On our thirteenth and final episode of Season One of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita—a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf twelfth grade classroom!

Thank you for joining us on this Waldorf journey! We’ve been so glad to have you with us and can’t wait to share more episodes with you in Season Two, coming soon.

Join us for this conversation about senior year in the Waldorf high school, and to hear Scott and Sarita reflect back on and offer some closing thoughts on all the years in the Waldorf school leading up to graduation. Among other topics, they discuss:

• A broad recapitulation of the previous grades
• The key phrases describing the guiding themes of each seven-year-stage of development; how they are used to develop the faculties of willing, feeling, and thinking
• The key questions for the twelfth grader: “Who am I and what is my purpose in the world?”
• Biochemistry
• Physics: Optics
• Senior class play and what it teaches
• The senior projects: a crowning achievement of their studies and an inspiration for the community
• Some thoughts on the "gap year" 

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

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BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep13-twelth-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita—a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf eleventh grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• The dark night of the soul and the crisis of aimlessness which strikes in eleventh grade
• How revisiting a study of the Renaissance helps the eleventh grader find closure with their grade school/high school experience and prepare for university and higher learning
• The key word for guiding the eleventh grader as a teacher and/or parent
• Truth and authenticity in eleventh grade and how these qualities produce confidence and altruism in the children as adults
• The sixteen- and seventeen-year-old’s thirst to learn about the metaphysical, and how this relates to them studying the atom, electricity and projective geometry this year
• Dante, Parsifval, and Hamlet: the three important literary figures for the eleventh grader
• David Sloan's wonderful book "Life Lessons : Reaching Teenagers Through Literature"
• The importance of the summer break according to the Waldorf philosophy
• Stories of initiation and transformation
• The Romantic poets: discovering reverence and grace through nature

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

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BLOG POST: www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep12-eleventh-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita—a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf tenth grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• A developmental picture of the tenth grader
• The boldness that borders on rudeness of the tenth grader
• The role of ideals, inspiration, and objective guidance in the Waldorf classroom as the ego/higher self develops within the tenth grader
• The development of critical thinking
• The Odyssey: archetype of adolescent self-directed ego with thinking and self-reflection
• Poetry
• Trigonometry
• Inorganic chemistry
• Physics
• Art: pottery, pastels, and drama

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

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BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep11-tenth-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita—a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf ninth grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

· The “third birth”: the birth of the astral body and what this means

· Why revolutions in world history and American history are studied at this age

· How Waldorf education meets and supports the child as they experience the polarity of hormonal changes, and the extremes of emotion that are so typical of 14-15 year-olds

· The place of Goethean observation in the curriculum

· Thermodynamics

· Human anatomy

· Geology and gases

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

—

BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep10-ninth-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita—a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf eighth grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• The importance of the relationship between Waldorf teacher, students, and parents
• How and why the teacher uses specific themes to guide the class throughout the school year 
• Looking at eighth grade as a “stepping up”, rather than a graduation
• History: an overview of the Civil War, the American Revolution, Industrial Revolution, WWI and WWII
• Three key qualities necessary for high school and adulthood—independence, self-reliance, and self-motivation—and how we teach these qualities in Waldorf eighth grade
• The always inspiring and often surprising eighth grade projects: what they are and what the process is
• Eight grade class play: what purpose does it serve, how is it chosen, how are roles assigned?
• Eight grade gardening: teaching responsibility and community

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

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BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep9-eighth-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita—a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf seventh grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• A developmental picture of the seventh grader
• The challenges of entering adolescence and how to deal with them
• Choosing material that best suits your class or children
• Astronomy
• Recitation of a poem by Walt Whitman we love to use in the seventh grade astronomy block
• How biography is used as a teaching tool and why it’s so effective
• History: The Age of Discovery
• Recitation of a moving excerpt from Torin M. Finser’s telling of the story of Joan of Arc
• Chemistry, including a great book by David S. Mitchell you can use as a resource
• Combustion and mechanics
• Nutrition and health block
• Algebra, beginning from a historical perspective

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

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BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep8-seventh-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita—a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf sixth grade classroom! Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things: Characteristics of this developmental stage A couple examples of beloved literary characters who typify the sixth grader’s experience How the child’s conception of causality and cause and effect are awakened and developed this year Waldorf form drawing Geometry and perspective drawing Mineralogy History of Ancient Rome What black and white drawings done in graphite and charcoal teach the sixth grader Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com Thanks for listening! — BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep7-sixth-grade WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com Host: Scott Fishman Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/ Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez www.sarenafishman.com https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/ Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita talk about the Waldorf fifth grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• The new subjects that are introduced in fifth grade 
• Why history and geography are taught separately and what contrasting effects they have on the children
• History of Ancient India, including a study of the vedas and Bhagavad-Gita
• Goethean observation
• “Emotions” versus “feelings”
• History of Ancient Persia, based on the literature, poems, and prayers of that time
• History of Ancient Egypt: the art, hieroglyphics, stories of the gods, and a recitation in Ancient Egyptian of a prayer to Isis that the fifth graders love
• The reason why history is studied in the Waldorf grade school with a focus on the literature, art, and culture of that time
• History of Ancient Greece: the beauty of the Ancient Greeks and the Greek Olympics (which the children will experience by partaking in a mock Olympic games at the end of the year!)
• And as a bonus, a brief digression on the subject of karma and reincarnation from an Anthroposophical standpoint: discussing the dual figure of Judah the Macabee/Judas

