“Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility—these three forces are the very nerve of education.” Rudolf Steiner
Waldorf initiatives in education in NS:
SOUTH SHORE WALDORF SCHOOL http://waldorfns.org
WALDORF HOME SCHOOLING SUPPORT: https://homeeducationconsultant.com/ Kassandra Marie, MEd in Waldorf Education, Transdisciplinary Focus on Healing Education, Certified Waldorf Grades Teacher
Wolfville Waldorf Early Childhood
Home based four mornings a week 9:00am – 12:30PM Monday – Thursday. “Five moms and a grandmother bring our children together to have the experience of a Waldorf playgroup/kindergarten. Two of the adults are Waldorf teachers.”
contact: Elenora Ebatta 416-452-6580
Book Review:
THE SPIRITUAL CHILD: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving
By Lisa Miller, Ph.D. St Martin’s Press, New York, published 2015.
Lisa Miller, Ph.D. is a professor of Psychology and Education; director of Clinical Psychology Program at Columbia University Teachers College; director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute and coeditor in chief of the American Psychological Association journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice. Her research has been published in journals including JAMA Psychiatry, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Parents, teachers, grandparents, other carers: This book gives a full picture of the ‘whole child’, including the science behind natural, inherent biologically-based spirituality in young people. It would be a helpful book to have handy as a guide for us and our children through the often perplexing stages of childhood through adolescence to young adulthood.
It gave me a feeling of optimism to read this (very readable) book full of contemporary scientific research that demonstrates how in our human life spirituality is a natural expression of our being, and in particular, how we can respond to it beneficially for our children. Lisa Miller’s research is a call from the heart.
A few comments, having read the book: The author characterizes in the Introduction what is meant by ‘spirituality’ here (quote) “…personal spirituality … as an inner sense of living relationship to a higher power (God, nature, spirit, universe, the creator, whatever your word is for the ultimate loving, guiding life-force). This focus may seem clear and self-evident, but it took two decades for the scientific community to embrace it. ….”
Scientific proof is laid out showing spirituality to be an inherent aspect of being human, supported by our biology from birth. The author talks helpfully of head thinking and heart thinking as distinct from one another, and how helpful it is for us to recognize the difference; she describes which parts of the brain are active in both of these important functions, and where the expression of spirituality lies (section ‘The Science of the Spiritual Brain’).
The book is divided into two parts: ‘Childhood’ (first decade), and ‘Adolescence and Beyond’ (second decade +). The first part is packed with recognition of the young child’s spirituality and how we may encourage this – “these assets will develop into spiritual strengths with lifelong benefits.”
In the second part it is statistically demonstrated that young people who feel supported by spiritual connection are much more likely to find meaning and purpose in life. Our North American culture has disturbingly high rates of adolescent depression, which often re-occurs without the resilience that a spiritual connection can give. The author offers a new understanding: “The conventional conceptualization of depression – especially around developmental depression in adolescents – is incomplete. Western medicine largely views depression exclusively as an illness: a chemical imbalance, illness related or the result of psychological dysfunction or deficit. I see otherwise. The new science of spirituality shows that adolescent depression is something more: a natural aspect of the (adolescent’s) quest that is inherently developmental – and spiritual.”
Judy King Jan. 2019
rudolf steiner nova scotia 