Education for the 21st Century |
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Dear Families,
The first few notes of Fall are in the air, and we are so pleased to offer a broad range of on-campus events for parents beginning later this month! This year, School Administrator Kevin McDuff offers a monthly Parent Council, and you are all invited! We are also excited about our Fall Community Forum, taking place Oct. 3. Additionally, our Parent Enrichment series begins next month, and our Parent Study group for parents of our youngest students begins this week. Read more below!
We are having an all-school Michaelmas for the students this year (hurray!) on Friday, Sept. 29. Your teachers will share more details closer to the date. Learn more about Michaelmas here.
Lastly, we are now offering regular supervised Study Hall hours, see the flyer below.
Happy Monday!
Warmly,
Alyssa Hamilton
Communications Coordinator
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Leadership Message: Parent Council |
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Dear Community,
If you have been at one of the lower school parent class meetings held in the first two weeks of the school year, you have already heard me share briefly that my wife and I will be facilitating monthly All-School Parent Councils this year on the last Wednesday evening of most months (not December or February). An announcement and full description can be found below.
Briefly, we will be coming together as parents to support each other through a practice of sitting in circle and using a talking piece to listen and speak from the heart, with an intention of exploring the challenges and joys of parenting.
As you’ll read in the announcement, the practice of Council was introduced to my family when my daughter attended Highland Hall Waldorf School. Her Grade 8 class visited The Ojai Foundation, where the practice was developed, although the roots of Council are seen throughout history in many places and in many cultures. Lori and I also had the opportunity to sit in Council circles with other Waldorf families during these years and Lori pursued training and began working with schools to bring Council into the classroom. Council has been a family practice over the past 20 years and we are looking forward to engaging with this community in this deep sharing practice.
I’d like to ask you to contact me in advance of our first Council on September 28, so that we will have an idea of how many will be attending and so that I can send a brief survey that will begin to explore our shared areas of interest. Please email me at kmcduff@waldorfschool.com to let me know you plan to attend. I look forward to our evenings together.
Kevin McDuff
WSOC School Administrator
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All Parents Are Encouraged To Attend |
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Creating Community & Supporting One Another |
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Faculty Spotlight
Practical Arts teacher Jack Bryant
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Above, Mr. Bryant plays an handmade instrument that students will be learning to create this year! |
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You have an extensive background in Waldorf education. What initially drew you to it?
I heard about Anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner when I was a very idealistic 17 or 18 years old. At the time, I was interested in Eastern philosophy, in particular, the teachings of G.I. Gurgieff, and P.D. Ouspensky. This is when I first learned of the concept of “thinking, feeling, and willing," a threefold ideology of human development. I strayed from that kind of study for many years until I stumbled across Anthroposophy again much later in life.
My wife found Waldorf when my son was finishing second grade at a foreign language immersion charter school. To my surprise, the Waldorf curriculum incorporated this threefold image of the human being (thinking, feeling, willing) based on Steiner’s understanding of human development. At that time, we enrolled our middle daughter in a summer kindergarten at the Santa Monica Waldorf School, which did not go up to Grade 3 yet, so my son was out of luck! We homeschooled my son and daughter for a year, then enrolled the youngest two daughters at the Santa Monica school, and enrolled my son at Highland Hall for Grade 4. I loved how happy my children were, and I picked up a copy of Knowledge of the Higher Worlds by Rudolf Steiner at the school store. BOOM! I had inadvertently found the path I'd strayed from many years before.
After few years of reading Steiner, I found myself smack in the middle of a midlife crisis, and instead of buying a red sports car, I enrolled in Waldorf Teacher Training to obtain certification to work in a Waldorf school so that I could be near my children every day of their childhood. Best decision I ever made.
Tell us about your Practical Arts teacher training courses in China. What was that like?
I was invited to go to China to train teachers in 2010. At the time, there was only a handful of brand new Waldorf schools that needed certificated Waldorf teachers. My Australian friend Ben Cherry helped the first school get started, and organized teacher training. He invited me there to teach some of the artistic elements common in Waldorf schools worldwide - I went to Chengdu, Beijing and Guangzhou. Besides teaching the practical arts element in the primary teacher training, I spent some time assisting the director by teaching blocks in middle school chemistry and physics and grades geometry.
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For Parents of Our Youngest Students |
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Need Some Extra Time In A Quiet Space? |
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The WSOC High School Bonds at the Beach |
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After a three-year hiatus, our annual high school (Grades 9-12) bonding trip returned with a wonderful three-day excursion to San Clemente State Beach last week. The purpose of the trip: to encourage relationships between the students across all of the grades.
