The Morning Lesson with Ms. Laura

 

I became a teacher at 7 years old. My 2nd grade teacher asked me to explain regrouping (carrying/ borrowing) to another student. I patiently drew out little frogs and put x on them as I subtracted the numbers and made up a little story to tell my classmate. I did such a fine job of explaining to my friend how I understood the math concept that I was given a small group during center time for the next couple of weeks!

Time and time again the opportunity to be a teacher came to me until I finally got the message – Become a proper teacher!

After years of traditional, brick and mortar schools – public, private, and Waldorf – I heard the call of the homeschooling community. Homeschool families are pioneers seeking to reimagine education in new and exciting ways. However, many families need an expert on call to help. From this need The Morning Lesson was born. 

During the pandemic lockdown my work with homeschoolers went from in-person individual and co-op based groups to online, small cohorts of students. I felt like an explorer in a new world. But over the last 6 years of teaching small groups and traveling with students through the grades, I have found true joy in this new form of education.

In this work of contemplating the best ways of education for students in the 21st century, I became more and more curious. This curiosity led me to pursuing my doctorate. I was very fortunate to be able to be a part of the only Waldorf specific cohort of doctorate students in Antioch University’s EdD program. With 10 other members, I spent several years in deep conversation about the future of education – Waldorf education – and the future of education in general. We shared a variety of research topics and grappled with Rudolf Steiner’s works in community.

For my dissertation I chose to look at Waldorf teacher strategies. How do Waldorf teachers create wonder in their classrooms? I looked at the THREE-FOLD process and the FOUR-FOLD development of the human being and how Waldorf teachers use their unique pedagogical tools in the classroom. What to give it a read? Find Waldorf Wonder: An Exploration of Waldorf Teacher Strategies here https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/1229/ .

Deepening my research on this topic strengthened my own resolve to provide a WONDER experience for my students online. These blog posts hope to create a snapshot of my online classes and how you can bring WONDER pedagogy into your homeschool classroom.