A New Book

                        Eine weitere Waldorfschule in Florida:

                          (Another Waldorf School in Florida)

February 3.2020

Dear Dietmar,

I think I can speak for the whole faculty and the parents and Board members who attended your talks at our Waldorf School in saying that your visit to our school was a much appreciated and enriching experience.

In this particularly critical time when much of our efforts are having to go to “putting out fires,” it was truly nourishing to have anthroposophy brought in such an accessible way. I think you lit a spark in the faculty to put anthroposophy at the center of our work!

When I heard that the workshops would be four hours I was skeptical about whether the teachers could have enough stamina left to attend fully to the content. Much to my delight, we found that we were uplifted and energized after the workshops. You gave us a great example of teaching to the thinking, feeling and willing aspects of the human being.

We felt from you a genuine warmth and an interest in our school. We also experienced your passion for teaching from the Waldorf philosophy. Your courage to teach in English was admirable and I might even say it endeared you to us.

In one of your talks to the parents you stressed how the teacher must take responsibility for the relationship to the child and for that child’s behavior. I have felt that our school is too quick to be critical of parents who are not “with the program,” and with children who are difficult. The cry is always that we don’t have the resources. It would be helpful to explore this challenge.  

I wish we had had time with the parents to explore more of the 7-year developmental stages and what this means in terms of the child’s soul life and how the curriculum meets each stage.
I would like to see brought to the parents the concept of being a loving authority as there are many parents today who think the most loving way to be with a child is to give in to their desires.

I will check with parents and faculty members to see if anyone can offer constructive criticism. I will just say lastly that your and Monica’s presence in our school lifted a veil of darkness for us for which we will be eternally grateful.