I realized that the amount of information I had on SWI was getting overwhelming, and too much for one page, so I have created this page as an introduction.
I firmly believe, having read a lot of Steiner, that SWI is completely compatible with Waldorf... in fact, it is so compatible
that I believe Waldorf schools and homeschoolers will take up this movement before traditional public schools do. Public schools will then
follow us when they see how much of an improvement this is on traditional spelling instruction, and how much it
helps struggling students. Dyslexic students, in particular, thrive in Structured Word Inquiry.
And, did you know that Portland Waldorf School has a Structured Word Inquiry teacher on staff?
Next, choose some online courses to take. Pete, Rebecca, and Fiona are wonderful
and very accessible resources when you are starting out. Gina and Michel are excellent for going deeper.
If you are looking for online courses for Structured Word Inquiry,
you have several wonderful options from expert educators around the world!
a set of the Truer Words cards
by Emily O'Connor (there are four to choose from).
These resources take you through every step of the four questions. Simply choose a word
that they've already given you explorations for. It helps to have examples!
Note: Emily's decks are not something you "complete" in any certain order, so choose the deck of cards that looks
most interesting to you! She also offers a short online course with suggestions of how she uses these cards with her tutoring students.
At this level you have the etymology and phonology laid out for you but you'll have
to work out the morphology independently. Have fun!
There is no end to the levels so take as much continuing coursework as you want! I promise
once you realize that the English spelling system makes sense, you'll be hooked and you'll want to learn as much as you
can, so that you can make it accessible in your classroom for your students.
The Quicksand Book by Tomie dePaola
for the experiment in the back, is "quicksand" a verb?
can you "quicksand" regular sand, "unquicksand" it, "requicksand" it, and "reunquicksand" it?
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