christopherus vs other waldorf/holistic curric.

[lakesuperiormom]

how does christopherus curriculum compare to other curric's? such as enki and oak meadow...which neither are pure waldorf i know. is it all there in the syllabus or do i need to purchase additional materials? can i mix them? use enki's movement circle and stories....and i'd probably ditch the oak meadow! i have the enki kindy and we enjoy the moevement circle,but that is about it! thanks!

[Donna]

Well, the best thing for you to do is have a good long look on my website and see what you see! You don't specify what grade you are referring to - if you are talking about kindergarten, then our guide is completely unlike Enki or OM as it is not a curriculum. Rather it is a guide to bringing forms to ones home experience with the kindergarten age child. It is not complete without Joyful Movement.

As for the other materials, do read the descriptions for each in the Bookstore to see what you might need. You might want to have a look at the descriptions of our full first grade syllabus and upcoming second and third grade curriculum - they are certainly complete and are faithful to Waldorf education, whilst Enki (which does not claim to be Waldorf) and OM are not. OM has no relationship to the Waldorf curriculum though there are hints of Waldorf here and there throughout.

And you can combine in any way you want - that's up to you!

If you want to get more specific, go to my old yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Waldorf_at_Home and search the archives. The group is closed to posts as my energy is now here in this forum, but the archives remain and there were many discussions about Enki, Oak Meadow and so on. You'll have to be a current member of yahoo but that's easy to do. Anyway, all your questions will be answered there though you do have to troll around a bit.

Do also look at other threads in the Q & A forum as some deal with our materials. Lastly, here is our FAQ section on our website which should help a bit: http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/getting_started_faq.htm

[lakesuperiormom]

well, is suppose stating my childrens ages and grades would have been valuable! lol my children are 7 (1st), 6 (kindy), 3 (mom's little helper_, and 1 (the constant nurser!) we are using oak meadow 1, enki kindy and some other waldorf stuff together and i feel quite stagnant with where we are. i am planning on attending the conference in may and am super excited. i feel like waldorf should/is our core and the other curric's are just extra. i don't have all the time it requires to plan out an enki year...it's just too much money and time for what it delivers. oak meadow while nice, just isn't what i want and feels a little contrived. i've been reading all the samples and descriptions and am liking what i see. i really liked what i saw with the joyful movement book..it resonates with me. i also have to say i enjoyed on your blog about the classical...the well trained mind....bit....it really hit the spot! that's how i feel and it was nice to read. thanks!

[Anita]

I can totally relate to what you are saying about enki. We have the kindy as well and not only have I not done much of anything with it I feel overwhelmed every time I think about picking it up. I thought I would like the freedom but my tired mommy brain needs more structure, LOL.
I'm on the verge of ordering the books I just need to wait on the funds, and I'm hoping to make it to the conference this May too.

[lakesuperiormom]

after attending donna's conference this past weekend, i wanted to come and post here about the materials. just for other mama's who may be lurkers! ;0 christopherus is unlke any other materials on the market! WOW! the first is amazing compared to the other curriculum's i have viewed! the curriculum is complete....it is ALL laid out for you!! while enki does have vast resources,it is overwhelming....not want a busy homeschool mama needs. oak meadow,while easy to use, is very impersonal and does lack some things. the christopherus has "life" through donna's voice in the pages....like a coach guiding you on your journey in homeschooling.

[Lisa Mickey]

Hi all!! I was at the conference this weekend, too, and while I am not yet ready to purchase materials (my oldest will be kindy this fall - we're pretty new to all of this and have a lot of rhythm stuff to catch up on) I agree that the materials are pretty clear. I do not like things to be super complex (I'm complex enough - lol!) but I also don't like them to be bare bones and require me to fill in the gaps.

I like Donna's *voice* and find that much of what she says - and her materials - are practical and straightforward. I also appreciated that she is not dogmatic about much and encourages parents to do what works for their families.

Ha - and she didn't even pay us to say these things! I'm looking forward to checking out these forums and learning lots more!!

[Grace]

I'm so wishing I could attend one of her upcoming conference dates, but the timing doesn't work for us. :(

However, I spent the last 4 days reading the entire 1st Grade syllabus (twice!) and the entire Curriculum Overview and Science book (I read fast, OK?!), and I agree that her tone is warm and encouraging -- and leaves me, at least, feeling really confident -- both in tackling the content, and also in our decision to homeschool with Waldorf.

[kristen]

I'm in much the same place as Grace - have been spending the past couple of weeks reading the Overview and the 1st Grade Sylabus over and over, reading other homeschool materials and approaches, comparing (I mean literally too - I read one approach to math, then open my Christopherus book and read the math) and I'm just finding Donna's tone and structure, curriculum and "the whys" just resonate with me, make so much sense, and even delight me. My overview and my sylabus both have those little post-it "tabs" in them for each big section and block because I've been referencing back and forth so much just enjoying preparing for next year.

We've been happily using the kindy book for our loose kindy/preschool days for 2 years and I think we'll be pretty pleased with the 1st grade material too (and continued use of the kindy stuff too!)