The Moms I Know Podcast

Since its inception in 1919, Waldorf Education has been embraced world-wide. In this interview with Susan Goldstein, we take a look into the past, present, and future of Waldorf Education and discuss its role in the face of current events.

"Imbue thyself with the power of imagination. Have courage for the truth. Sharpen thy feeling for responsibility of soul." - Rudolf Steiner

The Waldorf model of education is a timeless and time-tested schooling method that is gaining more and more attention and accolades world-wide, but do you know how it began and how it's been evolving in modern times?

For this week's episode, we had the privilege of sitting down with Susan Goldstein, a seasoned Waldorf educator and mentor, to discuss most commonly raised questions about validity of Waldorf education.

Plus, if you're wondering how Waldorf is adapting to modern times, current events, advances in technology, and racial disparities, in this episode we address all of this and more!

Resources From This Episode:

Susan Goldstein: [email protected]

Teaching as a Lively Art by Marjorie Spock: https://rudolfsteinerbookstore.com/product/teaching-lively-art/

You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/216341/you-are-your-childs-first-teacher-third-edition-by-rahima-baldwin-dancy/

Conscious Parenting: A Guide to Living with Young Children by Stephen Spitalny: https://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Parenting-Children-Stephen-Spitalny/dp/B01B9A3PCE

The Five Golden Keys by Helle Heckmann: https://store.waldorfearlychildhood.org/products/five-golden-keys

School as a Journey The Eight-Year Odyssey of a Waldorf Teacher and His Class by Torin M. Finser: https://steinerbooks.org/ebooks/school-as-a-journey-the-eight-year-odyssey-of-a-waldorf-teacher-and-his-class

Frankfurt Memorandum: Rudolf Steiner and the subject of racism by Ramon Brüll and Dr. Jens Heisterkamp: https://www.themomsiknow.com/s/Frankfurt_Memorandum_English.pdf

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About Susan Goldstein

Susan was born on February 8, 1949 in Philadelphia, Pa., the youngest of three children. She attended public schools from K-12th grade. When asked as a child what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have said without hesitation, "a teacher". To Susan, it was clear that this was always going to be her path.

She graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Education and began teaching in the Philadelphia Public schools. She taught for several years, but always felt that something was wrong with what she was doing...somehow, something was missing.

After the birth of her own two children, she taught in a private nursery school for several years where she began to see the importance of play and developing the imagination.

When her own children were about to begin school, her family moved to Colorado, and in this rural community in Western Colorado, there was a Waldorf School. A visit to this school was Susan's first taste of Waldorf education and immediately she knew that this was the education she had been searching for, and she began teaching in this little Waldorf school before even completing her Waldorf Teacher Training.

After two years of teaching a combined class of 4th/5th grade and then 5th/6th grade she enrolled at Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento. She completed her student-teaching at the Santa Cruz Waldorf School and fell in love with both the school and the community. She then taught three full class cycles, grades 1-8, in Santa Cruz.

Since then, she has also worked as the Assistant Director of the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training and the Pedagogical Director of the Santa Cruz Waldorf School. She has taught many courses over the years at BACWTT and also at Rudolf Steiner College's Public School Institute. She has completed the Waldorf Remedial Education training and the Waldorf Mentoring training, and has had the privilege of traveling to many of the Waldorf schools throughout the United States, mentoring and evaluating Waldorf teachers.

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Whether you're planning to stay connected to your child(ren)'s school and continue with distance learning in the fall or whether you are embarking on your first time as a homeschool family, we recorded this episode to give you some ideas of how you can structure your days for success.

"Opportunities for both academic and character growth cannot be discounted simply because your homeschool looks less and less like a public school." - Anonymous

This fall there are so many options for how to continue your child(ren)'s education, but by and large, you will likely be doing some if not all of your learning in and around your own home, but this doesn't mean you have to be under your roof.

In this episode, we discuss the issues of equity and resources, the dynamics and stresses of families with working parents, developmentally appropriate learning, and family school. When you are learning at home, you have the ability to give your child(ren) and yourself space and grace.

Listen in to get an idea of how a day in the life of family school could look for your family.

