High School

Study Is Hard Work

This is one book I truly wish I had had when I was in high school and college. Although I managed to develop a method of study that proved effective, if I had been able to read this book first, I would have faced the task of studying with a confidence and surefootedness that I entirely lacked. Years of uncertainty and anxiety might have been transformed had I known then what Armstrong lays out so completely and clearly.

Study Is Hard Work was published too late for me to use, but not too late for today's high school and college students. It is already required reading in numerous prep schools, and hailed by college educators as fostering the best kind of academic success -- that founded on a love of learning and an ability to work hard and thoroughly.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is a truly great tool.

Colloquium on World History

With the goal of exploring a symptomatological approach to teaching World History in Waldorf high schools, eight members of the Waldorf High School Research project gathered to present papers and discuss viewpoints, approaches and ideas. The results of this meeting held in March of 2000 are presented in this books and offer much food for thought and inspiration for teaching.

Contents:

• Waldorf High School Research Project - Descriptin and Mission Statement
• Introduction to Teaching History in a Waldorf High School
• Introduction to the Colloquium on World History
• The Symptomatological Approach in the Teaching of History
• Four Goals of the Colloquium
• The Role of Humanities in Waldorf High Schools: Thoughts from Colloquium Members
• Teaching Ancient History in the Tenth Grade: Exploring Egypt through Symptoms: A Vignette - Eric Philpott
• thoughts by the Participants Following the Presentation on Ancient History
• Jan Hus: A Vignette - Eric Philpott
• What is Modern? - Karl Fredrickson
• The Printing Press as Symptom of Change of Relationship between the Individual and Outer Authority: A Vignette - Betty Staley
• A Conversation about the Consciousness Soul and the History of Reading
• A Conversation on the Teacher's Role Concerning Contemporary Issues
• The Middle Ages and the Advent of the New Mysteries: Medieval English - John Wulsin
• Thoughts about Symptoms and Examples: Karl Fredrickson
• Thoughts and Symptoms: Anne Greer
• Symptoms: David Sloan, John Wulsin, Betty Staley, Douglas Gerwin
• Appendices:
  
  • History by Eugen Kolisko
  • What Is History About? by A. C. Harwood
  • History Bibliography

Splinters of the Sun

Betty Staley passionately loves Russian literature and deeply believes that it holds many "splinters of the sun" - many loving pieces of light that illuminate the souls of readers as they speak of a world that is and vastly different in history and outlook from that of the Anglo-European worlds. It is this combination of beauty and cultural landscape that makes the great works of Russian literature so very appropriate for high school students.

Anyone wishing to teach this literature will be helped enormously by Splinters of the Sun. In it, Staley picks key authors and works and explores them through the windows of history, culture, biography and literary content and style. It is in many ways like walking through a park where the trees are stories planted by authors of genius. I believe that lovers of literature have good reason to rejoice at the coming of this book.

Life Lessons

It is a beautiful thing the way literature can fire the hearts of teenagers (and the rest of us): the stories transport us into the experiences of others, the way the author conveys them allows us to step into the vision of someone else and understand it; and, especially, the excitement a teacher shares for a book is a lesson that lasts a lifetime and nourishes the student every day. It is all this that David Sloan conveys about teaching literature to teens. Open Life Lessons and discover the magic for your self. And, then share some of it with a teenager!

Parsifal and the Search for the Grail

The Parsifal story stands between the past age that looked for secrets of the spirit, and the coming age that was going to search for search for the secrets of matter. Charles Kovacs covers both the background history and the legendary story of Parsifal, keeping his focus on one of the central problems of our time -- learning to ask the right questions.

Anyone teaching this story, or wishing to broaden their own understanding of it, will find in Kovacs' presentation clarity, depth and an infectious interest in the subject.

Sing Me the Creation

This is an exciting, new approach to awakening spontaneous, wholesome creativity - whether in our selves or within the children we teach. I have a feeling that as more teachers experiment with bringing these exercises into their classrooms, Sing Me the Creation will become one of the most treasured teacher resources ever. Beautiful!

In over 300 silly and serious exercises, Paul Matthews gives us permission to indulge our fantasy, and then, when that life is flowing, provides the tools to craft it into poetry and story.

