In Australia ‘home schooling’ is a concept where parents choose not to enrol a child in a school and the parent ensures the child’s education. This is sometimes due to the distance to the school if they live in a remote area, but these days it is used more often by parents who are not satisfied by the schools that are available in their area because of their educational philosophy or because of their child’s particular needs. There are some Waldorf home schooling resources, but these are written for parents to use for themselves to teach.
Digital remote learning we are looking at is different from this. The teachers prepare lessons with a particular group of children in mind, and although we rely on parents’ involvement to some degree, we can’t expect all parents to get involved a lot. Family situations are all different and students capacities are not the same, either. So, it was good to hear from the teachers in China that at the end of the day we should not focus so much on the content we teach but on why.
It was very interesting to hear that some schools are not introducing new material as in the form of new Main lessons but are working on consolidating concepts that have already been taught.
Although I can see the sense in consolidating material taught previously in the classroom, I do not see that one can ignore main-lessons – the core of the Waldorf day. I am proposing to introduce the things that I had intended to do in the classroom with a mixture of online and offline teaching, but I have yet to try this out in earnest!
I am a Class 5 teacher, and am doing a new Main Lesson, Ancient Persia and Mesopotamia via remote learning. This happens via Zoom every morning. It is only in Maths that I am not taking on new concepts.
I’m not a teacher, but a parent. I really appreciate what was shared about WHY we do what we do. What are the essentials of what we are bringing our children and teenagers? I think it’s very difficult to introduce new topics and feel that my teenagers certainly will miss the reassurance, support and connection that they get from their peers and teachers, in order to truly feel able to “learn” and absorb whatever their teachers share with them. I’m grateful that we’ve had Easter holidays and some time to rest and not worry about school – although “school” at home begins again on Monday.
I would love to know how schools are supporting parents and how can we support each other as communities during this time? It feels as if we are more interdependent than we’ve ever realized after all. But certainly, for me, parenting feels very isolated right now.
I felt that the concept of the students constructing their own learning plan was interesting. I am not sure if I totally agree with the concept, but it does solve some of the problems inherent as we analyze the difference between the standard virtual learning and the concept of classroom virtual learning. Standard virtual learning is basically an independent study program that may include a few whole class discussions but usually is single student and teacher interaction. Whereas, the concept of classroom virtual learning is a teacher and a class meeting online to promote learning. There are several problems with the latter, including the issue of privacy. I believe it is not the knowledge of technology that is the difficulty. It is the balance between the needs of the entire class and the individual student in the learning environment that we, as teachers, need to be concentrating on. Simply giving parents or children assignments to complete does not offer many students a learning experience that is engaging and effective.
I really appreciate all contributions made so far. I am a teacher and Suzuki mom. I think private meetings on or offline alternating with group classes online might be beneficial.
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8 Comments
In Australia ‘home schooling’ is a concept where parents choose not to enrol a child in a school and the parent ensures the child’s education. This is sometimes due to the distance to the school if they live in a remote area, but these days it is used more often by parents who are not satisfied by the schools that are available in their area because of their educational philosophy or because of their child’s particular needs. There are some Waldorf home schooling resources, but these are written for parents to use for themselves to teach.
Digital remote learning we are looking at is different from this. The teachers prepare lessons with a particular group of children in mind, and although we rely on parents’ involvement to some degree, we can’t expect all parents to get involved a lot. Family situations are all different and students capacities are not the same, either. So, it was good to hear from the teachers in China that at the end of the day we should not focus so much on the content we teach but on why.
It was very interesting to hear that some schools are not introducing new material as in the form of new Main lessons but are working on consolidating concepts that have already been taught.
Although I can see the sense in consolidating material taught previously in the classroom, I do not see that one can ignore main-lessons – the core of the Waldorf day. I am proposing to introduce the things that I had intended to do in the classroom with a mixture of online and offline teaching, but I have yet to try this out in earnest!
I am a Class 5 teacher, and am doing a new Main Lesson, Ancient Persia and Mesopotamia via remote learning. This happens via Zoom every morning. It is only in Maths that I am not taking on new concepts.
I’m not a teacher, but a parent. I really appreciate what was shared about WHY we do what we do. What are the essentials of what we are bringing our children and teenagers? I think it’s very difficult to introduce new topics and feel that my teenagers certainly will miss the reassurance, support and connection that they get from their peers and teachers, in order to truly feel able to “learn” and absorb whatever their teachers share with them. I’m grateful that we’ve had Easter holidays and some time to rest and not worry about school – although “school” at home begins again on Monday.
I would love to know how schools are supporting parents and how can we support each other as communities during this time? It feels as if we are more interdependent than we’ve ever realized after all. But certainly, for me, parenting feels very isolated right now.
Lovely point about WHY vs. WHAT!
Truly important to nail that down before we jump into anything online
P.S. -: Am a parent, not a teacher 🙂
I felt that the concept of the students constructing their own learning plan was interesting. I am not sure if I totally agree with the concept, but it does solve some of the problems inherent as we analyze the difference between the standard virtual learning and the concept of classroom virtual learning. Standard virtual learning is basically an independent study program that may include a few whole class discussions but usually is single student and teacher interaction. Whereas, the concept of classroom virtual learning is a teacher and a class meeting online to promote learning. There are several problems with the latter, including the issue of privacy. I believe it is not the knowledge of technology that is the difficulty. It is the balance between the needs of the entire class and the individual student in the learning environment that we, as teachers, need to be concentrating on. Simply giving parents or children assignments to complete does not offer many students a learning experience that is engaging and effective.
I really appreciate all contributions made so far. I am a teacher and Suzuki mom. I think private meetings on or offline alternating with group classes online might be beneficial.