Education for the 21st Century
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A healthy social life is found only when, in the mirror of each soul, the whole community finds its reflection, and when, in the whole community, the virtue of each one is living
. --
Rudolf Steiner
Dear families,
We are so wishing we could all be together today on our traditional May Faire day. It is one of many challenges we have had to face and overcome together as a community.
We have made so many memories together, and that's what sustains us through the times we find ourselves in at present. Memories become part of our soul fabric. We can't wait to make new ones with all of you.
We have lots of fun snapshots of Learning Beyond the Classroom, a Save the Date for a new kind of May Faire, and more. Baba the Storyteller is the first star of our brand new school YouTube channel: please subscribe
here
! Also, if you are not following us on Facebook and Instagram, you are missing out! Click on the icons above to follow us.
SAVE THE DATE for your next Learning Beyond the Classroom supplies pick up: Monday, May 11. Details forthcoming on ParentSquare.
Be on the lookout for a Zoom invitation
later this month to cheer on our Grade 8 students as they debut their 8th Grade Projects live! You don't want to miss this! They have been working since last summer on their projects, which range from making a custom sneaker to creating a permaculture herb spiral. The dates are Monday, May 25 - Friday, May 29 and the times are 7pm-8pm, with five children presenting per evening.
Warmly,
Alyssa Hamilton
WSOC Communications Coordinator
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Save the Date for Drive-Up May Faire on Saturday, May 16
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Even though we can't host our traditional May Faire this year, we do have some fun plans in the works.
Please save the date for Saturday, May 16. Location: the front of the WSOC campus.
Details will be sent out soon. Hint: you won't be leaving your car!
If you are a parent, faculty, or staff member, please see your message on ParentSquare (sent 5/2/20) to view your special May Faire treat (Theme: May Faire Through the Years). For community friends, alumni, Board members and others, you will receive this via regular email. If for some reason you don't see it, please email
Alyssa Hamilton
and I will make sure you receive it.
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Guess Who Else Misses Us? Baba the Storyteller!
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Baba the Storyteller has become a WSOC campus icon over the last several years. His stories and fables of courage, honesty and wisdom along with his beautiful kora playing have resonated with community members of all ages. He made this video especially for us, and sends his love to everyone. Enjoy!
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Learning Beyond the Classroom: Early Childhood
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Embracing the at-home experience with projects, crafts and food!
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The Waldorf early childhood experience is not easy to replicate in another environment. But thanks to the hard work of teachers and parents, some wonderful things are happening on the home front. Sweet little learning nooks, art projects, and handwork are coming along!
Even birthday circles have been looped in. Kindergarten teacher Ms.Terri drives to each chld's house on their birthday to drop off a handmade birthday crown, candle, and flowers from her garden.
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Finger knitting while snug in a cozy silk cape
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Making butter with instructions from Ms. Catherine
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Working on fine motor skills with a fun exercise from Ms. Arieta
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Please enjoy the latest issue of WSOC Early Childhood's
The Star
newsletter (click on image). "
All six EC teachers (including Ms. Michaela and Teacher Jenell) have collaborated on a weekly newsletter. We each are in charge of one section. I’m doing food, nutrition, and recipes. We are doing audio stories for the children weekly. We sent a hand-dyed silk in their recent take-home package and asked them to wrap it around them as a big hug from their teacher while they listen to their stories," said Kindergarten teacher Ms.Terri.
Said Playgroup parent Courtney T.,"I have really enjoyed reading these and the insight it provides. I made the birthday muffins and they were delicious!"
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Learning Beyond the Classroom: Grades
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Grade 7 Physics and Acoustics
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The study of physics in Waldorf middle school is always a student favorite. My students are currently working on the acoustics portion of their physics block. From their work last year, the students are familiar with the properties of sound and how sound travels. This year the students study pitch and intervals. In particular, the students are looking at the relationships between pitches produced by instruments and their physical properties, such as the length of a string. In addition, the class is understanding the principles of consonance and dissonance, by answering the question “what is the difference between music and noise?” Each student has been tasked with creating a musical instrument out of household objects and playing a song on their instrument. - Ms. Valenzuela-Mier, Grade 7 teacher
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Grades En Espanol:
¿Que Hay de Nuevo?
Grade 5 received a packet of Spanish exercises as well as video-cuentos and seeds for them to plant. They also have been working with more challenging activities, such as Spanish Animal riddles and short stories reading comprehension activities.
Grade 6 is practicing their Spanish with a packet and stories from Spain and the Middle Ages, reciting their poems and practicing their conversations.
Grades 7 and 8 have a wide variety of Spanish exercises, from Geography of the World (quizzes), grammar, tests, reading comprehension stories, and anatomy in Spanish in Grade 8.
