Whether for play, observation, appreciation, scientific exploration or purposeful activity—time outdoors is absolutely essential to learning and child development ..read more

The benefits of providing students with opportunities to volunteer in service to community has a far-reaching impact -- not only to the recipient but on the students themselves. Giving back empowers students, broadens their worldview, and strengthens their connection to the peers they serve and in the larger community ..read more

Educating the whole child by offering an education environment that helps students stay balanced and thrive both academically and emotionally needs to become a mainstay of school culture and curriculum. Schools should develop communities where children are individually known and supported through strong adult and peer relationships and ensure students' days are filled with social emotional learning and activities that promote well-being.   ..read more

Learning to be comfortable in solitude is a life skill with many far reaching benefits in both education and well being overall. Cultivating this skill, in ourselves and our students, is also a crucial precursor for creative thinking ..read more

Engaging in our differences constructively is incredibly valuable. Civil discourse can grant insight, improve decision making, and connect our students with one another and the larger world. It is also an essential skill for our next generation of leaders and citizens of a diverse democracy to develop.  ..read more

Divergent thinkers are creative thinkers who can see many possibilities while problem solving. Allowing creativity of thought and expression in school plays an essential role in developing the critical thinking skills needed in the 21st century.  ..read more

Educators have a unique opportunity to interrupt the cycles of oppression, break down structural prejudice and shape progress in powerful ways. This can be done through increasing student awareness and modeling change within the classroom, the curriculum, the greater school community and education as an institution. We, like most educators, know that we must do better. But how? Where do we begin?  ..read more

While distance learning may be more suited towards delivering short term memory learning such as facts, vocabulary lists, or math worksheets, Waldorf educators continue to focus on applying and linking learning concepts to wider experiences. Maintaining this hallmark of Waldorf curriculum is where the creativity with distance learning really comes into play.  ..read more

Form drawing, as it is called, is repetitive drawing of symbols and shapes. This freehand creation of patterns is more about process than product. It is the movement expressed through the drawing that holds the value ..read more

AWSNA Member schools across North America plan to take students outdoors to mitigate transmission risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the true spirit of Waldorf education, our schools seek to not only meet the whole child developmentally, but to meet the immediate and future needs of our communities and our world ..read more