Resources From This Episode:

The Homeschool Handbook: https://www.purplebeetfamily.com/familyschool

The Moms I Know Homeschool Series: https://www.themomsiknow.com/homeschool

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In recent years, there has been increased evidence and awareness that electromagnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation warrant our attention if we are seeking to reduce symptoms in our bodies and optimize our overall wellness.

For this episode, we are joined by Wendy Myers. A heavy metals detox expert and functional diagnostic nutritionist in Los Angeles, CA, Wendy brings us lots of qualified information about the risks of EMF and EMR exposure as well as practical tips that we can easily apply to help support our own wellness.

Whether you're suffering from symptoms and haven't found success with standard medicine, or if you are already enjoying healthful living, reducing your EMF and EMR exposure has the potential to help you take your wellness to the next level.

We truly enjoyed this opportunity to meet with Wendy and hope you enjoy this episode.

Resources From This Episode:

Wendy Myers: https://myersdetox.com/ and @MyersDetox on Social Media

Coronavirus Support Series: https://coronavirussupportseries.com/

Theraprotect: https://thewellnesstrinity.com/product/theraprotect-emf-harmonizer-cell-phone-laptop-tablet-emf-shield-2-pack/

Harmoni Pendant: https://www.harmonipendant.com/

Pure Wave Mats: https://www.purewaveenergycenters.com/

Q-Link: https://www.shopqlink.com/

Morley Robbins, The Root Cause Protocol: https://therootcause.org/

Harry Massey, NES Health: https://www.neshealth.com/

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About Wendy Myers

Wendy Myers is founder of MyersDetox.com. She is a heavy metals detox expert and functional diagnostic nutritionist in Los Angeles, CA. She is the #1 bestselling author of Limitless Energy: How to Detox Toxic Metals to End Exhaustion and Chronic Fatigue. Wendy hosts the Myers Detox Podcast about all things related to detox. She's passionate about educating people on the importance of detox to live a long, disease free life. She created the revolutionary Myers Detox Protocol and Mitochondria Detox programs after working with thousands of clients around the world.

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If you are finding yourself overwhelmed this summer and struggling to find a way to move forward, you are not alone. This episode is full of ideas and resources to help you tackle that feeling of overwhelm so you and your family can break through the paralysis and begin to take meaningful action.

"The most beautiful realization of all was that motherhood has served as the primary vehicle for growth and transformation. I have been both lost and found myself in motherhood." - Beth Berry, Motherwhelmed

This summer, so many of the mother's we've been speaking with are feeling paralyzed by the amount of overwhelm they are experiencing in their lives. From current events around the world, to the economic and educational decisions they are faced with making for their families, it's no wonder we're feeling weighed down and overwhelmed.

In this episode, we share some amazing resources and suggestions for how to break through these negative feelings and find ways to take action.

As parents we know that the way we respond to these types of situations will inform how our children will respond throughout their lives as well, so it's important that we make conscious and intentional choices around these incredibly difficult and complex issues.

We hope you find this episode helpful and if you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions, we would love to connect with you!

Resources From This Episode

Beth Berry, Motherwhelmed: https://revolutionfromhome.com/the-book/

Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Invitation: http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/

For this episode, Lisa Dominguez Abraham joins us to discuss some of the racial disparities in public education that have been highlighted by coronavirus and social unrest. She invites all of us to consider how our position and privileges impact the people around us, recognizing that this might be a particular challenge for white parents who haven't previously considered themselves what Robin DiAngelo calls "part of a racially socialized group."

"I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth." - Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, 1989

Although she's not an expert on these issues, Lisa shares her perspectives as a mom, community college English professor and Professional Development Coordinator. She believes parents help children locate themselves in terms of their relationships to their families, their communities, and the natural world, and that part of this awareness should include a consideration of their racial identity and privileges. While these topics might feel uncomfortable, parents can model for their children the way understanding oneself is a continual journey of personal growth and evolution.

This episode is vulnerable and far from perfect, but we want to share more of these important conversations with you. If you have any feedback or questions about this episode, we would love to connect with you to further the conversation.

