History Education Festivals  EDUCATION Waldorf education is based on deep insights into childhood and child development. The critical value of the Waldorf approach is not what is taught, but when and how it is taught. This integrated, age-appropriate method engages each child physically, intellectually and emotionally in the learning process, introducing subject matter as it corresponds to each stage of developmental readiness. The classical curriculum weaves art into every subject, using music, storytelling, drawing and movement to bring academic subjects to life, appealing to every child's temperament as well as her "multiple intelligences" (e.g. logical, linguistic, spatial, and interpersonal). In this way, the learning style of each student is addressed--visual, oral, aural, and kinesthetic--creating a deeper connection with the academic experience. It is said of Waldorf children that they are calm, centered, focused, and emotionally balanced. Their education nurtures a lifelong love of learning and encompasses an integral social dimension that instills a sense of moral purpose. 
THE WALDORF TEACHER Waldorf teachers are qualified in a unique pedagogy with a global perspective that promotes peace and humanity. They are well-prepared to deliver their lessons orally (without the use of textbooks), and possess artistic dispositions to draw out the creativity within each child. Waldorf faculty members receive Waldorf teacher certification and attend training programs offered at accredited specialty colleges and research institutes. These centers for Waldorf education, including the Goetheanum in Germany, hold courses and conferences for faculty throughout the year. MAIN LESSON Waldorf schools are organized to make the relationship between student and teacher as fruitful as possible. In the elementary grades, this is accomplished by the unique Class Teacher/ Main Lesson system. Each morning the children spend the first period of the day - the two hour Main Lesson - with their Class Teacher. Every morning for 3 - 4 weeks, during the time when young minds are freshest, they will intensively study a block from one of the core subjects (english, math, history and science). In this way the rhythm of the day begins with the work which requires the most attention, and each academic subject can receive special focus during the course of the year. The teacher has time to enter each subject in depth and to approach it in a variety of ways; time to enliven each topic with poetry, painting, modeling, movement and drama. Thus, intellectual learning is always combined with artistic, rhythmical and practical work. After three to four weeks, when one topic has been fully explored, a new Main Lesson block is introduced. Subjects which require regular repetition in shorter lessons (foreign languages, for example) occupy the later part of the morning. Afternoons are devoted to activities that are more social in nature: games and sports, painting, handwork and gardening. Boys and girls learn crocheting and knitting, simple sewing, woodwork and crafts. There is a wonderful coordination and harmony of subject material throughout the curriculum. What is being taken up in each Main Lesson block appears in subtle ways in the activities of the afternoon. The challenges of handwork and the fine arts are treated not as separate, unimportant "options" but as vital parts of a complete education. HANDWORK Knitting and other handwork projects play an important role in the development of fine motor skills, inner calm, and intellectual clarity. Author and handwork teacher Rachel Magrisso from the Green Mountain Waldorf school in Vermont explains it this way: "Handwork is the time for the children to be still within themselves. Suggested for parents, too. It helps the children in their thinking, in the ability to make judgments-is every stitch even, clear, consistent, and of the right tension? They work at finding an evenness and clarity of stitches, and getting the feel of it. When they are doing handwork there is harmony-the room settles down to a hum..." The specific handwork taught in Waldorf schools also "grows with the growing child." In the first grade, the curriculum calls for learning the basic knit stitch and creating a practical and useful project in a warm textile such as wool. In second and third grades, this is continued with purling and crochet, which add new movements and require more focus on each row and stitch. Around age nine or ten the children undergo a change of consciousness: they are individuals within themselves, no longer as open. The hats that the third graders knit to cover their heads represent this developmental milestone. Also the third grader is experiencing the beginning of critical thinking, and in the knitting of the hats, they are introduced to small patterns, thus engaging their new thinking skills. The cross-stitch taught in fourth grade reflects this more elaborate stage in their development. The fifth grade begins woodworking and more complicated knitting such as a sock. This is the age when they turn a corner in development on the road to themselves. They are perhaps less insecure than in fourth grade and are ready to start carving out and exploring this new individuality. Knitting a sock requires using four needles instead of just two, and it is a task that requires much perseverance. The child toils and works on the first sock and when they complete that one, they have to persevere and begin the second sock. This can be a challenging but very valuable lesson for a child. Developmentally the sixth graders are coming into form. This is reflected in the academic curriculum in the precise tools used in the geometrical drawing block, and also in the block on ancient Rome, a society where humans began to make their own laws instead of living by the laws handed down by God. In the handwork curriculum, sewing is started in sixth grade. The children sew animals. This requires planning, patterns, cutting, basting, and other skills for a child who is now more intellectual in his/her planning and thinking. The sewing the children undertake in seventh and eighth grade requires extensive forethought and mathematical skills. In seventh grade, they sew sweatshirts by hand and in the eighth grade, sewing machines are used for various projects like patchwork quilts, wall hangings, and appliqués. Handwork offers many opportunities for reinforcing math skills in practical, challenging, and enjoyable ways. But author and Waldorf teacher Eugene Schwartz points out an even more valuable result: "We cannot underestimate the self-esteem and joy that arises in the child as the result of having made something practical and beautiful--something which