Anyone have, or read, either of these and care to offer an opinion

I have and like the latter, and use bits of it, but also hate other bits of it!  Heaven on Earth is very full-on Steiner (as most Waldorf-at-home books are) including some philosophies that I find frankly nonsense.  If you like You are Your Child’s First Teacher then this will go down well 100%.  If you didn’t like some bits of that, you will probably find this about perfect as a Waldorf how-to.  If you hated that entirely, you may still get something from this (but treat it patiently and don’t throw it out of the window til you get to the end lol).

Basically, it is a whole-life introducing Waldorf instructional. 

It is (as you would expect) totally anti technology and autonomy.  It is very pro dressing children warmly no matter what the weather (or whether the child says it is too warm) and also pro the step-by-step without divergance slow introduction of creative freedom (ie one paint colour at a time etc).  It is just what you’d expect to read if you’ve read other Waldorf books! 

But it is also a wonderful warm gentle reminder to slow down, a great step by step to finding rhythm and exploring seasons and festivals.  It is an intelligent defence of some aspects I previously thought indefensible and doesn’t resort to some of the Steiner=God stuff in other similar books!  Which is all to the good.  WELL worth a read.  And if the Waldorf way already resonates with you, well worth buying to keep dipping back into.

I absolutely loved Heaven on Earth. I think it is beautifully writtien and extremely inspiring and I found it more accessible then ‘You are Your Child’s First Teacher’. I simply read the bits I wanted to read and ignored the bits I wanted to. Some of the religion bits weren’t really for me, but it didn’t spoil it for me in any way. Discusses how to change your home into a wonderful/warm/inviting/safe/beautiful place for children. Discusses indoor and outdoor playspaces in great detail. I seriously love this book and have taken alot of it into my home.

Notes on a waldorf inspired family home:
http://mamauk.typepad.com

I borrowed Heaven on Earth from Sarah and enjoyed the book.  I do not totally take on board all of the steiner philosophy; and while I love the slowing down, the emphasis on rhythm, the spirituality - rather than the religion etc.. there is a romanticsim to Waldorf.. or perhaps rather how some authors write about it, that I think detracts from the core philosophies.  On the whole though I enjoyed the book.  And it’s one I’ll probably pick up at some point.  I still have Free to Learn to read, so we’ll see how I feel after that.

Joxy.

Thanks for all replies…I´ve still not enough idea if I want to fork out for it (money´s too tight to mention) but we´ll see….it´s the idea of having rhythm to life that I really want to explore (perhaps I should start a thread on other people´s rhythm…), I´ve never been any good at it, sometimes I feel like I´ve wasted 4 years of motherhood

MountainMama - 02 September 2010 05:21 PM

Thanks for all replies…I´ve still not enough idea if I want to fork out for it (money´s too tight to mention) but we´ll see….it´s the idea of having rhythm to life that I really want to explore (perhaps I should start a thread on other people´s rhythm…), I´ve never been any good at it, sometimes I feel like I´ve wasted 4 years of motherhood

I have the book in front of me right now and it has a whole chapter on The World of Rhythm. It looks at daily rhythm and there is a chapter on celebrating festivals which you can keep in mind for yearly rhythm.

notes on a waldorf inspired family life:
http://mamauk.typepad.com

Mountain Mama, you are quite welcome to borrow my copy if you like.    I do want it back, but don’t mind it being gone for a month or so if you want to get an idea if it’s for you.  PM me.  xxx

PS, please, Waldorf mamas, post and share your Waldorf-inspired weekly and daily rhythms in Joxy’s thread here: http://www.thegreenparent.co.uk/forums/viewthread/13168/ Thanks all!