Monthly Archives: February 2009

Science in Waldorf Homeschooling

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Okay, I have to start this post by admitting I love science – I love biology, I love comparative anatomy, I love chemistry, ( I took college-level physics one and two but I was not a physics whiz!).  I have done a whole semester of cadaver dissection for physical therapy school, and enjoyed biochemistry and two or three college-level geology courses.  All of it fascinates me.  My husband is a tech guy, and also fascinated with astronomy, and anything and everything to do with space.

So, as you can imagine, science was an important consideration when choosing a method of homeschool education for our children.  I think Waldorf does a wonderful job in creating bright science graduates.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Waldorf approach to Science, it is very much based upon a Gothean approach. You can read further about this approach by following this link:  http://www.natureinstitute.org/scied/index.htm

This talks a great deal about how science today often requires students to take theories at face value, rather than examining the theories close up and personal and in a hands-on way.  In this day and age, where many educators count “science” as worksheets or reading a book about nature, Waldorf counts science education as DOING.  This is an extremely important point, and an essential foundation for a future scientist.

Barbara Dewey writes this in her introduction to “Science As A Phenomena”:

Western culture has created a powerful wealth of scientific knowledge, based on total objectivity.  The objectivity  means that the observer must be isolated from the observation.  It also means that we must ignore, as scientists, a humanly meaningful occurrence such as “a warm smile.”  To measure it instrumentally would be ludicrous, because all meaning would be drained from it……

In the earlier part of this century, it was truly believed that science would be able to solve all of the  world’s problems.  Anyone who criticized this belief was considered a crank, and yet, as the dawn of the twenty-first century approaches, it becomes very clear that science has created as many problems as it has solved, largely because science, and the legislation based on it, have failed to take into account the human aspect of life on earth.  Our materialistic philosophy causes us to believe that “having” is more important than “being.”

 

Science in Waldorf education is phenomenon-based; it is experiential; it is seeing things whole to part and within the original context of environment.  It shows the relationship of the Earth and all of its glorious inhabitants in relation to man.  True environmental education at its finest.  It is also a very observant and artistic way to sort through natural phenomenon; we would expect nothing less with a Waldorf education.

Waldorf Science throughout the grades looks somewhat like this: (this was taken from the above-mentioned Barbara Dewey booklet and also Donna Simmons’ “From Nature Stories to Natural Science”):

Kindergarten, ages 3 through age 6:  No memorizing of science facts!  Remember, we are still protecting the child up to age seven in order that he or she uses his or her body!  Nature stories, being outside every day, using natural materials, building things, observing the seasons and the physical changes that come with the seasons and the festivals are essential.  Cooking is an activity that brings in much foundation for later chemistry.  The Nature Table is another highlight of seasonal change.  Fingerplays and gardening are also of great importance.

The important thing at this age is to NOT make these experiences a series of factoids.  The facts will come later when the child can understand and make those connections.

Remember, while this approach goes against much of the way we are currently teaching young children in this country, we are NOT doing well at the middle school and high school levels  compared to other nations in high school science scores.  We are not doing well when we look at the number of American graduates, particularly at the PhD levels in science, compared to other nations.  It is time to stop explaining the nitty gritty of photosynthesis to a small child and let them wonder and explore in a hands-on way.  It sets a much better foundation for science education as they mature!

A very important part of Waldorf is training the child’s senses, and that looking at phenomenon from whole to parts; forget the microscopes, telescopes and magnifying glasses for the under seven crowd and help them develop their senses!  The classic text for this is “Sharing Nature with Children” by Joseph Cornell. Check it out; it deserves a place on your bookshelf!

First Grade, for the seven-year-old:  Much of before, nature stories.   many times Form Drawing is drawn from stories about nature; I started my first grade year with my eldest with an entire month of Form Drawing from River life (otter, beavers, turtles).   Some families choose to devote a block to the four seasons by telling stories and doing activities regarding the seasons.  Some families do a block  study of backyard nature.   Some families also work with a weather tree with symbols for each day.  Gardening and cooking are still very important.

Second Grade:  Much like First Grade, although now we may see more direct stories about the animals as tied into the fables.  The fables present human qualities in animal form.  Some families will introduce the fables within a three-day rhythm by talking about the animals in a story form, tying in poetry about the animal or a hands-on experience about the animal the second day, and then the third day telling the fable.  This was a suggestion from Marsha Johnson, and she has a wonderful free file about this in her second grade FILES section on her Yahoo!group.

Other nature resources for second grade include all the wonderful Thornton Burgess stories.  There is also the book “Animal Stories” by Jakob Streit, available through the Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore that some families draw from.

Some families and teachers have also done a block on the Four Elements.  There is a wonderful book entitled, “Earth, Water, Fire, and Air” by Walter Kraul that involves toy-making that would enable the child to feel and experience the Four Elements.

Donna Simmons suggests you could do a Weather Block either in the Second or Third Grade that would include poetry and simple definitions of meteorological terms.  However, don’t forget that much of this would include going outside and feeling the different types of weather, observing the clouds and then drawing and painting.

Other ways children work with nature in second grade includes gardening, cooking, care of pets, outdoor play, festival celebrations, toy-making, observation of the sky  and weather with the naked eye.

Third Grade:  Continued Gardening, a Farming block, Cooking, a Homes/Building block, Clothing and (in the US a block) on Native Americans.

Donna Simmons writes in her book regarding the Farming block:

It is a central theme of Waldorf education that one always starts with the Human Being, and relates what one is studying to the human.  With the Farming block this is obvious – What does the Farmer do?  How does he affect his surroundings?  Waldorf teachers carefully present a picture of the Farmer as the mediator between Heaven and Earth, as one who molds his surroundings but is also subject to them.

Many projects abound with farming – going to work at a real farm or real CSA; tracing the path of fleece to yarn, making butter, picking berries, raising small livestock.  Many Waldorf students read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Farmer Boy” during the Third Grade year.

Fourth Grade:  Man and Animal block, where the student looks at  relationships of Man to the animals.  Barbara Dewey mentions Steiner’s “Study of Man” and Roy Wilkinson’s “Man and Animal” as essential reading for this block.

Donna Simmons talks about also looking at amphibians, reptiles, and fish as part of the Man and Animal block with such projects as ant farms, beekeeping, collecting frog or toad spawn, setting up a fish tank or pond.

