Arts and Crafts in Waldorf Schools: An Integrated Approach

When it says “covers every aspect” in the description, it really means a summary of the whys, not the hows.It’s set up like different essays from different craft teachers in each grade level for middle school through high school. The teachers reflect upon ‘why’ each particular craft is taught at each grade or age and include some connection to Waldorf pedagogy and how those crafts connect to a child’s developmental and cognitive abilities for that age.This book DOES NOT tell you ’HOW’ to make your own shoe, how to bind a book, how to metal-craft or how to make your own wooden toys. Instead, it’s a GENERAL overview of what is covered by each grade level 5th and up; however, it is not a comprehensive list.If you’d like to understand a bit more about why your child might be learning a certain craft skill during a particular grade level, hear a few stories about the writers experiences with children while exploring that craft, or even get an occasional photo or hand drawn illustration glimpse of a craft example (but not in detail), you will enjoy this book.It will give you a tad more footing when discussing the, “tell me what you did at school today” conversation if your child is enrolled in a Waldorf school.If your goal is to “cover every aspect” and maybe even learn the craft yourself so you can do things with your child outside of school, replicate them in a homeschool environment or at least read a more in depth “how to” of making each craft or in depth of what your child is doing, you may be disappointed.It’s a great book—just more a collection of reflective short essays/stories from Waldorf craft teachers with more focus on the ‘why’ and not much ‘how’ at all.

Great product