The Gift of Learning

We picked up this  video commissioned by The Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship from the Youtube account of SteinerFreeSchools and shared on the Facebook page of Waldorf Today by Sophia Rocha.

The Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship commissioned ITN to make this short film to look at some of the key features of a Steiner School including:

• how Steiner Schools nurture spiritual development in keeping with the cultural setting of the school and without being tied to a particular faith;

• the emphasis on “doing” to complement academic learning;

• how the absence of testing in the younger years nurtures enthusiasm for learning;

• the importance of quietness and contemplation as part of the school day.

This video can be purchased on DVD from http://www.steinerwaldorf.org/thegiftoflearningdvd.html

The Manila Waldorf School at Timberland Heights carries the same spirit and impulse as the ones shown on the video. The children have the same look about themselves, the same intense concentration when learning their lessons, and the same faces of excitement and interest during play.

For a schedule of private orientation, kindly get in touch with the Administration office at telephone numbers: (632) 5707038 / (632) 5708138. You may also email us at contact@manilawaldorfschool.edu.ph.

Visit www.manilawaldorfschool.edu.ph for more information.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,300 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 55 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Search for the Meaning of Christmas

By Raph Lazo

Christmas is one of the most recognized festivals in the year. It is so recognized that even a number of non-Christian countries declare bank holidays on Christmas day. It is a wonderful day for children who receive presents, and a day of continuing misery for many who have nothing.

Christmas means many things and this is reflected in the numerous variations of Christmas stories that exist. It is almost as if each one wishes to express Christmas in their own very personal and unique way. Perhaps, this very variation is in fact a search for the meaning of Christmas, a meaning that every year is under greater and greater challenge as the world continues to struggle with a growing separation from the deeper meaning of Christmas.

Christmas, what could it mean? If one takes it apart, two words come to fore: Christ and Mass. It is the Mass of Christ. We all nod our heads knowingly in agreement and figure that we fully understand the meaning of this. After all, many of us have experienced a mass and we do know what that means. What if, however, the meaning of “Mass” was not quite what we expect? Long ago, the service that we refer to as the “Mass” was probably called something else. We may never know what it was originally called but think of the possibility that it was called something else. Over time, as its adherents grew, and Latin became more and more the language of the growing Church, “Mass” became more defined and meaningful as a word. One possibility is that the word “Mass” comes from the Latin “missa” or dismissal. The idea would come from the ending words of the Mass : Ite, missa est or “Go (the prayer) has been sent.” Should the word “Mass” find its origins in this idea, then a mass is a dismissal, a letting go or releasing.

Let us continue with this imagination for a little more. Should this be the case, then Christmas may also be understood as “Christ letting go or releasing.” When one reflects on this, a deeper meaning of Christmas begins to reveal itself. Christmas is about Christ letting go, letting go of His non-physical being that He may become physical in nature. If Christ is willing to let go of His spiritual nature to become man, should not man let go of his material nature to become spirit? It is an intriguing question.

Bound as humanity is to its very material nature, the thought of letting go of this material nature, to “free our spirit” so to speak generally will lead us to a topic of death or other  “out of body” like events and experiences. And yet, as beings that are both spiritual and material, how do we reconcile our existence with these seemingly polar conditions. Could it be that humanity, by its very nature, is bi-polar?

Let us just imagine for a moment that humanity is truly both spiritual and physical in nature. Then we should be able, with the correct preparation to let go of our material side to be able to release our spiritual. After all, we do this every night when we sleep; we are just not conscious of this. The Greeks have long “documented” this regular out of body phenomena in their myths. And perhaps, this idea is carried through to Christmas, an event that occurs at night.

Christmas then could be a great meeting time; a great meeting time of a great spiritual being that is slowly shedding its spiritual nature to become human. A great meeting time for humans, to pause in their material existence to release their spiritual beings to meet this Great Spirit that is descending.  Understandably this boggles our imagination; but perhaps, this is what a real Christmas even needs: imagination.

In some respects, the imaginative gesture of Christmas has gone into more material expressions: the brightest, gaudiest Christmas decoration; the most creative, expensive, impressive gift that will atone for our lack of love throughout the year.

We could use the imagination of Christmas to light up our inner beings, our spirits so to speak, that our inner hearths be aflame with warmth, a welcoming sign for a visitor approaching from the furthest reaches of the heavens. Christmas is a dark and cold time of the year, to remind us of the great and lonely journey any spirit makes from the warmth of its spiritual home in the heavens to the relative cold of its material home on earth. And like any new home, the warmth with which a visitor or new neighbor is met is a sign of how welcoming the neighborhood may be.

Hence let us prepare this Christmas with the understanding that we are released from our mundane routines that we may meet this great spiritual being on His way to earth.

2011 MWS Advent Fair Highlights

The 2011 Advent Fair at the Manila Waldorf School Timberland Heights was a successful event! Some of the usual vendors came over to sell their items as well as all types of food and various knick-knacks.

The day began with some Christmas carols sung by the students, and then Mr. EJ and Ms. Camille gave a brief rundown of the many activities and attractions being offered for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View more photos here.

Preparing for Advent

By Raphael Lazo

Four weeks before Christmas is the start of a festival that we all know as Advent. Perhaps this is what we know most about Advent: it is the festival that ends with Christmas. Christmas is very much a global festival these days, alluring many with its bright lights and promise of cheer. Advent, on the other hand, is like a very subdued sibling of Christmas; an event – even a mood perhaps – that precedes the joyous outpouring known as Christmas. Yet Advent must have a meaning other than four weeks in the calendar.

