Are you a parent, homeschooler, teacher or grandparent looking for ways to make your life with children easier, simpler, less stressful and more rewarding? Then you've come to the right place!
I’m Sarah Baldwin, a Waldorf early childhood educator, author, and owner of Bella Luna Toys, an online resource for wooden and natural toys designed to develop a child's imagination and creativity.
I started my video series "Sunday with Sarah" to share the wisdom and knowledge I've gained after more than 25 years of working with young children. In my videos, I share ideas on parenting, education, homeschooling, and the power of imaginative play. I also share craft, cooking and other tutorials to enrich your life with children.
But most importantly, I am here to answer YOUR questions. If you have a question, email it to sundaywithsarah@bellalunatoys.com and I will do my best to answer it in a future video.
And don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to this channel for more!
Just closed on a house with a much bigger lot than our previous house…big dirt area, big grass area, garden, swimming pool…we move in Wednesday! We’ve been going over there every day and the kids have been loving all the space.
Well...parents do havevto carry the full burdeon of tuition in the USA. Whereas in Germany parents can afford to send their kids there. Yes they also have to pay but it is only an affordable fraction of what they charge in Portland, OR. In Portland it costs an Arm and a leg and if you have more than one child a single income family can't afford it. It is definetly a cliquish environment there. At least it was around 20 years ago. And yes you were looked down at by other parents and by school staff if you could not or longer afford it. And they did let you feel it too.
*Trigger warning:* When I was in that school I experienced some episodes of physical violence such as… • being held down and being forced to eat dirt from the ground by other kids. After this event the teacher grounded the girl who did this. Then that girl complained and said that it was all a joke so the teacher ended up grounding me instead. • A kid put a needle in my chair’s pillow, when I sat down the needle got stuck in my thigh. The teacher put my pant down to see the needle in front of the entire class. I was 8 years old. • A kid stepped on my hands on purpose.
A lot of violence between kids in these schools. Steiner thinks Eve had to eat the forbidden fruit and kids have to go trough evil as well. Not what the Bible says at all- complete madness.
It's so funny how people really belive that Wadorf is a cult. It is most certainly not:D I just graduated high school after 13 years in Waldorf and I can confidently say that it was the best thing that could have happend to me. Please put your kid into a Waldorf school, if you can!
Hello Sarah, We are from Vietnam. My son is 7.5 years old. We raise him from kindergarten to grade 2 at Waldorf Steiner schools in Vietnam. Our mistake is that we shared too much fear during the COVID pandemic with our son, now I watched your video and regret of the mistake we made and don’t want to repeat it. For this summer vacation, we planed to travel to Mongolia but the costs is about 5,000$. We still can afford that but I fear of the uncertain economic conditions in near future and want to save that money for the rainy days ahead. However, we already discussed about the vacation with our son so I’m now torn between going ahead with the trip or change to a cheaper vacation without transferring too much fear to our son. Could you please share some thoughts and give some advice? Thank you very much.
We just live a lifestyle of non possession, "freeganism" and ",minimalism" too. So most of the things we have are temporarily "ours" to use and to pass along. So it wont be unusual for a toy to come in one day and leave the next. Its not a lack of valueing the item but a deeper sense of appreciation because of the value of sharing. We have certain things we are more attatched to for different reasons and thats okay, we may hang onto them longer as they seeve their purpose, and we can keep certain things to pass down in the immediate family if they hold that importance to us, but we like to keep the cycle of "stuff" moving. We get to experience lifes abundance that way. The things that serve their purpose and have their place are the only things we need until we dont anymore. If someone gives us a thing we didnt ask for, we discuss the reasoning behind our decision with what to do with it and collaborate on our decision taking into consideration our understood and agreed upon values.
omg I'm in tears, I'm a grandmother of a 6yr he turned 6 Jan 3, 24, he is small for his age, he still wears 4t in clothes, he is very smart and uses big words for his age that his 8 yr sister doesn't use, super sweet and still has a little babyish to him, if that makes sense, His Kindergarten teacher has written a letter stating she feels he needs to be retained because he's just not ready, we had a parent teacher meeting she went over with me what he was weak in, i told her give me all the info i can possibly get to work with him during the summer and then we can have him retested just before school resumes to see where he stands at that point, And after listing to Ms. Sarah it makes sense, she is absolutely right, I will work with him throughout the summer but i think he needs to be retained, His sister was the same, she was retained she is passing to 2nd now and she is doing great in reading math writing etc., she was helping her brother at the table to night how to do his math work, I told her i was so proud of her, i have a treasure box i fixed up for them , they get to pick from after completing their homework, and they love it.
Hi Sarah, I love this video! I am a Muslim and I think you may be very surprised to find out that this concept is part of our tradition in education for children. There is a famous saying attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, that forms the foundation for the suggested approach, which says: “Play with them for the first seven years of their life; then teach them for the next seven years; then advise them for the next seven years and after that.”
Very interesting. Especially the statement about using the words work or play. But Work is a job. Although there are other benefits to having a job other than getting paid. Bottom line The word work implies labor & responsibilities. Which has a psychological effect on us adults. But if a children is conditioned to see work as play,, or if they’re trying to motivate the child to believe or think that works should be play. That’s interesting as well. But it also can be kind of manipulative. To suddenly or subconsciously condition the child to be a good laborer. If the child grows up to be an adult,, and he does not enjoy his work,, he or shy might not be happy. When they discovered that there is no play in the work that they are doing. Because in their minds after years of conditioning,, to them there should be no difference between work and play. Or everything is work and play. I could be stretching it there. It is rare that people would associate work,, with play or fun. For me personally,, I think there should be a difference between work and play. There can be work that is fun and playful. But more often than not,, work is not fun. But there is play is more closely associated with fun. No one plays,, without the intent of fun. So I personally would choose the word play.
Let's go to first grade now I'm not waiting he he he😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 he he he he he he again he he he he he he he he he he he he again he he he then
My children attended a Waldorf school for four years. I pulled them after I took a parent course on Anthroposophy. I am super open-minded but I just couldn’t get past my gut instinct that my children were being indoctrinated into a cult of occultism, under the guise of a crunchy education. That’s saying a lot considering I study the occult but I do so from a scientific frame of mind. I want to understand the origins of religion, myth and legend. The Waldorf School touches on all of these archetypes. I’m okay with that. I found the teachers to be odd, I’m not gonna lie. It made me so uneasy.
I love your channel. My daughter is only six months old but I’m eager to incorporate thoughtfulness and love into her childhood. I was introduced to Waldorf concepts through Bella Luna, and I found this channel. Thank you for your songs, art, and insight that you’re putting into the world 🙏🏻
My parents considered sending me to a Waldorf school at one point. From what I know about them they seem a bit 'woo' and new age to me. The curriculum also seems to be very art and craft based. Might be ok for kindergarten and younger children but how well do they prepare kids for life? Do they prepare kids well for going on to higher education/employment and do they encourage it? Would someone who went to a Waldorf school be able to go to university and cope with the workload and academic environment? Would they have important skills such as computer literacy (as important as reading and writing now, you can't even get a basic job without IT skills)?