She has many more wonderful tips for this year, do check out her book!

Donna Simmons mentions another possible block for this age could be an Ocean Block, and gives suggestions for how this could span multiple ages and grades.

Fifth Grade:  Botany block (there may be one botany block or two blocks).  Barbara Dewey summarizes the study of botany during the fifth grade in this way:  “The study of Botany at this level is really the study of four journeys: 1) the plant from seed through the seasons, 2) the vegetations of earth from the poles to the equator, 3) the vegetation of various altitudes from the tropics up to the mountain top, and 4) through the ladder of the plant kingdom, from simple to complex.”

Remember, much of this is done outside.  The students draw in their Main Lesson Books from plants they are squatting down and observing in the plants’ natural environment.  The plant is not ripped out and brought inside a schoolroom for the children to see how a plant grows!

Drawing and painting are essential components within the artistic observation of botany.  This is also a time where exact drawing for form and accuracy is important. 

Fifth Grade may also contain a Zoology block.

Sixth Grade:  Physics, including the study of color and acoustics (building on those experiences from the early years that the children are so familiar with!);  Earth Science including mineralogy and geology are studied, including minerals from a social and historic perspective; astronomy.

Donna Simmons also suggests several blocks that are not typically done within Waldorf schools but may work well at home, including habitats/ecology; biographies of naturalists; and inventors and inventions.  Inventors and inventions could also be taught in earlier grades as well.

Seventh Grade: Physics, possibly focusing on mechanics; Health and nutrition as it relates to human physiology; chemistry of combustion with a possible second block on the chemistry of foodstuffs:  fats, oils, proteins and carbohydrates.  Barbara Dewey also mentions a block on the heliocentric theory of the solar system.

Eighth Grade:  Physics again; Human anatomy; Meteorology; Chemistry including the study of the photosynthesis of plants and the study of sugars, including the history of sugar.  Computer technology is also typically taught in this year.

Donna Simmons also suggests a block on Alternative Energy not normally taught in Waldorf schools but which may work well at home. 

High School:  Donna Simmons mentions possible studies for high school include not only continuation of geology, physics, botany, and astronomy, but also topics such as metallurgy, meteorology, genetics, archaeology, zoology, and embryology.

In future posts I hope to outline and share some of the approaches I took in creating science blocks for first grade and into second grade so you can see the flow and will therefore be comfortable creating your own wonderful Waldorf science blocks.

I would love to hear comments from Waldorf homeschooling mothers who have children in the higher grades!  Please leave your comments in the comment section below; I value your readership and your thoughts.

Peace,

Carrie

Things That Happen On the Way To First Grade

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The six-year-old year seems to be a make or break point for many parents as they sort through their homeschooling options, and it is an age where many parents give up on Waldorf, doubt they can do Waldorf in First Grade, or just decide Waldorf is not right for their six-year-old and forge ahead with academics (usually in a Classical style).

Some parents I have talked to fear their child is “getting behind” because in the United States, most six-year-olds are in the first grade.  If the parent keeps the child in “Waldorf Kindergarten” another year, not only will they behind in homeschooling, but suppose they ever have to transfer to public school?  Then they will be behind and everyone will know it!

If you go back and read the series of four posts on the six-year-old, I think you will clearly see by BOTH traditional developmental views and anthroposophical views, six year olds are DOERS, not deep thinkers.  They may be ready for “more” but that can easily be satisfied with real projects, real work, longer stories, more physical activity.  It does not mean that the early six-year-old year is a time for stringent academic work.

I remember a time in our six-year-old year where my eldest, who was just over  six-and-a-half at the time,  really did seem to want to do academics.   It was near the end of our school year, (our last year of Waldorf Kindergarten), so we started to look at math in preparation for the fall.  Her urge to do “real math” lasted about a week.  I didn’t push it, and let the issue fade away.  Some six-and-a-half year olds may be ready for Waldorf first grade, but mine was not.  Someone asked me what I would do if she did that in the fall ; what would happen if she would quickly loose interest at that point, when it was time for real work.  I guessed that she would not lose interest, that she would be seven then and would be ready.  And she was.

Some parents feel their first grader will be bored in Waldorf first grade because the child can read and write already, and he or she already knows the numbers or even beginning mathematics.  This has been addressed again and again in the section of “Waldorf First Grade” in the tag section.  My eldest was reading at a fourth grade level when we started first grade this year.  The stories of the first grade are designed to speak and live in the hearts of the first grader, the almost seven-year-old, to come out in their play.  It is not all about the academics, and while the academics are important, there certainly are many ways to adjust Waldorf first grade for children who are “ahead” or “behind”. (Oh, how I hate those terms in our homeschooling vocabulary!).  In our case, we did do all the things anyone else would do in first grade, we did many hands -on things for our main lessons, lived into our bodies and into art and music.  My daughter read books for pleasure at her reading level, and did not feel it beneath her to not have to write volumes of words about the fairy tales.  She enjoyed learning about the qualities of numbers. This is because this is where the child is developmentally.  The American method of pushing early learning has not speeded up the process of learning, and has in fact put our children further and further behind at the middle school and high school levels when compared to children of other countries who start their formal learning later. 

Your six-year-old child is still little, just crossing over the bridge into the land of authority mixed with imitation as they approach first grade.  Waldorf first grade for the almost seven-year-old  should be this, should be a three-day rhythm, a  wonder of art and main lesson book drawing, of music.  Is your six-year-old truly ready for that?  And should your little six-year-old be doing this?  It is our job to protect the six-year-old, their senses until they are ready for first grade.  Waldorf is about unfolding, and protection in these early years, not pushing.

And I know this view will probably irritate my eclectic Waldorf homeschoolers, but here goes:  as far as parents forging ahead during the six-year-old year with Classical studies, I do feel there is a crossroads there.  Doing arts and crafts and wet –on -wet watercolor painting does not a Waldorf homeschooler make.  Doing arts and crafts to “balance out academics”, as I have heard some parents say, does not a Waldorf homeschooler make.

  In many ways, either one agrees with the seven-year-cycles as a viable theory of childhood development and adjusts the schooling to meet the child’s developmental needs, or one decides that the seven-year-cycles, the Waldorf way of teaching whole to parts and all the ways Waldorf introduces math, letters, and science in the first grade is a bunch of crock.  Choose and decide.  You are the parent, and you do the best for your own family and your own child, but sometimes you do actually have to make a choice. 