has arisen as the result of a skill that has been learned. In an age when children are often passive consumers, who, as Oscar Wilde once said 'know the price of everything and the value of nothing,' learning to knit can be a powerful way of bringing meaning into a child's life." - adapted from a conversation with Tricia O'Neill, the lead handwork teacher at our school and an article by Rosemary Croizet who teaches handwork and French at the Green Mountain Waldorf School in Vermont. EURYTHMY Eurythmy ("beautiful or harmonious movement") is a unique experience as part of the Waldorf curriculum. Eurythmy was born earlier this century, growing out of the work of Rudolf Steiner. Neither dance nor mime, eurythmy uses the body as an instrument in space. The air is the medium in which eurythmists make forms and gestures much as a sculptor uses wood or stone. Attempting to sing and speak through movement, eurythmists "sound" in space, bringing all the life and color of music and poetry to vivid expression. They strive to make the invisible dance of creative sound a visual experience. MUSIC LESSONS & ORCHESTRA There are many important inner skills to be learned in the study of music. The discipline of practicing with an instrument helps a child find the inner discipline to face other challenges in life. Group music lessons offer a wonderful opportunity for a child to practice the ability to listen to others and to work cooperatively. It is quite a challenge for a group of children to work completely in unison in any realm, be it social, academic or physical. In trying to play their instruments as a group, with the same timing and pitch, the result of a harmonious sound allows them to directly experience the value of working well together. Playing an instrument is a wonderful means of self exploration, self-expression and creativity that allows the student to grow into a more well-rounded human being. Beginning in the first grade, the children at the Westside Waldorf School are taught to play the recorder and singing is a regular part of the school week in many classes. First grade children will be provided a pentatonic flute and third grade children a diatonic flute for which parents will be billed. These instruments typically cost $20 - $60. In the third and fourth grade, beginning level violin and cello lessons are offered to the whole class. The lessons take place twice a week during the school day. The violin and cello rentals are organized by the violin teacher, and it is the responsibility of the parents to obtain their child's instrument. The children are taught the basics of how to hold the instrument properly, how to play by ear and how to read music. Additional lessons are offered by the school on a fee basis, arranged by the violin teacher. MOVEMENT ED/GAMES Movement Education and Games in the Waldorf curriculum springs from the same understanding of a child's development that underlies the academic curriculum in a Waldorf school. This deeper understanding of a child's development is taken into account in a Movement Education and Games class in the activities that are chosen, the shapes that are used in the group games, and the emphasis of the class (for instance whether games are played with an emphasis on fun or with an emphasis on playing by the rules). Each class contains a rhythm of joining together and moving apart, highly active games balanced with quieter games, working together as a group and taking a few moments to reflect on one's own body and movement. Games in grades one and two are relatively unstructured and have the gesture of the circle, keeping the children protected and as part of the whole. As we move up the grades, the children are slowly coming into their individuality and the games curriculum reflects this by, for instance, adding line games in the third grade to the now familiar circle games. In fifth grade there is a focus on beauty and form and in the spring, the fifth graders participate in the Greek Games, a gathering of fifth grade classes from several regional Waldorf schools. In grades 6, 7 and 8 the more conventional sports are brought into the curriculum because only now can the children have a real respect for the law of rules and understand how a team works together while at the same time developing their own self-discipline and competitive nature. They are aspiring upwards in terms of exactness, technique, timing and the spirit of the law, while also becoming more aware of the world around them. In a culture where organized team sports hold such high status, children can sometimes think of movement only in these terms. The Movement Education curriculum tries to give the children basic coordination and movement skills that will help them when they decide to play organized sports. Depending on the grade, the children will play games or do relay races that serve to develop a skill that is also required for a conventional sport such as basketball. String games, jump rope and a balloon relay are all activities that develop skills that can be used in many different sports. Not only does a movement class provide the opportunity for the children to play games and have fun, it also works with their social interaction by teaching them to play with each other before they play against each other, to acknowledge each other, to play safely, and to gain an appreciation for all kinds of movement. CLASS PLAYS Class plays which begin in kindergarten, are a very integral part of the Waldorf curriculum. The plays are unique for each class yet share distinct and common threads of pedagogy (educational philosophy), community building, curriculum enhancement and enlivenment. PEDAGOGY From its inception, Waldorf pedagogy has been driven by the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children, rather than as a means of perpetuating the status quo. In today's increasingly high stress world, the pressures upon children are greater than ever despite overwhelming evidence (statistical, pharmaceutical, and psychological) that children are showing signs of burn-out beginning as early as preschool. The use of standardized tests as yardsticks to measure "competence" is accelerating at an alarming rate. While there is an obvious need for accountability from teachers and students, experienced educators are voicing their opposition to "teaching to the test," admitting that it is having a negative impact on true learning and individual growth in their classrooms. Waldorf education offers a meaningful alternative. At the heart of the approach is the idea that the gifts of childhood must be valued and protected. The imagination, the key to free and higher consciousness, is cherished and given every opportunity to bloom. |