As a part of Elliott's homeschooling we are going to spend time with our friend Miss Tiffeni. We met her a few years ago when she opened an amazing German toy shop here in Williamsburg. To say she is an amazing person would be an understatement. She is a true treasure! Tiffeni has her master's degree in Education, is a certified Waldorf instructor and a Froebel pegagogue. Wow! In the back of her shop she has created the most charming little classroom for a few very lucky children, and Elliott is one of those children. Every week on Wednesday Elliott and I go spend time with Tiffeni and each moment is precious. She carefully and thoughtfully plans out her lessons using Froebel's Philosophies and Waldorf inspirations. Her classroom is calm, peaceful and so relaxed and Elliott and I treasure every minute with her.
This past week she and Elliott explored Froebel's second gift and also an occupation. Now, for those of you who are not familiar with Friedrich Froebel, I suggest you educate yourself and you will be amazed. He is the father of the original Kindergarten and was a truly brilliant man. His concepts were so simple and beautiful, yet the things they teach are amazing and the possibilities endless. Sadly, his ideas for educating children have been lost in translation and our schools are a far cry from is original ideas. Well, we are getting back to basics around here and love, love, love all the Waldorf and Froebel inspired ideas.
Here are a few places to check out:
a little more about Tiffeni ~ www.visitkinderhaustoys.com
a little more about Froebel ~ www.froebelfoundation.org
~www.education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1999/Froebel-Friedrich-1782-1852.html
2 comments:
Oh, how lucky you are to have found somebody like that!
Hi Beth, Thanks so much for the comment. Yes, we are very lucky to have found Tiffeni. I went to check out your blog and I am adding it to my faves.
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