Resources From This Episode:

Lisa Dominguez Abraham: https://www.lisadominguezabraham.com/

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Lisa Dominguez Abraham is an English professor at Cosumnes River College, a school that has been noted as one of the 10 most diverse community colleges in the nation. She currently serves as the Professional Development Coordinator at CRC. Her poetry collection Mata Hari Blows a Kiss won the 2016 Swan Scythe Chapbook Contest, and her full-length book of poetry, Coyote Logic, came out from Blue Oak Press in 2019.

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When we take a look at the uncertainty of the future of education in the United States, we might not know what the future holds, but we do know how children learn best.

"A hybrid independent study program can be a wonderful model for the future."

After sheltering-in-place for several months and going through graduation season without our traditional ceremonies, we are grappling with the realization that even when traditional school is back in session, it is going to be anything but "normal". Faced with this realization and the formation of parent-teacher task forces all across the nation, it's no wonder that so many parents are wanting to know more about other options.

In this episode, we want to share with you the details of what's worked for us and what we've seen work throughout our decades of experience as educators and mentors - the independent studies / homeschool hybrid program.

This model could be the solution for the future of education as we all come together to create a new system that prioritizes the education, mental and physical health, and overall wellness of all of our children and our families.

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If you're considering homeschooling, you're likely also battling fears, anxieties, external pressures, logistical concerns, and many other worries. In this episode with special guest, Linsey Hurley, you'll hear straight from a homeschool mom just like you, how she did it and why she thinks you can do it too!

"Children, they learn what they live." - Dorthy Law Nolte

The idea of setting out on your homeschooling journey for the first time probably feels overwhelming. You may feel alone and unsure if this is really the best path for your family. A lot of the moms we talk with feel concerned about how their children will keep up with their peers who are in a traditional classroom setting and how homeschooling will affect their children in the long term.

In this week's special episode, we sit down with Linsey Hurley who graciously shares with us the ups and downs of her personal journey with homeschooling her 2 children. Everything from their initial transition to homeschool to where her children are now, Linsey's concerns were some of the most commonly expressed by the moms we talk with daily.

Through all the uncertainty, Linsey found her tribe, gained confidence, and learned the secret to successful homeschooling, but we'll let you hear it from her.

Listen now to this special episode to learn how she did it!

Resources From This Episode:

John Holt, Growing without Schooling: https://www.johnholtgws.com/ Grace Llewellyn, The Teenage Liberation Handbook: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/305758.The_Teenage_Liberation_Handbook Linsey Hurley, email: [email protected]

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About Linsey Hurley:

Linsey Hurley has lived in Massachusetts all her life, attended UMass Amherst with a BA in agricultural economics a minor in Asian Studies and International Agriculture, worked on various farms, farmers markets, food coops, health food stores, and as a postpartum doula.

She became certified as a Holistic Health Coach and is now working primarily with energy Healing technologies.

Linsey Has 2 grown children - Joe who lives with his wife and daughter in Thailand, and Elizabeth who is married with 3 children and lives in Istanbul.

Linsey unschooled Joe and Elizabeth from grades 3-9.

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The subject of nonviolent communication has been one that we have long been believers in and recently we've been wanting to deepen our education and commitment to learning and implementing these valuable tools within our own lives.

See me beautiful, look for the best in me That's what I really am and all I want to be It may take some time It may be hard to find But see me beautiful.

See me beautiful, each and every day Could You take a chance? Could You find a way? To see me shining through In everything I do And see me beautiful.

See me beautiful, look for the best in me That's what I really am and all I want to be It may take some time It may be hard to find But see me beautiful.

See me beautiful, each and every day Could You take a chance? Could You find a way? To see me shining through In everything I do And see me beautiful.

"See Me Beautiful" by Marshall Rosenberg

Today, we are so excited to welcome Katherine Winter-Sellery, CEO of Conscious Parenting Revolution, to the show to share with us her deep knowledge and understanding of non-violent communication and how its implementation can greatly benefit our relationships with our children, our partners, and ourselves.

Katherine shares specific tools of nonviolent communication that we can all strive to use throughout our relationships, both to heal our own trauma and to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with those around us.

