Kate Marshall is the reading and writing specialist at Madrona. Kate grew up in Harbor Spring, Michigan, attended college in central New York and worked her way west from there with stop offs in Washington D.C., Milwaukee, WI, Fort Collins, CO, Hood River, OR, Olympia and Seattle. She has been a Madrona School parent since 2016.
Kate graduated from Colgate University with degrees in Political Science and Sociology/Anthropology. She has a masters degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College, is a Washington State certified teacher with a Special Education endorsement from the University of Washington. She is trained in Wired for Reading, an evidence based linguistics program for reading, spelling and vocabulary and has many years of experience teaching at the elementary level.
More about Kate:
Pastimes. I love being outside, with no roof over my head, walking or biking wherever I need to go. Sailing and rowing are ways I like to get places too. I spent a number of years as a ski instructor at Crystal Mountain and a bicycle tour guide with Bicycle Adventures. I loved those jobs! I biked up to Mt. Ranier's Paradise Lodge from Yakima, to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood from Hood River, backed a 15-passenger van and trailer off the San Juan Island ferries, uphill (twice!). I'm a lot slower these days on my bike and skis with two daughters, but we still get out there, even if it is only on the bunny hill.
Path to Madrona. When my oldest daughter was preschool aged, I attended an open house at Madrona. To get to the preschool room, I was led through the hallway of the grades classrooms and invited in. They were so lovely, calm and peaceful. The graders' notebooks were full of beautiful artwork, logical mathematical deductions and flowing cursive writing. I was sold. I wanted to be a Waldorf parent (and teacher) right then and there.
On Waldorf. What amazes me the most about the Waldorf approach is that it creates kind, generous, compassionate children. I've watched it happen over and over and it never fails to give me a sense of awe and wonder. There is so much going on in the early childhood stage of development, it can be so overwhelming. But given the space and time to work through it - out on the play yard, kneading dough, chopping vegetables, hauling firewood, digging gigantic holes - even the most dysregulated child finds peace and patience.
