Writing to Reading the Steiner Waldorf Way

Writing to Reading the Steiner Waldorf Way: Foundations of creative literacy in Classes 1 and 2

This is both a theoretical and practical book giving a complete pathway to teaching children how to write and read in Classes 1 and 2 (equivalent UK Years 2 and 3.) This book provides teachers with appealing, easy-to-use plans, and practical activities for immediate use. It also sets out fundamental principles of Steiner Waldorf pedagogy. It shows how this dovetails with the best of both mainstream primary approaches and specialist dyslexia-friendly methods. Teachers can use these principles to become confident in creating their own activities and resources.

The book showcases the holistic, creative aspects of the Steiner Waldorf literacy approach. The teaching of writing before reading is prioritized so as to engage children’s creativity in learning. Developing the child’s own voice through writing and storytelling, to lead over into reading, is highly effective for motivation and success.

“Reading is an extraordinarily complex skill, involving the integration of multisensory and cognitive abilities that develop at different times. Rudolf Steiner recognized this complexity and advocated a comprehensive developmental approach to reading instruction. Written for Waldorf teachers, this book expands and elaborates on Steiner’s insights particularly the value of having children write as part of their introduction to reading. Writing to Read draws upon a wealth of classroom experience and a large body of empirical data. It is essential reading, not only for Waldorf teachers, but also for all those who desire a deeper understanding of the miracle of reading.” —David Elkind, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Child Development, Tufts University.

About the Author

Abi Allanson, MA (Cantab.) Teacher and Consultant at Steiner Academy Frome, specializing in literacy, differentiation and teacher training, Abi was formerly a Learning Support and Class Teacher at the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley and St Paul’s Steiner School, London.

Nicky Teensma, SMT, Lower School Lead and Class Teacher at Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, originally trained in Zeist and worked at the Johannes School in Tiel, Netherlands. A trained and qualified specialist dyslexia teacher, she taught a parallel SEN class (Tobias) at RSSKL for five years.