  I think there are  ways to mix topics of interest to your child and Waldorf, but it is much harder to mix Classical and Waldorf.  Donna Simmons has a post about this on her blog, perhaps it will provide food for thought for you if you are at this crossroads of deciding what is best for your child.  This is a decided pro-Waldorf view of comparing Classical and Waldorf methodology:

http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/blog/2006/10/the_well_traine.html

Another blog post that can help one sort out how other methods can be integrated into Waldorf can be found on Donna Simmons’ blog here:

http://christopherushomeschool.typepad.com/blog/2006/01/the_waldorf_vie.html

If you need some inspiration, I humbly refer you to my blog post about why we chose Waldorf as a method to homeschool:

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/06/wonderful-waldorf/

Many parents feel Waldorf homeschooling requires so much of the teacher, and feel  Classical homeschooling is much simpler, much easier to look at definable progress with their children.  The goal of Waldorf education is to encompass the whole child, the whole being, to lay a solid foundation for the future health of the child in the adult years.  I honestly think once one reads Steiner, sees examples of blocks and starts to think, it is not any more difficult to create teaching plans in the Waldorf style than it is to open up a bunch of workbooks for your child.  It is just that this creative way of looking at bringing academics and morality to our children is often not the way we were taught, and seems so foreign to all of us. 

If you make a commitment to try Waldorf First Grade, in the true Waldorf way, for six months, and then open up and look at the dryness of the workbooks and textbooks your child would be using in the First Grade with other methods, I think you will see there is no comparison.  Waldorf is alive and bringing all that humanity in a developmentally appropriate way.  Waldorf does cover the Greeks, the Romans, all the history that the Classical method covers but at a later time where Waldorf feels the child is developmentally ready.  Waldorf is extremely academically rigorous, and the quality of work, understanding and knowledge is outstanding. 

If you feel as if you are drowning in the six-year-old year, my thought is you are probably putting too much pressure on yourself and your child for this year.  Enjoy the gift of the six-year-old year as you use it as the transition it is for First Grade.  Make sure your child can handle the longer stories, memorizing longer verses and songs, can handle projects that span several days.  Your child will need these skills in the First Grade.

If you are concerned that your workload will be too great (and do see my post about Waldorf Homeschooling planning – if you start now for only 10 or 15 minutes a day you could have your own open and go Waldorf Syllabus by fall, created by you, for your own child!), then do check into Melisa Nielsen’s open and go  first grade curriculum at http://www.alittlegardenflower.com/store/ or Donna Simmons’ First Grade Syllabus at www.christopherushomeschool.org .   Look at the free blocks available in the FILES section of Marsha Johnson’s Yahoo!Group.   It may give you a jumping off point and give you the confidence to do Waldorf at all!

You have to consider what is best for your family, but please do not discount Waldorf education at home before you have even tried. 

Think carefully, act mindfully, and best of love and luck in planning the best educational experience for your precious child.

Peacefully yours,

Carrie

Peaceful Living with the Six-Year-Old

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Now that we have peeked at the traditional childhood development of the six-year-old and the anthroposophical view of the six-year-old, it is time to get down to the nitty gritty of peaceful living with the six-year-old.

The first we need to do is establish a framework in which to work.  If you have not read these posts in the past, please do so now and then come back to this post:

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/10/29/top-10-must-have-tools-for-gentle-discipline/

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/10/16/gentle-discipline-as-authentic-leadership/

https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/10/05/thoughts-on-challenging-developmental-stages/

There is also a  post on “Anger in Parenting” if you have not read that one.

So now that you are being held within the framework of being an Authentic Leader within your own home, now you are ready to tackle some of the methods for peaceful living with your six-year-old.

Here is a great quote from the article “Meetings with Parents On the Topic of Discipline” from the book “You’re Not the Boss of Me!  Understanding the Six/Seven-Year-Old Transformation” to start us off:

The young child instinctively expects guidance and when it is not forthcoming, the child tends to feel  insecure and frightened.  Growing up without guidance, without boundaries, often translates into being left alone to flounder in a world that the child is not experienced enough to understand.  Constantly being consulted by adults about what the child  wants is not only bewildering, but can create an egoist, unprepared for the world awaiting him or her.  Many parents believe that choices strengthen their child, but, on the contrary, too many choices can undermine a child.

