What is This Childhood?

Carol Toole In the mid-70s, the parents of a nursery cooperative in the spiritual community where she lived asked her to be lead teacher. She was just 21, but they often noticed her in the doorway observing the children. Soon her quest to create an environment that fosters childrens innate sense of wonder led her to become a Waldorf kindergarten teacher. Later, she pursued training as an educational therapist, focusing on sensory development and written language instruction. During the past forty years, she has been a teacher, storyteller, puppeteer, writer, and parent educator, creating a popular series called Creative Living with the Young Child. More recently, she provides Academic Language Therapy, movement therapy, and strategic tutoring to grade-school children and oversees the literacy program at the Austin Waldorf School. Now a grandmother, she is inspired to combine her parenting workshops, observations of children, and love for language at its inception to ponder the question, "What is this childhood?" Carols publications include articles in Renewal Magazine, poetry and essays in the Real Women Write Anthologies, and Taras Spring Wish, a book for children. Eva Hoisington, at the time of this publication, is a senior at Austin Waldorf School, where she has developed her passion for illustration. Through her work, Eva aims to inspire others to embrace creativity and fearlessly pursue their own artistic ambitions.