-
Señora
Blanco, Grades Spanish teacher
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Gardening at Home
Above: Sprouting seeds provided by Ms. Schwarz (Grade 2 teacher and Grade 3 gardening teacher) as part of Grade 3 gardening.
"
We have two corn, two sunflower, and we are waiting for two watermelon seeds to sprout! My daughter checks the seeds multiple times a day!" said parent Roxana Z.
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8th grade has been studying anatomy in our lessons beyond the classroom. In one of our attendance questions, the students were asked: “what are you wondering about the eye?
”
Twenty five voices spoke up via my computer at home. There were thoughts like:
why do we have certain eye colors, how do eyes move in the eye socket
and
how am I able to see?
In our subsequent studies we concluded that the eyes are probably one of the most important sensory organs and we were able to answer those initial questions.
If you ask yourself for a moment what sayings you know about the eye, you might come up with quite a few! For example:
The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter in the eye.
- Charlotte Bronte
Beyond the eye, it has been awesome to share the discovery the human skeleton and other anatomy topics with my students. They have created some remarkable main lesson books and would be able to teach you a thing or two about your body when they see you in person next!
-Ms. Christiane, Grade 8 teacher
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Quarantine
I’m stuck in a house and
I’m not allowed to leave,
And all I can do
Is just grieve.
I want to be free
And go climb a tree,
But I guess I’ll wait
Til the world is free.
By Sirena B.C.
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Grade 6 teacher Ms. Fabian's daughter Sophia, Grade 10, helped her assemble May Faire bouquets, which she hand-delivered to all of her families (from a safe distance) on Friday, May 1.
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Grade 11 Student Raises Funds to Help Feed the Hungry During COVID-19 Crisis
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Congratulations to WSOC 11th grader Lauren O'Neill for her recent feature in The Daily Pilot, showcasing her fundraising efforts on behalf of the nonprofit organization "Feeding America." Her necklace line, "Hooves and Hope," has currently generated enough in sales to fund 257 meals for the organization.
"Lauren has long been passionate about feeding people in need, and during this time she felt compelled to make a difference," said her mother, Denise.
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Learning Beyond the Classroom: High School
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Grade 9 chemistry in action! Our students had to cook something using carbohydrates, explore the chemistry involved in their creation, and then present it to the class via video, slide show, or screencast. - Ms. Ingrid, high school science teacher
Thank you Hannah L. for allowing us to share your video!
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Mr. Matan's Mud Challenge Results
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WSOC's Practical Arts teacher Mr. Matan recently issued a "Mud Challenge" to WSOC students. They were tasked with creating their own mud masterpiece. Here are some of the results!
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The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) recently launched a continent-wide alumni platform called Waldorf Alum Connect
https://alums.waldorfeducation.org/
Any adult having attended a Waldorf School for any period of time across the continent, is invited to register on the website and join the professional networking platform! Our own WSOC alumni will be able to connect with other Waldorf alumni across the globe, utilizing an interactive map, to forge professional relationships, view alumni news and events and share in a broader online community.
Interested in supporting our alumni efforts:
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Community News & Announcements
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Adult Education Opportunity at WSOC!
Have you ever said, "I wish I was the one going through Waldorf Education?"
Or perhaps you would like to learn more about why Waldorf teachers bring subjects to their students in a particular way. With Foundation Studies, you can! Waldorf School of Orange County’s two-year program enables participants to experience many of the subjects their child learns, including a study of great literary works such as Parzival, form drawing, wet-on-wet watercolor, projective geometry and more. Additionally, courses include Child Development and the Basics of Waldorf Education, a Biography Workshop, and other fundamentals of Waldorf Education. Faculty members from WSOC support the program, as do several guest teachers from the wider Anthroposophical movement.
WSOC’s Adult Education program is directed by Chris Bennett, who joined the faculty of WSOC in September 2009 and is the former director of Kula Makua Adult Waldorf Education in Honolulu, and was an instructor at the London Waldorf Teacher Training Seminar (UK) for many years before that. He served as WSOC class teacher from 2009- 2017, when his class graduated 8th grade.
This is a two-year, part-time study program. A monthly payment option is available. (September-June). Please
click here
for brochure and registering instructions. Classes begin in Fall 2020.
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AmazonSmile = Easy Fundraising Opportunity
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AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as
Amazon.com
.
The difference is that when you shop on
AmazonSmile
, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.
Every item available for purchase on Amazon
is also available on AmazonSmile (
smile.amazon.com
) at the same price. You will see eligible products marked "Eligible for AmazonSmile donation" on their product detail pages.
Just click on the icon above and choose WSOC as your charity. Each time you order, our school receives a donation. It's that simple!
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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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Learning Beyond the Classroom: Grades
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