  • So, my first thought for you is to develop your own internal framework for handling Authentic Leadership.  This takes inner work, inner thought and talk with your spouse or partner.  You must also take care of yourself- if you are angry, resentful, not getting enough sleep, eating poorly,  frustrated—all of these things affect your relationship with your child and how well you set the tone in your home for your child.
  • For your six-year-old, you must be the wall  off which your child can bounce.  (In a nice, quiet and calm way, not a mean or authoritarian scary kind of way!)  Six-year-olds will test the boundaries of what is expected and allowed.  You must show them that you are dependable and they can lean on you as they need to as they sort things in life out.  If you crumple and fall, this shows them that you do not hold the authority and answers for life that they desperately are searching for at this point.  Be the calm wall. Choose how you will respond to your child.
  • Six-year-olds are DOERS.  They are not deep thinkers.  They do not need a lot of words.  With something you need done, it helps to walk them physically through what you need with movement and imagination.  Get the child moving before you speak, writes Nancy Blanning, a well-known Waldorf teacher.
  • Remember, a six-year-old can also have direct words to help them – but very short, to the point and POSITIVE.   Again, think of these “rules” as skills they are learning, not just something they must do or if they don’t do it they will fail and need to be punished.  Change your framework.
  • A six-year-old may be picky about what they asked to do, not wanting an activity that is “for babies”.  Think about what you are asking your child to do before you ask them and how your child might respond.
  • Go back to your rhythm. Six-year-olds need a strong rhythm.  They need to know the home for things, that every thing does have a place, so they can put things away for themselves.
  • Do not offer choices if there is really no choice. If it is time to leave or go to the bathroom, it is time to leave or go to the bathroom.  Maybe the choice is they can hold your hand to leave or hop like a bunny to leave, but it is still time to leave. 
  • Use stories to help your child do things, and help your child physically along as you tell that story.
  • Nancy Blanning also writes that from a Waldorf perspective, “Each adult responsibility you take care of for your child allows his or her energy to be available for growing.  We do a child a great service by pre-thinking and pre-planning how things will happen – by creating a “form”- which will support both the child and ourselves, so there is order and predictability.”   My personal  note to this is:  This does not in any way mean the child shouldn’t have to do things for themselves or help the family or help around the house, but it does mean that you, as the parent, have thought through how, when and where the child will take over their own routine or chore or whatever they are being asked to do, and that you have shown them step-by-step how it needs to happen.
  • Pick your battles.  The minute you engage in a struggle with your child, your battle is lost.  Help your child, and come up with ways both of you can win if it is possible.  Use matter-of –fact phrases and say what you need, and wait.
  • Think about warmth; how can you show your child warmth?  This is important when you are in one of those stages where you just are not liking your child’s behavior most of the time.  Try and find something you can say that they did that you actually did like, no matter how small.  Find time for smiles, hugs, kisses, being present to play a game, walks in an unhurried manner and just be there.  It will pay off in your relationship with your child!
  • Give as few direct commands as possible; this goes back to picking your battles and letting your rhythm and order carry things.  Think to yourself, if I ask them this, and they say, “NO!” do I have the time, the energy, the patience, to see this through at this moment and do I want to pick this as my focus today?  If it is very important to guiding your child’s life and future development as an adult, then by all means, go ahead.  But if not, please think about it.  And even if you ask something,  and they say “NO!  Make me!” you can honestly change your mind.  I would not do this too often, but everyone can make a better choice, right?  Even us!
  • A six-year-old will take things that are not theirs and will often not tell the whole truth.  Help them. Ask them how something happened, not if they did that.  Put away those things that are tempting to them to take.  Remember that a six-year-old is restless, can be destructive, often can be at the height of sexual play and may need a bit more oversight than they did before if they are like that.  This is a developmental phase that will not last forever, and as a parent, it is still your job to keep your child safe and your property safe as well!
  • You may consider limiting time with friends, playdates and certainly the size and activities of a birthday party.  Six-year-olds are aggressive with friends, belligerent, go wild quickly and have strong emotions that often ends up with the child in tears.  Keep things easy, small and short.
  • Do not carry around baggage about your child saying “I hate you!” at this age or acting as if you are the most unfair mother in the whole world.  A six-year-old will do this, a six-year-old will take out things on their Mother, and it is not up to them to fill your cup.  Do things outside of your child to fill your own cup.  Be fair, be calm, hold the space and try to think compassionately even when they are not being nice.  You are the adult.
  • Do not get into verbal games – “You don’t love me, Mommy.”  Give them a hug and a smile and move on.  Likewise, you can listen to the drama of a six-year-old for so long, and then give them a hug and say.”I have heard you.  I am going to do the dishes now, and I know how sad you are.  I can listen more to you later. Come and have a snack.”  Be calm and limit your words!

This list was not in any particular order, I hope some of the points were valuable to you and yours.  If you have other techniques that have worked particularly well with your six-year-old, please do share in the comment boxes.  Let’s all help each other!

Your until next time,

Carrie

The Six-Year-Old Waldorf Kindergarten Year At Home

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As you may have guessed by reading through the previous three posts regarding the six-year-old, I am a big proponent of not starting academics during the six-year-old year while the children are in a time of developmental crisis. Within the Waldorf system, most six-year-olds should still be in their last year of Kindergarten.

However, with this age often comes problems for parents who perceive that their children are wanting “more” and needing more.  Many parents equate this “wanting more” with needing more academic work.

I disagree and offer you some alternatives in this post for what to do with your child during their six-year-old year, their last year of kindergarten:

First and foremost, they need to be outside and connected to nature during all types of weather this year.  They need to be outside every day possible to burn off that restless energy that often pervades the age of six.  There is a rather popular post on this blog about connecting children to nature if you need ideas. (see https://theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/24/connecting-your-children-to-nature/ for that post; it is one of the highest hit posts on here!).    Some Waldorf teachers also feel that daily nature walks are important for children who are weak in their physical and etheric bodies.

Secondly, they need opportunity for real work that hopefully will involve physical energy expenditure.  Do you need a pile of rocks moved?  A great job for a six-year-old!  Do you need the pile of firewood moved from one place to another?  Think creatively about what could be done around your house, your land, your yard,  that is REAL WORK.  Many six-year-olds go through a crisis of play, so do think about work they could do.  Woodworking, to make something real and functional, also comes to mind.

Thirdly, they need a strong rhythm, longer and more involved stories and more involved projects.  Think about things that involve several days to complete – modeling something, then painting.  Finger knitting and then attaching that finger knitting to something to complete a project.  What could you and your six-year-old do with a very large box?  Make  a barn, a spaceship, a house – something that, again, involves multiple steps over multiple days.

Fourth, think about games that involve strategy.  We played a lot of checkers, Battleship, card games, Junior Monopoly, Mancala and other games during my eldest’s six-year-old year.

Fifth, think about gross motor skills.  At home, you can work with your child on riding a bike without training wheels if they cannot do that yet, jump roping, using stilts,  using scissors to cut snowflakes and paper chains of figures to develop fine motor skills and threading needles and tying knots also comes to mind for fine motor skills.

Sixth, is there any way your six-year-old could help someone else?  Some parents feel strongly their six-year-old should not be exposed, say, to residents in a nursing home or such because it is hard to explain in simple terms why we have such a thing in our society.  I personally wonder what is wrong with us that we segregate our elders away from our young people, but perhaps my perspective comes from being raised by my grandparents and having my great-grandmother also live with us.  Some Waldorf Kindergartners actually seek out having a relationship with a nursing facility of some sort.

Perhaps  there is a way your six-year-old could serve within your own family, within your neighborhood (does your neighborhood plant bulbs or flowers or such with the changing seasons?  Could you and your family help?)  Could you bake cookies for elderly neighbors and deliver them?  Make May Baskets on May Day for neighbors?

Seventh, work on social skills in a more direct way – it is okay now to do this!  Not a guilt-trip laden, wordy way but a matter-of-fact way – “We wait to speak.” “You may have this when I am done.” Those sorts of things. For bossy, often drama-laden six, these are valuable skills indeed.  You are working out of more than imitation now – the seven-year-old works out of a picture of authority and you are transitioning to that.  For those of you who put the cart before the horse and have been using these direct words for a long time, please do not beat yourself up over it.  Do remember, however, that the six-year-old may need direct words and authority at some times, but still need arms around them and re-direction with fantasy and movement at other times.