Resources From This Episode:

Katherine Winter-Sellery, Conscious Parenting Revolution: https://www.consciousparentingrevolution.com

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About Katherine Winter-Sellery

Katherine Winter-Sellery is the CEO of the Conscious Parenting Revolution and co-creator of the Guidance Approach to Parenting, a program that applies conflict-resolution skills to communicating more effectively with children and adults.

Through her popular training, she has taught thousands of parents, educators, and other professionals in a half dozen countries how to minimize misunderstandings and melt-downs, and to communicate with more collaboration, cooperation and consideration. Passionately committed to healing inter-generational dysfunction, she is the host of three TEDx talks on listening for unmet needs, unconscious communication, and speaking out, and she is the co-author of three books on unconscious parenting.

Katherine trained with the late Marshall B. Rosenberg, creator of Nonviolent Communication. She also studied Thomas Gordon's Parent Effectiveness Training and is certified as a facilitator and as a Leadership Effectiveness Instructor. She holds certificates in Matrix Re-Imprinting, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), is trained in BreakThrough, a method to address triggers, as well as Focusing, an inner relationship dialogue technique. She is a trained mediator, and teaches breathing meditation with the Art of Living Foundation. She holds a B.A. from the University of Denver where she also attended law school.

After more than 15 years of teaching the Guidance Approach to Parenting, Katherine founded the Conscious Parenting Revolution to help people locate and understand their own triggers, avoid family resentment developing into retaliation, rebellion and resistance. Her desire is to support parents to create safe and stable homes and families.

The founder and chair of the National Summit on Mental Health and Mental Fitness summer 2019, (with sponsorship by the International Association for Human Values), she brought together more than 50 scientists, politicians, mental health care providers, businesses and spiritual leaders with more than 500 attendees for a conference that looked beyond mental health treatment to holistic mental wellness. The Summit culminated in the largest-ever group meditation in the United States, when more than 7,000 people meditated together in Denver's City Park joined by over 1 million online.

Katherine has been married to John Sellery for more than 30 years, and together they have two children, Pia just graduated from USC and Sam is a young architect working in San Francisco. Katherine and John now make their home in several cities around the world. She is launching her popular training online.

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Tired of gathering around the tv and longing for connection and conversation with your children or your partner? This episode is for you!

When we can be intentional about designing and creating spaces that naturally inspire connection, gathering, and conversation, they can become a part of our family culture and we can have these experiences more often and with more ease.

Maybe it's a physical place like the kitchen table, the backyard fire pit, or the hot tub. Or maybe it's a frequent shared experience like going for long drives, getting pedicures, doing beach cleanup, gardening, or scrapbooking. The type of "place" you create can take many forms, the important thing is that it becomes a constant on which your family can rely.

There are so many benefits to creating safe places for family connection. In this episode we share many of our personal "places" with you and hopefully inspire you to cultivate some of your own. Whether your children are young or whether they are teenagers or even adults, it's never too late! Whether your home is small or expansive, you can create these intimate gatherings anywhere! There's no time like the present!

Resources From This Episode:

Virginia Wolf, A Room of Her Own

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Too many activities and pressures leads to feelings of stress and anxiety, that's why we've made Time and Space our second tenet of Family School. This episode is all about how to slow down and create more time and space for your family.

"It will be hard to create a quiet place where your children can find their souls, you must first quiet your own world and then approach theirs. They are accustomed to the barrage of noise and will complain loudly in its absence, but you can find a quiet way. What can you do today? A walk, a book, a simple game." - William Martin, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

We see it all the time. Parents want to give every thing and every opportunity they possibly can to their children. The intention is good and yet there are always consequences.

When we, as parents, slow down our lives, we set an example for our children that tells them it's ok for them to slow down as well, that it is ok to be still, and that they are enough without constantly reaching for more.

When we create time and space, we create room for mindfulness, movement, and breath - the foundational building blocks of wellness. It's about limiting our activities, prioritizing play, being present, strengthening your family culture, and so much more.

Resources From This Episode:

The Moms I Know, Family School: https://www.themomsiknow.com/homeschool

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