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

—

BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep6-fifth-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita talk about the Waldorf fourth grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• The Anthroposophical concept of the seven-year-periods of development throughout the life of a human being
• Characteristics of the child in fourth grade and how the curriculum supports them in this stage of development
• Why we talk about Waldorf “guidelines” rather than a strict Waldorf “curriculum”
• Norse myths and sagas in fourth grade
• Studying the animal kingdom and ecology
• Geography and mapmaking
• Ways of teaching fractions kinesthetically so the children don’t struggle with the concepts
• How and why quilting is often a part of fourth grade

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

—

BLOG POST:  www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep5-fourth-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita talk about the Waldorf third grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• the “nine-year-change”: why third grade is such an important year of transition and how to support the children as they go through it
• practicality: the key guiding principle for third grade
• how and why farming and gardening are taught this year
• examples of verses that can be used with children in different blocks 
• knitting in the Waldorf classroom and why it’s so important
• mental math and verbal math
• three third grade math blocks: measurements, building, and a taste of “business” math
• teaching grammar using color
• old testament stories
• the importance of “inner work” for Waldorf teachers

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

—

BLOG POST: www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep4-third-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita talk about the Waldorf second grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• why a Waldorf class traditionally has the same teacher for all eight years of grade school
• the concepts of “sympathy” and “antipathy” from an Anthroposophical perspective
• fables and legends in second grade, with examples
• teaching grammar as something living, and more than just rules
• mental math and the foundations for algebra
• what math can teach us about living and working with other humans

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

—

BLOG POST: www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep3-second-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita discuss the Waldorf first grade classroom!

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• characteristics indicating readiness to transition from Early Childhood to first grade
• "characterization" versus "definition" in Anthroposophy
• how reading, writing, and math are taught in first grade
• the multi-sensory Waldorf approach to learning
• the importance of fairy tales at this age
• the technique of recapitulation: what it is and how to use it
• why the children often jump rope before class each day
• the role of the Waldorf grade school teacher in the class as "conductor of the orchestra"

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

—

BLOG POST: www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep2-first-grade

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita--a certified Waldorf teacher with 25 years of teaching experience--talk about the Waldorf Early Childhood classroom, which serves as preschool and kindergarten in the Waldorf school.

Join us for this conversation and check out our blog post (link below) to hear Scott and Sarita discuss, among other things:

• what the Early Childhood class looks like and what a typical day might be like
• why play is so important for children, and its significance in Early Childhood
• using storytelling and other methods to awaken the imagination and encourage play
• why academics (math, reading, spelling, etc.) are not taught in Waldorf before first grade
• what is taught instead
• how painting and other artistic activities are taught in Early Childhood
• the young child’s concept of time
• the concept of breathing in and breathing out and Waldorf “rhythms”
• how parents can apply these ideas at home with their child

Don’t forget to check out our blog post for more information on today’s episode, and if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact us at: anthroposophytodaypodcast@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

—

BLOG POST: www.anthroposophytoday.com/episodes/s1-ep1-early-childhood

WEBSITE: www.anthroposophytoday.com

Host: Scott Fishman

Co-host: Sarita Jimenez-Fishman

https://www.instagram.com/saritafishman/

Producer: Sarena Fishman Jimenez 

www.sarenafishman.com

https://www.instagram.com/sarenafishman/

Cover Art: Solomon Fishman

Welcome to Anthroposophy Today: a podcast where we talk to people who are living and working with the principles of Anthroposophy in the 21st century.

Our first season, launching on August 24th, 2020, will be a series on Waldorf education.

In each episode, we’ll be offering an overview of each year of the Waldorf schooling experience—from the child’s physical and spiritual development, to the way arts and academics are taught, and much, much more.

Every Tuesday, join our host Scott Fishman, and his co-host, Sarita Jimenez-Fishman--a Waldorf teacher and Remedial Education specialist--for this thirteen part series of inspiring and illuminating conversations about Waldorf.

Thanks for listening and we look forward to seeing you on August 24th, 2020, for Episode One: Early Childhood!