Eighth, work on festival experiences.  Has your six-year-old ever made a sword and shield for Michaelmas?  Gone on a Lantern Walk for Martinmas?  Made Advent crafts in any capacity?  Dipped candles for Candlemas? Made Easter or Spring crafts?  May Day Baskets?  There are many wonderful festival books out there with lots of ideas to try!

Try to enjoy this year.  A year without being tied into main lesson time, main lesson blocks, main lesson books.  A year of wonderful experiences with lots of time to enjoy each other.  This last year of kindergarten is really the best!!

With love,

Carrie

The Six Year Old: An Anthroposophical View

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We peeked at a traditional view of the six-year-old child in one of our last posts and now it is time to look at the Waldorf view of the six-year-old.

Six is obviously the end of one seven-year-cycle and at the cusp of beginning a new seven-year-cycle.  It is also traditionally the time the child should be in the last year of Kindergarten within the Waldorf school system and getting ready to transfer over to the first grade by the age of six and a half or seven. I have heard lately of Waldorf schools transitioning early six-year-olds into first grade and feel this is incredibly wrong.  Just wrong!  From a traditional point of view it makes no sense at all; Gesell Institute is pretty firm about what a rocky age this can be, it is an age already full of tensional outlets and all kinds of misery, they are firm that it is a terrible age for teaching numbers and letters and writing, most six-year-olds can’t sit still to save their own lives – so yes, by all means, let’s throw academics into the picture!  That make perfect sense from a developmental standpoint!  And, from a Waldorf standpoint, it makes even LESS sense to have an early six-year-old in the first grade.  I have two more posts to write in this series about the six-year-old – one about peaceful living with a six-year-old, and one is going to be about what to do that last year of Waldorf  homeschooling kindergarten,  so stay tuned!  I feel very passionate about the little six-year-old! Okay, done with my rant now…….

Back to the anthroposophical viewpoint of the six-year-old. 

In Waldorf Circles, this time is often called the “first puberty” or “first adolescence”.  The book “You’re Not the Boss of Me!  Understanding the Six/Seven-Year-Old Transformation”, edited by Ruth Ker, mentions some of the following characteristics:

  • The appearance of the permanent teeth are seen as a more obvious and outward sign of all the things going on internally with the child.
  • The six-year-old year is a time when the etheric of the child begins to separate from the parent.  If you are confused about what etheric means or have forgotten, please do go back to the post about “Peaceful Life With a Four-Year-Old” – that explains the fourfold human being and may be helpful to you.
  • For the first time, thinking and feeling are just as strong as the will in the child.
  • This is seen in Waldorf circles NOT as the time to provide adult intellectual reasoning, more complex explanation but to instead latch on to the child’s sense of fantasy and imagination.
  • Steiner wrote that children at the change of teeth need “soul milk” from us; Ruth Ker has interpreted this to mean authenticity.
  • Children race around, have frenzied movements, and seek out plenty of movement.
  • The child’s limbs begin to lengthen, body fat begins to disappear, waistlines become present, formation of the “S” shape of the spinal curve.
  • The children of this age enjoy physical challenge and enjoy work
  • This may be a crisis time of play where the child literally cannot play.
  • Children of this age are working  to develop symmetry, balance, dominance, crossing over midline – still!
  • Children of this age want to be the boss.  They are bossy, they correct people (including parents!)
  • They may try to “play” with “adult” themes that are not so lovely to us – weddings, drinking, trying to get others to do things that are not right, rhymes with off-color words and phrases, being silly and giggly. The word “hate” enters the vocabulary now.
  • You may see play that excludes other children.
  • A six-year-old plays with boundaries.

 

Of course, with some of these children, these behavior do not show up until age seven (hence the title the six/SEVEN-year-old transformation) and some children may hit it early, but these are some general characteristics of this age from a Waldorf perspective.

In our next post we will look at what to do to guide these behavior and be an Authentic Leader.  If you need inspiration until then, do hit the “No Spanking” tag in the tag box and that will bring up the series of posts I wrote about being an Authentic Leader.

Until next time,

Carrie

Things I Learned Along the Way in Teaching Homeschool Waldorf First Grade

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Well, now that we are more than half way through our first grade year, I thought I would re-cap a few things I have learned and discovered; maybe they will resonate with you as you either plan for first grade or finish first grade up this Spring.

1.  There cannot be enough Form Drawing.  I planned three form drawing blocks plus weekly form drawing most months; it is that important.  I highly suggest that you start First Grade with an entire MONTH of Form Drawing.  There is a post on this blog about Form Drawing; please refer to that for further details. 

2.  You simply must plan handwork a certain number of times a week or it will may not happen; your child may love to knit but mine did not.  We worked essentially on a row a day every day in knitting and we are still behind completing the number of projects she probably would have completed by now in a Waldorf school.  This fact does not really bother me, she does beautiful and careful work and I feel certain by next year she will enjoy knitting when she doesn’t have to think so hard about it, LOL.

3.  Which brings me to my third point – sometimes your little one will balk and YOU have to know when to take the day off and go hiking, when to allow play with the siblings,and when to say, “No, really, this has to happen today.  Back to work, please.”

4.  You can imbue many opportunities for nature and ecological study throughout the curriculum.  We kept a gardening day due to my kindergartner and I think next year I may expand this to twice a week in our rhythm instead of once; I also planned nature blocks in with Form Drawing and we also did Nature Blocks in January with the The Year/The Four Seasons and a Backyard Nature Block.  I hope to write a post on the Waldorf way of teaching Science in the future; it is fascinating!  As a science person, I totally appreciate it!

5.  The story of the letters can be taught in many different ways through the use of a container story to hold the fairy tales together.  This was helpful as I made up something that spoke to my daughter, a story with fairies and princesses that also involved some spiritual elements as well.  Think of what truly speaks to your child and work that in.

6.  Wet-on-wet watercolor painting is important, and it is great fun to alternate this with modeling.  We painted twice a week and modeled two to three times a week. 

7.  Math is one of those subjects that people tend to put in a secondary position versus reading; but please do not be fooled.  Math is of the utmost importance; Eugene Schwartz is convinced that there are periods of math windows for math literacy.  I think it is important once you do your initial math block to practice every day you do school where that is not the main lesson focus (with a few breaks here and there for holiday crafting and  such).  Math is one of those subjects that works whole to parts, that needs to build in the child.  Please keep working on it.

