Any Homeschoolers in S.WI interested in celebrating Waldorf festivals together?

[pampered_mom]

That about sums it up. I know there is a Waldorf school in Madison (relatively new I think), but wondered if there were any homeschoolers along that line. Just looking for some other families to connect with and celebrate festivals with. Our local homeschooling group leaves a bit to be desired (unless your homeschooling for religious reasons that is).

[Hebaume39]

I'm in Madison and we're headed in the direction of homeschooling and waldorf, however our little one is only a year old so we've a way to go. If you want to connect PM me and I'll send you our number.
Addie

[lia_joy]

Hi,
I'm not very familiar with the waldorf philosophy specifically, But we are going to start homeschooling after this year of public school is over. I don't plan on strictly adhering to any particular model of HS, but i'm starting with the idea of 'unschooling' 'organic' or 'child led' learing and from what little i've seen waldorf is a similar approach.

We live about 30min west of madison. My boys are 4yrs, 6yrs & 15mo right now. feel free to PM me as well.

-Lia

[pampered_mom]

Hebaume39 - My kids are a bit older than yours, but if I ever do find something along the lines of Waldorf for homeschoolers in the area I'll certainly let you know.

lia_joy - If you're interested in unschooling there's a really good of unschoolers in Madison (I believe it's called HOME and is tied with Alison McKee). There's also an unschooling conference in Madison held every year - this year's conference is coming up in a few days, but it's full. You should definitely check out their website, though.

[lia_joy]

Thanks for the link. I've added it to my bookmarks

[pinkgreenbean]

Wow...you just opened my eyes to UNSCHOOLING - this sounds like what I've been wanting to do with our children! We're in Madison (just moved here from CA last summer) and I was so bummed to leave our CA district where they had a journey school which taught in this style of freedom and joy. What resources are there in Madison?? I'd LOVE to get our kids involved with some like-minded parents - it gets annoying explaining it over and over again why I don't like traditional methods.

Our boys are 2.5 & 4...we also are due next month with our 3rd little guy!!

[pampered_mom]

Unfortunately I'm not an unschooler so I apart from the links I already gave I am unaware of other local resources. I suggest starting a new thread as unschooling and waldorf are fairly different educational styles...some similarities, but still quite different.

As for me...what I'm really looking for is other families to celebrate festivals with and the like. I'll update my OP and thread title accordingly.

pinkgreenbean - Good luck in your search.

[pinkgreenbean]

I'm interested in the differences you mention between waldorf & unschooling? *still learning*

[pampered_mom]

Aside from the main fact that there is a curriculum to follow that is in parent-led there are other differences as well. Carrie over at The Parenting Passageway has several postings about it. You can start here and then use her site's search feature to find more.

If you have other questions you should probably start your own thread over in the homeschooling forum as this is outside of the scope of my thread (and could be viewed as a thread hijack ).

[pinkgreenbean]

Asking questions regarding the topic you are posting about is considered a hijack? Wow. I can see why you aren't finding any luck with friends if that is how you greet people who try to get to understand you. I'll just unsubscribe - how do I block you? I'd love to not run into negative, threatening people who are not open to being involved in greater understanding Ha, you'd be the first one in this region I've run into that has been rude - awesome - and you are procreating - the world alas makes sense again!

[pampered_mom]

pinkgreenbean - First off, welcome to MDC. I'm sure you'll get a feel for the board as time goes on. I'm asking my question here in FYT because it's specific to the region. The kinds of questions you are asking are outside of the scope of my question. I'm trying to honor the guidelines of FYT put in place by MDC. Discussions about homeschooling philosophies and the differences that exist between them are better suited in the Homeschooling forum - which is where the mods would move my thread if that were the focus of it.

All I've done is ask that you try posting your questions on homeschooling philosophy in general over to the Homeschooling forum where you will get better "traffic" as it were. You'll get a wider variety of responses from a wider variety of people - members who are far more knowledgeable on the issue than I am and who have been homeschooling for far longer than I have. I fail to see how that's rude, negative, or threatening.

Regardless...as I've said before, good luck in your search for a philosophy/approach that fits your family.

[scorch_dc]

Originally Posted by pinkgreenbean

I'm interested in the differences you mention between waldorf & unschooling? *still learning*

There are many 'waldorf inspired' unschoolers. Lots. I'll DM you with a few lists/links for that. Nice people, good reads.