Families

When families and teachers work together—not just in support of the individual child or class, but in the creation of a community—it fosters the goals of Waldorf education and our own inner development as adults. When new children are enrolled, their parents or caregivers are encouraged to communicate with their teachers, attend class meetings and assemblies, participate in adult education workshops, and help in critical areas of school life, such as becoming an Ashwood Community of Families Representative (see below), a Class Coordinator, helping with fundraising, or serving on the Board of Trustees and its working committees. In this way an environment of mutual understanding, trust, and cultural renewal is created and supported.

Resources

Educational Support

Sometimes a child needs extra support. At Ashwood, parents and teachers work together closely to identify the student’s needs and the available resources, such as tutoring or therapy.

Ashwood’s faculty has primary responsibility for activities in this area. The faculty works together to:

  • support teachers in observing and understanding the needs of students, particularly those experiencing challenges to health development and academic and/or social success
  • offer suggestions for assessment and therapeutic support for students.
  • initiate studies to deepen the group’s understanding of child development, child study techniques, learning styles, learning disorders and remediation, and shares these insights with the faculty
  • organize visits by consultants who are experts in the field of Waldorf remedial education, assessment, or other needed area
  • maintain a resource list of area specialists

Learn more about Waldorf remedial education:

The Association for Healing Education

“Remedial Education” by Mary Jo Oresti

Waldorf Links
Reading List

Anthroposophy

  • The Essential Steiner by Robert McDermott

Early Childhood

  • Beyond the Rainbow Bridge, Barbara Patterson and Pamela Bradley, Michaelmas Press, Amesbury, MA, 2000
  • Children at Play, Preparation for Life, Heidi Britz-Crecelius, Inner Traditions International, New York, 1972
  • Education of the Child, Rudolf Steiner, Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1965
  • Festivals with Children, Brigitte Barz, Floris Books, Edinburgh, 1991.
  • Home Remedies, Otto Wolff, Floris Books, 1991
  • In a Nutshell, Nancy Foster, Acorn Hill, Silver Springs, MD, 2005
  • Lifeways: Working With Family Questions, ed. Gudrun Davy, Hawthorn Press, Stroud, England, 1983
  • Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry, Katrina Kenison, Grand Central Publishing, 2002
  • Childhood’s Garden (book and CD), Helle Heckman
  • Our Children from Birth to Seven, Barbara J. Patterson and Pamela Bradley, Michaelmas Press, Amesbury, MA
  • Seven Times the Sun, Shea Darian, Gilead Press, Brookfield, WI, 1994
  • Storytelling with Children, Nancy Mellon, Hawthorn Press, Gloucestershire, 2000
  • The Children’s Year, Stephanie Cooper, et al, Hawthorn Press, Gloucestershire, UK, 2005
  • The Seven O’Clock Bed Time: Early to bed, early to rise, makes a child healthy, playful, and wise, Inda Schaenen, Harper Paperbacks, 2001
  • Toymaking With Children, Freya Jaffke, Floris Books, Edinburgh, 1987
  • Waldorf Education – A Family Guide, Pamela Johnson Fenner, Karen L. Rivers, Michaelmas Press, Amesburg, MA
  • What Is a Waldorf Kindergarten? Sharifa Oppenheimer
  • You Are Your Child’s First Teacher, Rahima Baldwin, Celestial Arts, 1989

Handwork

  • Will Developed Intelligence – Handwork and practical arts in the Waldorf School by D. Mitchell and P. Livingston

General

  • School as a Journey by Torin Finser
  • The Recovery of Man in Childhood by A.C. Harwood
  • Understanding Waldorf Education – Teaching from the Inside Out by Jack Petrash
  • Teaching as a Lively Art by Marjorie Spock
  • Rhythms of Learning – Selected Lectures by Rudolf Steiner; edited by Roberto Trostli
  • Waldorf Education a Family Guide by Pamela Johnson Fenner & Karen L.Rivers

Use of Electronic Media

  • Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don’t Think by Jane Healy
  • Failure To Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds for Better and Worse by Jane Healy
  • Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander
  • The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn
  • Evolution’s End: Claiming The Potential of Our Intelligence by Joseph Chilton Pearce

If you cannot find these books at your local library, you may want to check the following resources:

The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) Bookstore

Waldorf Books

Subscribe to The Leaflet

The Leaflet is a digital newsletter published by Ashwood Waldorf School. It contains photography, news, and information of interest to current parents, alumni parents and students, and anyone with an interest in Waldorf education.

Volunteering

Part of what makes Ashwood’s community so vibrant is involvement of parents and caregivers in the life of the school. That involvement includes communicating with your child’s teachers to support their child’s education and attendance at class meetings, parent/teacher conferences, festivals, celebrations, assemblies and other class events. In addition, for those families who have the time, there are many opportunities to volunteer at Ashood. Offering your time, skills, and creative ideas is not only an act of generosity, but a great way to make friends and build community. So, please get involved! 

Here are a few of the ways current families volunteer at Ashwood:

  • Be an Ashwood Community of Families (ACF) Class Representative
  • Attend ACF meetings
  • Chaperone and drive on field trips
  • Making a special birthday snack for one of your child’s classmates
  • Help with a festival

You don’t have to be a parent to volunteer your time at Ashwood. We warmly welcome the participation of alumni (students, parents, teachers, staff) as well as community members, neighbors and friends!

Another type of active involvement at Ashwood is through membership on one of the Board-led committees that serve the school and help maintain its vitality. These committees perform many essential functions in the operation of the school and provide opportunities for interaction with other parents, Board members, and faculty. Anyone interested in serving on a committee is asked to contact the School Director. Specific skills and qualifications may be required in order to join a committee. You do not need to be a member of the Board in order to participate on a Board-led committee.

Please call the School Director at 207-236-8021 if you are interested in volunteering.

The Ashwood Community of Families

The Ashwood Community of Families (ACF) supports and educates Ashwood’s parents and helps connect parents to all aspects of the life of the school. The ACF works in tandem with the faculty and the Board of Trustees to help create a healthy school community.

All parents at Ashwood are considered to be members of the Ashwood Community of Families (ACF) and are encouraged to attend the monthly meetings, which alternate between morning and evening sessions to accommodate all schedules. Each year, the faculty participates in the ACF program through presentations on specific aspects of the curriculum.

Throughout the year, the ACF’s work includes:

  • welcoming new families
  • supporting the social life of the school through festivals and other events
  • providing a forum for the discussion of school-wide issues
  • fostering communication that strengthens the school community

Each class has one or two ACF Representatives who attend the monthly meetings, help organize ACF-sponsored events, serve as liaisons between their classroom and the ACF, and coordinate volunteers.

For more information about the Ashwood Community of Families please e-mail info@ashwoodwaldorf.org.