8.  Please do not neglect the fun things- festival preparation, crafts, projects.  Don’t forget that the “head” part of your main  lesson can be totally hands-on.  Today we did the Grimms’ fairy tale “The Pink” and drew a huge, as tall as my daughter mural of the castle/tower from the story.  We also wet-on-wet watercolor painted ‘the pink” (a flower) from the story.  Tomorrow we will use our third day of this story to draw giant P’s on the driveway with chalk, walk them, hop them, draw them on each other,  and finally draw them in our  Main Lesson Book.

9.  We waited to start our “blowing instrument” as Steiner called it (we have been using a pennywhistle this year) until after the New Year.  You really don’t have to do it all at once; we did however bring in a lot of singing throughout the school year. We learn at least two new songs or more a month, and often make up repetitive songs to go with the fairy tales or the season.  Think how you can bring music into your homeschool!  Steiner talked about how the seven-to-fourteen-year old learns best through rhythm, so thinking about how to bring this to your child is so important.

Just a couple of things from along the way; if you are finishing First Grade please your nuggets of wisdom in the Comment Box to share and help other mothers just like you!

Carrie

A Book for Parents of the Five-to-Seven-Year-Old

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I recommend this book time and time again to parents, so now you will know about this secret gem as well:  “You’re Not the Boss of Me! Understanding the Six/Seven Year Transformation” with Ruth Ker as the Editor.

This book was borne out of a question Ruth Ker from the Sunrise School in Duncan, British Columbia had:  were Waldorf Kindergartens truly meeting the needs of the older Kindergarten students?  (Recall that five and six year olds are typically still in Kindergarten, with First Grade starting closer to seven years of age in accordance with Steiner’s views on the seven year cycles of life).  This book contains a series of articles written by teachers, doctors and parents of Kindergarten children.

This is the Table of Contents:

Foreword, Susan Howard

Introduction, Ruth Ker

Section One Picture of the Six/Seven Year Old Change

Observations of the Six-Year-Old Change, Ruth Ker

The Birth of the Etheric, Nancy Blanning

Dentition: A Mirror of the Child’s Development, Helge Ruof and Jorg Ruof

Seeing the Wholeness of the Child, Nancy Blanning

Is Our Educational System Contributing to Attentional and Learning Difficulties in Our Children?, Susan R. Johnson

Section Two:  Meeting the Challenge – The Role of the Teacher

Old Man Trouble, Tim Bennett

Our Role in  Meeting the Children, Barbara Kloeck

Soul Milk, Ruth Ker

Essential Oil Baths, Louise deForest

Extract from Work and Play in Childhood, Freya Jaffke

Section Three:  Building the Social Fabric of a Mixed-Age Kindergarten

You Can’t Play With Me, Barbara Kloeck

The Six-Year-Old in a Mixed-Age Kindergarten, Laurie Clark

The Raft, Louise deForest

The Little Ones in the Classroom, Barbara Kloeck

Girls and Boys- Feminine and Masculine, Louise deForest

Beer and Lollipops, Melissa  Borden

Section Four:  Meeting the Child’s Needs- Suggestions for Working in the Classroom

A Working Kindergarten, Louise deForest

Creating A Flow In Time, Barbara Klocek

Sailing Our Ship in Fair or Stormy Weather, Tim Bennett

The Daily Blessing of the Older Child in the Kindergarten, Ruth Ket

Movement Journeys: Enticing the Older Child to Intentional Movement, Nancy Blanning

The Role of Handwork, Barbara Klocek

Little Red-Cap:  The Overcoming of Heredity and the Birth of the Individual, Louise deForest

Section Five:  Activities and Resources for the Classroom

Mother Goose Movement Journey, Nancy Blanning

Through the Snow:  A Winter Movement Journey, Nancy Blannning

Briar Rose Circle, Janet Kellman, after the Brothers Grimm

The Gnomes, Janet Kellman

Star Money, Elisabeth Moore-Haas, adapted by Ruth Ker

The Magic Lake at the End of the World, adapted by Barbara Klocek

The Pumpkin Child, submitted by Ruth Ker

The Legend of the Babouschka, adapted by Ruth Ker

Activity Ideas for Older Children in the Kindergarten, compiled by Nancy Blanning and Ruth Ker

Transitional Games, Verses, and Songs, compiled by Barbara Klocek and Ruth Ker

Jump Rope Rhymes, compiled by Barbara Klocek and Ruth Ker

Section Six:  Parents As Partners

Waldorf Education for the Child and the Parent, Devon Brownsey

Working with Parents:Ideas for Parent Meetings, Ruth Ker and Nancy Blanning

A Bouquet of Wishes for the Rosemary Kindergarten, Tim Bennett

Meetings with Parents on the Topic of Discipline, Louise deForest

Working with the Will of the Young Child, Nancy Blanning

How to Get the Young Child to Do What You Want Without Talking Yourself to Death, Nancy Blanning

Handouts for Parents, Susan R. Johnson, MD including:

The Importance of Warmth

The Importance of Breakfast

The Importance of Sleep

The Meaning of Illness

Fever

The Earache

Parenting a Young Child-What My Formal Education Never Taught Me

Confronting Our Shadow

Product vs. Process

Notes on the Contributors

References

This is a great book and all the articles should be required reading for the parent of the five-to-seven-year old.  This book definitely belongs on your bookshelf as a wonderful reference to be turned to again and again.

Happy Reading,

Carrie

The Snazzy Six-Year-Old

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Ah, six.  The beginning of the six/seven year transformation as described in Waldorf circles, and judged even by traditional childhood development experts as the age that is completely different than the other ages before it.

This is also the age where many parents I have spoken with feel a bit of despair, as if all of their good parenting up until this point was in vain, because now their six-year-old is “defiant”, “physically aggressive”, “mouthy and disrespectful”, “good in school but terrible at home”, “drama over everything and anything”.  Tensional outlets, sexual play and the ilk that signifies significant disequilibrium is back, only it seems worse to parents at this point because after all, six is the age of schooling and being grown-up, not like when the child was two or four.

Hhhmmm.

I urge you to strongly consider six the way Waldorf circles view the age of six – a transitional phase as the child moves into the grades at school and into a new seven-year-cycle.  I urge you to look carefully at the traditional and anthroposophical behavioral characteristics of this age so you do not over- react to this age.