We know it is about preparation and the preparation for Christmas. Some of us may even understand it as four levels of preparation for Christmas. Children see it as a time to be good in preparation for Christmas. However it may be seen, there remains much beneath the meaning of Advent. How could I look at Advent, a festival that is often on everyone’s lips yet perhaps not as understood as Christmas? How do we prepare to receive the greatest visitor humanity has ever known? Perhaps in this question is a path to understanding Advent.

Let us imagine the arrival of this great and special guest. We now need to prepare for His coming. We are giving sufficient advance notice: four weeks. We gather our family together and plan this preparation. There is a lot to do so we need to be fully organized. We break down our activity into four weeks, each with a very specific objective in mind: to prepare for this visit.

The first week of Advent, we decide to concentrate on our house. We want to be sure that our guest is comfortable and there is no reason to complain. We not only make sure the house is clean and the windows polished. We make sure the roof doesn’t leak, the locks work, doors open and close silently. In our rooms, we make sure that everything is properly packed away when not needed. Everything must be in proper order. At the end of this week, we have a house that is humble but tidy, old but in working order.

The second week of Advent, we decide to concentrate on our garden. No matter how big or small our garden is it must be in order. We trim the grass and water the plants. Indoors we put fresh flowers and make sure the flower vases are clean. We sweep the leaves and dispose of them – neatly of course. Our gardens must be in order too. We heard that our special guest likes plants a lot so we need to be sure that we have something simple yet attractive for Him.

The third week of Advent, we decide to concentrate on our pets. From the smallest goldfish to the biggest dog, we make sure that all is in order for them. We feed them regularly, change the water in the fishbowl, wash and groom the dogs, tidy the sleeping areas of our pets. Our pets seem just as excited by all this preparation. Of course, some of the pets are more expressive then others. We also heard that our guest likes animals. Perhaps He may even arrive riding on one, we don’t know.

For the fourth week, what else can we prepare?  The house is ready, the garden is ready, the pets are ready. After all this work, we now need to prepare ourselves. We take a shower. We find our nice clothes and practice our good manners. We must know how to behave in front of our guest. We need to be polite yet warm. A warm welcome after a long journey is what He needs. He must feel this warmth as it streams from us. We are happy He is coming. And we are happy we are ready. When all is set and done, we light a small lantern, perhaps shaped like a star, and hang it in our window. This will let our guest know, our house is ready to receive Him. Yes, we can say, there is room in the inn.

With this imagination of preparation, we hope to build in each of us a picture of Advent. It is a picture of what preparation means. Our homes, our gardens, our pets, and ourselves, must shine with the brilliance of a diamond following this preparation. The preparation is as much an internal activity as it is an external one. We must realize, however, that this preparation is not just for Christmas. It is a preparation of a lifetime that will allow us to meet the future, the resurrected Christ, the resurrected human being. Advent is a model of how we may all choose to prepare whatever we do in life, both materially and spiritually.

We have four weeks. We need not rush. We plan our four weeks and feel the anticipation build as we accomplish our preparations per week. We can achieve this and make Advent a significant festival of preparation.

About the author: Raph Lazo, and his wife Lormie, have been active Waldorf parents for the longest time. Their eldest, Veronica, graduated with the pioneer MWS high school class in 2008. Their other daughter, Amanda, is in 8th grade at MWS Timberland Heights. Raph is also a steward of the Manila Waldorf School.

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We welcome all forms of contributions (photos, an article, news, etc.) to this blog. Kindly email to everythingwaldorf@gmail.com 

Come celebrate the spirit of Advent!

As we eagerly anticipate the coming of Christmas, we continue our tradition of celebrating  the season with the annual Advent Fair — an occasion for the MWS community to come together and share the blessings of the year just passed.

This year’s fair will be held on Saturday, December 3, from 9am – 5pm  at the MWS campus in Timberland Heights.

Come and experience the fun-filled activities, games and shows that interweave with the themes of the lessons taught in each grade level (K – 12).

Advent time is always a joyous time of anticipation and excitement in a Waldorf school. It is also the time to bring out the childlike joy within us.

We look forward to celebrating this meaningful event with you and your children!

“The gift of the light we shall thankfully take

But it shall not be alone for our sake,

The more we give light,

 The one to the other

It grows and gives light

And shines even farther

Until every heart

By love set aflame

In every place great joy shall proclaim

Not long shall continue the darkness of year

The Christ draws near”

Martinmas Reflections

The Martinmas festival went well! The children made beautiful lanterns that emanated a solemn glow as soon as the candles were lit. The walk around the campus also turned out to be a “magical moment.”

Class 9 students Alon and Ysabelle shared with us their thoughts on this festival:

Martinmas for me is not just the time for making lanterns, parading them around and standing around the bonfire singing songs, there’s something more to it.

The school day went on as usual and when it ended, that gave those who hadn’t finished making their lanterns free time to cram on them.

I’m always amazed at how, in the end, the creativity of my schoolmates are in display, so much that they put my own lantern to shame. But in the end it doesn’t really matter. In the night when the flame is given and shared, little by little the whole place fills with light and that, to me, just seems so magical. And even more so when we begin walking around the campus, the light leading the way and guiding the path.

It’s just a sight that no one can really understand unless they’ve seen it with their own eyes. Events like this are what make Waldorf so special to me and I hope this tradition won’t ever end and that we continue to appreciate these things. – Alon Garcia

Martinmas. An event for making lanterns and parading them, that’s what comes to my mind. A night when students of our school make lanterns and walk with it.

As the lanterns were lighted one by one, you could see wonderful shapes of shadows, the forms of which the lantern was, and the road being lighted and illuminated with brightness. It is a night that makes me appreciate and remember how just a few sticks and paper could create a wonderful lantern with different forms and shapes.

Looking at lanterns in the dark is like looking at stars in the night sky, an image I wish everyone would see and experience. - Ysabelle Sollestre