy it is to fall out of our rhythm, and what a gift it can be to have the rhythm of the seasons to keep us grounded. Indeed, there is a rhythm to our daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly life. These ebb and flow like the tides, with room for us to flex in and out of something cyclical. One aspect that stands out about a rhythm as opposed to a schedule or routine, is the organic breathing room a rhythm allows for. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. Once settled into the pattern, one may not even notice. Less strict than a schedule, yet still a form for us to have freedom within. An example of this form could be that breakfast may not happen at the same exact time each day, but you do always brush teeth before and get dressed after. Perhaps the activities differ from day to day, but there are landmarks to ground us that provide something especially reliable for children and adults alike.
Rhythm is deeply integral to Waldorf Education because of the way it supports our beings developmentally, spiritually, and physically. Everything in and around us has a rhythm–our heartbeat, the moon, the life cycles of a plant, a day in the life of a bumble bee. Throughout the Waldorf school year we observe festivals and celebrations that are rooted in the seasons and communal gathering. We find connection in our community through shared experience and ritual. You can also practice ritual in your home: the ritual of lighting a candle for mealtimes, a story before bedtime, finding small treasures outside to add to a nature table. A growing sense of reverence and wonder is found in celebrating the magic of the mundane.
Helle Heckmann has three considerations for raising children which she believes are the most important. To be flexible, to have boundaries, and to observe the same rhythm each day. One might think that flexibility and boundaries are at odds with each other, but we can see when observing a rhythmical life, that they are in fact symbiotic.
The cyclical nature of the Waldorf school year provides connection to nature, self, and community. Seasonal traditions and festivals ground us in our environment, present opportunity for community connection, and moments of inner reflection.
How might you find peace and connection through rhythm this year?
Teacher Spotlight: Daichi Hirata on Teaching Living History
by Daichi Hirata
This past July, I had the great fortune to attend a week-long workshop for educators sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Landmarks of American History and Culture program. NEH specializes in place-based education that lets participants experience parts of American history where they happened. “Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and the Japanese American Incarceration” taught educators about the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and the related issues of the treatment of Native Americans, the racism behind many government decisions, and the settling of the American West.
Throughout our time in Wyoming, we as educators wrestled with how to bring back some of this difficult history to our classrooms. So often when teaching history, we feel obligated to tell the horrors of historic events or avoid it altogether as something too shameful or embarrassing. We cannot ignore past injustices, but simply knowing about them does not lead us to compassion or action. My hope is that students can empathize with the pain others experienced, but I also want to show that the Japanese American who were incarcerated during WWII were able to use their pain and collective trauma to seek new ways forward. I believe stories of resilience and resistance are more compelling for students when learning about difficult parts of history. These people were met with conditions and actions meant to wound, destroy, and strip away dignity, yet despite the horrors they endured, they ultimately fought to rebuild a sense of wholeness and strove towards healing. I believe we must center and emphasize these stories of resilience, resistance, and hope in our curriculum alongside acknowledging the horrors.
While the Japanese-American incarceration experience is a particular story in our history, the themes are universally human, and therefore personally relatable to everyone. There are moments in our own biographies where we have succumbed to fear and acted out of anger or hatred, wounding others. We also have our personal experiences of being wounded, where we have sought pathways to survival and healing.
I believe it is most important for youth of our age to know that there are always paths towards healing, and that we can draw inspiration from those who have gone before us. I want students to know that we are also not defined by our mistakes, but when we see harm or cause pain, there are also pathways towards repair, both to those who we have hurt and to our own sense of wholeness and goodness when we are hurt. The Japanese American Incarceration history is filled with inspiring stories that can instill a sense of hope for youth growing into their identities, taking hold of their destinies.