Let’s start with a quick quote from The Gesell Institute’s “Your Six-Year-Old”:

“Your typical Six-year-old is a paradoxical little person, and bipolarity is the name of his game.  Whatever he does, he does the opposite just as readily.  In fact, sometimes just the choice of some certain object or course of action immediately triggers an overpowering need for its opposite.

The Six-year-old is wonderfully complex and intriguing, but life can be complicated for him at times, and what he needs most in the world is parents who understand him.  For Six is not just bigger and better than Five. He is almost entirely different.  He is different because he is changing, and changing rapidly.  Though many of the changes are for the good – he is, obviously, growing more mature, more independent, more daring, more adventurous- this is not necessarily an easy time for the child.”

Typical Developmental Characteristics of the Six-Year-Old, Traditional Perspective

  • Usually ambivalent, wants two opposite things and cannot make up mind
  • Frequent reversals of numbers and letters (The Gesell Institute says that six is NOT the age to do formal teaching of reading at home or at school.  So why the United States school system is so heavily focused on this, I do not know!)
  • Stubborn, hard to make up his mind about things but once his mind is made up it is difficult to get child to change his mind
  • Adores his mother, but at the same time,when things go wrong it is usually Mother’s fault and the Six year-old will take out everything on their Mother.
  • The child is now the center of their own universe; the Mother is not the center of the child’s universe – the six-year-old wants to be close to Mother but at the same time wants to be independent so there is conflict, ambivalence in this relationship but also increased growth and maturity
  • The Six-year-old wants to win, wants to have everything
  • Worries about everything as he moves to be separate from his mother
  • Can be violent, loud, demanding, expects perfection from parents – but not to be “bad”, mainly because he is anxious to be first, to be loved the most, to be the best. (In other words, a very insecure age).
  • Insecure, and high emotional needs.
  • Cannot bear to accept criticism, or bear to lose.  Very small failures, small comments or criticisms hurt them deeply.
  • Cries a lot about physical hurts.
  • Lots of enthusiasm, loves to ask questions, loves to be read to.
  • Can be very happy, warm, full of laughs and smiles.

TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SIX-AND-A-HALF To SEVEN-YEAR-OLD, TRADITIONAL PERSPECTIVE

  • Increased equilibrium
  • Lively intellectuality
  • Amusing, has a good sense of humor
  • “A certain maturity”
  • Loves new places, new things, new ideas
  • Enjoys life

 

Many parents I have spoken with found early six to be fine, and some of the characteristics that the Gesell Institute describes not to come in until six-and-a-half.  Like so many things in life, your child’s own individuality plays into all this.

Some Further Characteristics of the Six-Year-Old:

TEACHERS:  If the child attends school, the teacher is well-liked, well-respected, what the teacher does is right,  typically the child behaves well in school (but may fall apart at home).

SIBLINGS:  Most six-year-olds are  not at their best with younger siblings.  May enjoy teaching a younger sibling things, but overall may be very competitive, combative (I personally think though that this has much to do with the age of the younger child, although Gesell does not seem to take this into account).  Tends to be very jealous of any attention or objects given a brother or sister.  May argue, tease, bully, frighten, torment, get angry or hit siblings, according to The Gesell Institute.

FRIENDS:  Friends mean a lot to children of this age, but again, it is often hard for the six-year-old to get along with friends.  “Children of this age tend to be very aggressive both verbally and physically.  They are also quarrelsome, belligerent, boisterous, argumentative, excitable, emotional.”  Six wants to “boss and win.”  Usually very little sense of humor with their friends, finds it hard to forgive.

EATING:  May stuff mouth with food, talk with mouth full, grab for food, knock over his milk, dribble, kick chair leg, teeter and totter in chair, fall off chair.

Tends to eat very slowly, but likes to eat and may eat all day long.

SLEEPING: Usually goes to bed well, naps are done, child ready for bed by seven o-clock or eight o’clock according to Gesell Institute.  Most sleep through night well.

TENSIONAL OUTLETS:  At a high:  wriggling, kicking, and swinging arms, sharp verbal comments to outright temper tantrums. Biting and tearing of fingernails, scratching, grimacing, grinding teeth, chewing pencils, nose picking are all common tensional outlets as well.  Child is generally restless,

HEALTH/PHYSICAL ABILITIES:  Child suddenly very clumsy.  May have many complaints about physical health, even when not sick.  Allergies are high, mucous membranes are frequently sensitive and inflamed, communicable diseases are at a high, scalp very sensitive to brushing, child tires easily and fatigues easily.  Baby teeth may fall out and secondary teeth may come in.

SEX PLAY:  Also at a high, just like at age four.

SENSITIVITY TO CLOTHES:  Usually peaking at six and seven years of age.

That’s a quick view of child development at this age from the Gesell book; there is much more in this book and I highly recommend you buy this book and have it on your bookshelf for reference.  It can be found very cheaply used on Amazon and it well worth the price!

Our next posts will look at the anthroposophic view of the six-year-old and then at how to have a peaceful life with a six-year-old, and what homeschooling a six-year-old in Waldorf homeschool kindergarten may look like.

Happy reading until next time,

Carrie

Teaching A Foreign Language in Waldorf Homeschool

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In most Waldorf schools, two languages are started in Kindergarten.  Many times the two languages taught are languages that are in linguistic opposition so to speak, for example,  a Romance Language and a Germanic language other than English, or a Romance Language and a Slavic Language.

This is a link that discusses the cognitive and academic benefits to learning a foreign language:

http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/flsat.html

This talks directly about that memory storage theory (and debunks it).  It also looks at current research, including the fact that kids who know a foreign language score higher in the SAT’s, typically do better in mathematics. actually have  (good) changes in the grey matter of the brain and that people who know foreign languages may be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s…

Interesting stuff with lots of links to research.

In our family, many of our friends are European and all of them speak 3 or 4 languages – Dutch, Greek, French, German, English.  We also have many friends who speak Spanish and English.  Languages are important in our family, I guess because of all of our family friends and because my husband has lived all over the world when he was growing up – Korea, Germany.  He is still  pretty much is open to moving anywhere in the world. 

