Episode 209
Welcome to our deep dive into the science of reading and Waldorf education. On this episode of the podcast, Jean is joined by her assistant Sarah to share with you new insights about the literacy journey through the holistic lens of Waldorf education.
Waldorf education, since its founding in 1919, has evolved significantly. And homeschoolers are in a unique position to weave together “responsible innovation” in the Waldorf movement with new insights and research about human brain development.
Jean and Sarah discuss all things literacy ~ from oral language development to content knowledge, from neural pathways to simple strategies for teaching.
This is a rich discussion! Listen, take notes, and dig into the resources and links mentioned.
The Science of Reading & Waldorf Education
In this episode:
- The unique and wonderful position homeschoolers are in to innovate and individualize [1:30]
- The science of reading from a homeschooling perspective [2:49]
- How the science of reading complements Waldorf education [7:03]
- The reading and writing journey for a Waldorf-inspired homeschooler [15:29]
- Phonemes & graphemes [17:41]
- Starting with the Alphabet [19:31]
- Developing phoneme to grapheme connections [24:14]
- Explicit and implicit teaching [25:49]
- Strategy #1: Say your sounds as you write [32:50]
- Strategy #2: If you can spell it, you can read it [37:00]
- Strategy #3: Beyond copying summaries [38:31]
- Individualize the learning for your own child [42:45]
Resources Mentioned
“Why Waldorf Works from a Neuroscientific Perspective” by Regalina Melrose
Rooted in Language Foundations for Teaching Reading, Writing & Spelling Educator Course
Related Episodes
121: The Essence of Holistic Homeschooling
43: Top 10 Lessons from Steiner’s 1919 Seminar Course
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