Hi I’m Erica, a qualified music teacher, wife and mama to an energetic toddler. I’m currently undertaking further study in Rudolf Steiner’s Early Childhood Education through Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar. I attended a Steiner school for most of my schooling and since becoming a parent have started to incorporate Waldorf principles into our daily life.
The Steiner Connection started out of wanting to gain a deeper understanding of anthroposophy and share that knowledge with others. The word ‘connection’ refers to the parent-child connection. As well as studying Steiner’s philosophies I have a keen interest in parenting through relationship and connection. If you are familiar with Aletha Solther’s Aware Parenting philosophy or Magda Gerber’s RIE approach you may see that come through in my writing.
Growing up I loved attending a Steiner school. I have fond memories of Kindergarten and Prep – the free play, creating cubby houses and elaborate story scenes, grinding wheat to bake bread, painting, drawing and crafts. It is where I developed a love for music and learnt how to play violin which I would later turn into a career. It wasn’t until I became a mother that I started to think about importance of the environment that children are raised in. I started by reading You Are Your Child’s First Teacher and realised that Waldorf philosophy can exist beyond the school environment. We started attending a Steiner Playgroup when my son was 15 months old, but with all the Covid lockdowns in Melbourne we didn’t get to fully experience the playgroup community. Then our house that we had been building for two years was finally ready and we moved out of the area. My search for a Steiner playgroup closer to our new home was unsuccessful, so I decided to do some further study and try to incorporate more Waldorf philosophies into our home life.
Our natural living journey has evolved to include using essential oils to support our health and ditching the chemicals in our home to switch to low-tox products. Learn more here.
My hope is that we can share some of our Waldorf parenting journey and inspire others to bring Steiner’s ideas into their homes.
Thank you for being here and sharing this journey with us. Let’s connect.
Start reading here…
5 Ways to Bring the Waldorf Preschool into Your Home
Walking into a Steiner kindergarten is a unique experience. The room is warm and inviting, the furniture has rounded edges and the walls are painted a soft pink called ‘peach blossom’. Toys made out of natural materials are displayed on low shelves, bread is baking in the oven and the children are playing freely or…
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Storytelling in the Waldorf Kindergarten
This post is one part of a series on how to incorporate 5 aspects of the Steiner kindergarten program into your Waldorf home. Today we will focus on the art of storytelling. For an overview of the 5 aspects, click here. What is storytelling in Waldorf Education and why is it important? I have very…
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Baking Bread in the Waldorf Kindergarten
This post is one part of a series on how to incorporate 5 aspects of the Steiner kindergarten program into your Waldorf home. Today we will focus on a ‘time to work’ by baking bread. For an overview of the 5 aspects, click here. Children love to make form. It doesn’t matter whether it is…
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Waldorf Drawing in the Early Years
This post is part of a series on how to incorporate 5 aspects of the Steiner kindergarten program into your Waldorf home. Today we will be focusing on the element of creating art through drawing. For an overview of all 5 elements, click here. Drawing in the Waldorf preschool is an unguided process. There are…
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Waldorf Inspired Parenting Books
Reading can be a great way to explore Waldorf parenting, but there are so many books out there it’s hard to know where to start. The books listed below can be read from cover to cover, but are also wonderful reference books to have on hand and reach for when you are looking for something…
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The Steiner Connection 