I do speak Spanish, not like a native, but enough to communicate,  read, negotiate services I need, talk to my patients and friends…not fluent, but probably a high medium kind of speaker.  However, we still have a Spanish tutor for our children. The tutor is a completely native speaker and fluent.  This is very important because while I can read to my children in Spanish and such, there are so many of the idioms and sayings that I just plain miss because I am not a native speaker.

Sometimes  if there is a homeschooling group of ANY kind in your area, those mothers may have connections to either teachers who will tutor homeschoolers.  One other place to look is to see what is the immigrant population or  heritage of the people in the town you live in is….Swedish?
Italian? German?  Perhaps there is someone within your community who would be willing to teach your child songs, verses or tell stories within any foreign language.  Is there a church in your town which holds services in another language?  That also gives you a clue as to what foreign languages you may be able to connect into where you live.

Sometimes if there is a large enough group of people in one place who speak a certain language, they may start a language/cultural center.  In my town, which is large, there is a Chinese school, a Japanese school, a Dutch school, a Swedish school, a Finnish playgroup, lots of opportunities for Spanish, at least for the pre-kindy crowd, a French school, a Russian school and a German school.  There probably are even more populations and schools than even I am aware of at this point. Even  if you do not want your child to attend the school, it may be a place  to start to see if anyone can tutor. Talk to the potential tutor  ahead of time, and explain your curriculum so they understand if they  need to bring songs and verses and stories with props or
what…Waldorf may be new to them!

Spanish is obviously a functional language in our country (USA) but
learning ANY language helps activate that part of the brain, leads to
greater cultural awareness and can spark interest in other
languages. My oldest daughter is very aware of people
speaking other languages and now she listens and wants to know what
language they speak and if she can learn that one as well!

Tutors may not be as unaffordable as you think; and I also know moms
who have worked out trades for tutoring. I also know moms who
instead of or as a holiday gift asked family members to cover
tutoring for them for a month or a certain number of months.
Typically the after school or Saturday language schools are not that
expensive for the whole year (comparatively).

The other thing to consider is while sometimes one language sounds
daunting enough, learning two languages that are rather opposite is
really great. My oldest is learning Spanish and German and they
really are nice complements – a Romance Language and a Germanic
language and I feel it will be easy for her to slide into other
Romance languages and even into the Slovak languages.   

There are many wonderful languages – African languages, Romance
languages, Germanic languages…..Sometimes I think we get stuck on
Spanish (which that would be nice to learn because of the
functionality), but there may be resources for something else in your
area as well.  Keep an open mind and see what you can find – you may be able to find for your child not only a person who can provide your child with the wonderful gift of multiple languages, but also with the great cultural awareness that we are all global neighbors.

Yours until next time,

Carrie

Childbirth in “Consumer Reports”

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This came across another list I am on, and it is so important that I wanted to share it with you all.  Please pass the permalink for this post on to any expectant families you know.

Article in “Consumer Reports” about Childbirth

http://www.consumerreports.org/health/medical-conditions-treatments/pregnancy-childbirth/maternity-care/overview/maternity-care.htm

Back to basics for safer childbirth

Too many doctors and hospitals are overusing high-tech procedures

Noninvasive measures can mean better outcomes for baby and Mom.

When it’s time to bring a new baby into the world, there’s a lot to be said for letting nature take the lead. The normal, hormone-driven changes in the body that naturally occur during delivery can optimize infant health and encourage the easy establishment and continuation of breastfeeding and mother-baby attachment. Childbirth without technical intervention can succeed in leading to a good outcome for mother and child, according to a new report. (Take our maternity-care quiz to test your knowledge:  “Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can Achieve”).

Co-authors Carol Sakala and Maureen P. Corry of the nonprofit Childbirth Connection analyzed hundreds of the most recent studies and systematic reviews of maternity care. The 70-page report was issued collaboratively by Childbirth Connection, the Reforming States Group (a voluntary association of state-level health policymakers), and Milbank Memorial Fund, and released on Oct. 8, 2008.

OVERUSE OF HIGH-TECH MEASURES

The report found that, in the U.S., too many healthy women with low- risk pregnancies are being routinely subjected to high-tech or invasive interventions that should be reserved for higher-risk pregnancies. Such measures include:

• Inducing labor. The percentage of women whose labor was induced more than doubled between 1990 and 2005

• Use of epidural painkillers, which might cause adverse effects, including rapid fetal heart rate and poor performance on newborn assessment tests

• Delivery by Caesarean section, which is estimated to account for one-third of all U.S births in 2008, which far exceed the World Health Organization’s recommended national rate of 5 to 10 percent

• Electronic fetal monitoring, unnecessarily adding to delivery costs

• Rupturing membranes (“breaking the waters”), intending to hasten onset of labor

• Episiotomy, which is often unnecessary. 

In fact, the current style of maternity care is so procedure-intensive that 6 of the 15 most common hospital procedures used in the entire U.S. are related to childbirth. Although most childbearing women in this country are healthy and at low risk for childbirth complications, national surveys reveal that essentially all women who give birth in U.S. hospitals have high rates of use of complex interventions, with risks of adverse effects.

The reasons for this overuse might have more to do with profit and liability issues than with optimal care, the report points out.

Hospitals and care providers can increase their insurance reimbursements by administering costly high-tech interventions rather than just watching, waiting, and shepherding the natural process of childbirth.

Convenience for health care workers and patients might be another factor. Naturally occurring labor is not limited to typical working hours. Evidence also shows that a disproportionate amount of tech- driven interventions like Caesarean sections occur during weekday “business hours,” rather than at night, on weekends, or on holidays.

UNDERUSE OF HIGH-TOUCH, NONINVASIVE MEASURES

Many practices that have been proven effective and do little to no harm are underused in today’s maternity care for healthy low-risk women. They include:

• Prenatal vitamins

• Use of midwife or family physician

• Continuous presence of a companion for the mother during labor

• Upright and side-lying positions during labor and delivery, which are associated with less severe pain than lying down on one’s back

• Vaginal birth (VBAC) for most women who have had a previous Caesarean section

• Early mother-baby skin-to-skin contact.

The study suggests that those and other low-cost, beneficial practices are not routinely practiced for several reasons, including limited scope for economic gain, lack of national standards to measure providers’ performance, and a medical tradition that doesn’t prioritize the measurement of adverse effects, or take them into account.

Please go to the link to access the article, and please pass this information.  Let’s change the climate of childbirth in this country!

Thanks to you all,

Carrie