Though these exercises are intended for group work with adults, teachers of children will find here many new ideas for the classroom, and individuals working alone will have no difficulty adapting them to their needs.

Words in Place

Words in Place is a nine-week writing course that follows a path through the realms of nature, from mineral to plants, animal, and people. By exploring the qualities of each, Words in Place encourages the writer to find a unique, authentic voice and to forge a new relationship the inner and outer worlds.

Paul Matthews offers a rich variety of creative techniques and exercises, including "haiku hikes," word and story games, written conversation, collaborative writing, and "tiny tales."

The reader will enjoy this powerful and unusual book both for its help in connecting with nature and for its insights into imagination and the poets and writers who created the literary geography of East Sussex, the author’s home.

Contents:

• WEEK ONE: Opening Our Senses to Each Other and the World
• WEEK TWO: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire
• WEEK THREE: Turning a New Leaf
• WEEK FOUR: The Flowering Garden and Our Responses to It
• WEEK FIVE: The Animal in Nature
• WEEK SIX: Giving Voice to the Animals
• WEEK SEVEN: Being Human
• WEEK EIGHT: The Story We Belong to
• WEEK NINE: Walking Back the Way We Came

Loving the Stranger

We must come to understand that our love can also hurt another person. There is no assurance that because we have good will we can only bring about pleasure. This is a childish idea. To the extent to which we have learned to cope with this discrepancy in ourselves, thus far can we extend empathy to others and also help them to cope as well.

- Dr. Thomas J. Weihs

Weihs' thoughts on love remind us in a poignant way that if we are to help young people along their journey from childhood to adulthood, then we must offer them the empathy and understand we can develop from an honest assessment of ourselves.

Loving the Stranger is a collection of talks and essays by doctors and teachers who have been involved with Youth Guidance as part of the work of the Camphill Movement. They are warm, deep and wide-ranging in content and challenge us to examine new ideas and adopt new approaches in our relationships with young people, many of whom may find themselves in difficulties during their journey through adolescence.

Kinesthetic Learning for Adolescents

Each elementary school child has opportunities on a daily basis to learn by using his hands, by moving, singing and through other activities. Learning with movement activities brings joy and success. Is this learning modality given the attention it warrants at the secondary level? Do high school students need to just grapple with information or do they need to be engaged and active in their learning? This book addresses these questions and presents many examples, most notably through eurythmy.

 

Kinesthetic Learning in Adolescent Education

Kinesthetic (movement/touch oriented) learning is not only a dominant learning style for some people, it is an important facet of everyone's learning process - one that enables the student to retain and integrate the information learned. This extremely valuable paper explores how to integrate movement into academic subjects on behalf of the students' increased learning and more balanced psychology. Highly recommended!

From the author's abstract:

Movement education is often considered a peripheral subject in school curricula, yet it is essential for the teenager and it should form a central focus in education. Eurythmy and spatial dynamics are co-creators of a balanced and creative approach to movement educaiton, and they provide criteria by which other forms of movement can be introduced.

Students need not only a balanced movement education but also movement introduced into lessons, projects and demonstrations in order for them to integrate learning on both physical and psychological levels. Without such integration education imparts information which cannot be retained and remains undigested within the personality. Concepts that are not integrated, according to Rudolf Steiner, lay the basis for later anger toward the judgments of society.

In this paper examples of classes integrating movment include physics, earth science, history, eurythmy, literature, and biology. Suggestions for generating curricula are presented.

The Teenage Edge

Teenagers want nothing so much a to find out who they are. As we adults know this search is often lonely and perilous, and the adolescent response is often filled with a loud sort of turmoil. Ted Warren explores the spiritual significance of this journey with many compelling examples. At the rear of the book he provides a workbook for teachers and parents to assist them in positive involvement. Warren's healthy insights and positive advice are valuable for parents, therapists, doctors, and teachers. The Teenage Edge may be just the ticket for any adult finding themselves at something of a loss with the teens in their life.

Creating a Culture of Awareness

The author explores the need for teachers to assist high school students in developing an understanding of their fellow students and suggests methods by which this can be brought about in each of the high school grades.