We have seen the fruits of our labors flourish this week, as the students converse and hang out together during breaks as a group, and not just as individual classes. We are a high school group of 60 students strong who know each other’s names, respect each other’s differences, and genuinely like to be with each other. The new students who joined us this year have immediately become a part of our community because of the time that we spent together camping —without phones!
Our high school is special. I hope you will get to know us better in the weeks and months ahead by attending events and taking an interest in our teachers and our curriculum. And most importantly, in meeting our remarkable high school students and alumni during upcoming events (more info here).
- Gina Garrison, High School Coordinator
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Grade 8 Chemistry Goes Live
This year’s Grade 8 chemistry block covers water, metals, photosynthesis and the production of sugars, starches, cellulose, fats/oils, and proteins. As an introduction to the role water plays in our world, in our bodies and in chemistry, Ms. Natzke got the students’ attention with the engaging demonstration shown above.
Second photo: Students using a Fehling’s Solution to test for the presence of sugar!
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Middle School Heads to Huntington Beach
The Waldorf high school students weren't the only ones headed to the surf and sand! Our middle school students joined forces to bike and skate and scooter to Huntington Beach for an a recreational field trip. Dubbed #hurricanebeachday due to the threat of an impending storm (a residual of Hurricane Kay) and impressively high surf, a wonderful time was nonetheless had by all!
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Grade 1 Gets Ready to Knit with Ms. Meier
Last week, Grade 1 began learning to make slipknots, a foundational skill for their knitting practice.
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Grade 2 Enjoys Outdoor Reading Time |
Ms. Christiane's Grade 2 took their reading period outside to enjoy the fresh air and shade on a steamy September afternoon. We are grateful to be blessed with abundant outdoor space for learning opportunities! |
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Mon 9/19, 6:30p - 8:00p • Board Meeting
Tue 9/20, 7:30p - 9:00p • Adult Education
Wed 9/21, 6:00p - 7:00p • Joint Kindergarten Parent Evening
Wed 9/21, 6:30p - 8:00p • Grade 4 Parent Evening
Sat 9/24, 9:00a - 11:00a • RIE class
Wed 9/28, 7:00p - 8:30p • Parent Council with School Administrator Kevin McDuff
Thu 9/29 • Michaelmas
October 2022
Sat 10/1, 9:00a - 11:00a • RIE class
Mon 10/3, 5:30p - 7:00p • Fall Community Forum & Eurythmy Performance
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The store is beginning to swell with new gifts, toys and books. This is a very busy time for us Angels as we work in the background getting ready for the holidays. Please remember to come in and shop LOCAL & SHOP SMALL! Park your car and come on in!
BIRTHDAY BASKETS have been a hit over the years...remember it is a wonderful way to create time with your child to choose just the right gifts for their special day. These baskets are for birthdays ONLY - no holiday baskets please. If you have any questions, please come in and talk to Pam or me. Happy ALMOST Fall!
Love,
Nona and the Angels
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Scrip of the Month:
Wahoo's Tacos: 20% Rebate
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It was 1988 when the Lee brothers came together to open the first Wahoo’s Tacos in Costa Mesa, California, where the surf and skate industry had gathered.
They wanted to create a menu that was a reflection of our unique heritage. From China to Brazil, to Baja with hints of Greece, their bold, fresh flavors come from our memories of growing up in Brazil, surfing in Baja and working in their family’s Chinese restaurant.
Their food is true to this experience, worldly and uncommonly delicious. They will always offer you the best of where they've been to fuel your adventures.
See Scrip Coordinator Pam Lusk at Company of Angels for more information!
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Check out who made the National Merit Scholarship...
More than 200 Orange County high school students just made a pretty selective list. They are National Merit semifinalists. On Wednesday, Sept. 14, the Evanston, Ill.-based National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of more than...
Read more
www.ocregister.com
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Waldorf School of Orange County made the list! Congratulations to senior Elena Roussanova! Elena has been a WSOC student since she began in Playgroup. |
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AWSNA Waldorf Alum Instagram |
Have you heard? We have launched the "official" AWSNA Waldorf Alum Instagram account celebrating the incredible work and undertakings of Waldorf Alums across North America.
Do you know of an alum (or are you one) doing great things out in the world? We want to know! Please share your news, great and small, with us by using the hashtags #WaldorfAlum or #WaldorfAlums.
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Hands On Learning: Main Lesson Books in Waldorf Education |
Waldorf students record the content of each subject of study as it is presented during main lesson class. The books created through this daily work are called main lesson books and they are an active, hands-on experience of learning that encourages both intention and creativity.
These creative, curriculum-rich books become the culmination of all students have learned, in depth, for the year about a topic.
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Click here for WSOC College of Teachers, Board Members and Administrative Rotation
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Waldorf School of Orange County
2350 Canyon Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92627-3948
(949) 574-7775
wwww.waldorfschool.com
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