"We Don't Rush"

Pictured: Natalie's first portrait of her mom, Annie, drawn when she was five years old.

The Natalie Academy is named for my daughter Natalie. It's the name of our home school. Fast and speedy don't work for Natalie. She takes time to process input, and it pays off: when she gets it, she gets it.

She went to kindergarten and all the way through the beginning of Third Grade at our local elementary school, which had a superb Special Education stand-alone in the center of a ring of other classrooms, presided over by what appeared to the children to be a magical fairy princess, delivering targeted tidbits of knowledge coated with sparkles and delight and positive reinforcement.

Then we had an opportunity to enroll in a Waldorf-influenced public charter school, where Natalie became their first Special Needs student. It was back to Second Grade to join her age group, as the Waldorf curriculum called for two years of kindergarten in keeping with the Rudolf Steiner system. A happy family of students, the same class passed together each year on to a different teacher and many bonding field trips, May Pole Dances, Harvest Faires, "The Snow Queen" all-school play and many more adventures that elegantly wove togetherness and the arts with the daily discipline of hand writing a summary of one's work in the charming, hand-made, oversized portfolios maintained by each student for each subject.

The pace was a bit too quick at times, mitigated by friendly parent tutors and an ever-present aide, as well as an understanding class, many of whom were always ready to share hugs and understanding.

Come Fifth and Sixth Grades, however, things changed, rhythms changed, hormones changed (remember we're a year later here at Waldorf). It was no longer a friendly environment and she started heading under the desk rather than face the chaos and the noise of her classroom.

We took some Independent Study home and her aide -- also a family friend luckily -- worked with her for a few weeks in the quiet and comfort of her own living room. Voila! The Natalie Academy was born. And we don't rush!