Father Sun sends his loving warmth to all that lives and grows. He sees that the wind in autumn carries the leaves to the ground or spreads the seeds. He digs the earth, carefully waters the soil or rejoices when the rain does it for him. To the young child the world is one the world is good. Many opportunities are presented to actually participate in practical activities. THE EARLY YEARS - Preschool & Kindergartenīecause the young child lives in imitative activity, it is very important to have an attitude of reverence and love for all the kingdoms of nature. These are dynamic categories, which are intellectually true, yet applicable to all ages. The four kingdoms-mineral, plant, animal and man-inhabit the earth.Ĭharacterizing the phenomenal world in this way enables the child to grasp the facts of the world clearly. In chemistry these could be equated to the four states of matter: earth, physical solid substance water, liquids air, gases fire, warmth. They are the active forces working in the world and in man. The four elements-earth, water, air and fire -were recognized by the Greeks to be the four "roots" of which the world is composed. These two focal points weave in and out of the Waldorf curriculum like musical themes, threading their way through the child's growth and awareness of his world and himself. What follows are some of the highlights that we could later recall. We then discussed the approach of Waldorf education far into the night. We began by suggesting that it wasn't a matter of drawing the attention of five and six year olds to the amount of hydrocarbons in the air or pollution in the water, but of meeting the child at his particular age with a positive experience of the world. I feel it's wrong to overemphasize these problems to young children and yet how else do I develop the feeling of responsibility? If ecology is the basic issue, how does Waldorf education deal with it?" They share my emotional involvement, but somewhere there is still a split between the day-to-day teaching and the hard facts of reality. I have inward concerns which I want to share with the children. G., a professional educator, who had had many disillusioning years of supporting idealistic causes, turned to us and said, "As a teacher myself, I feel that I have never really gotten to the core of it. Thus, the current concern for ecology directly relates to the heart of the matter. Was it drugs, war and peace, the younger generation, the racial crisis, political corruption, the changing moral standards, or the East-West confrontation which lay at the heart of the matter? Where could education best serve the future generation to lay a moral foundation to face these issues? Most of these problem areas are symptoms of a failure to respect and understand the human being and his relationship to the world around him. The other evening a group of friends were discussing the pressing issues facing man in the decades to come. Published in Education as an Art Vol.28, No. We will each clean up after ourselves when we are done.ġ:00-1:15 Afternoon Circle - Departure song, yoga/dancing, movement and story.Download the article: Earth, Who Gives to Us We will say a poem as a class and eat our lunch that we brought from home. Open - ended snack will also be offered at this time.ġ1:00-11:15 Clean-up - Bathroom / dress for the outdoors.ġ1:15-12:15 Outside Time - Room to run, play and explore in our outdoor classroom.ġ2:15-12:30 Bathroom - Wash hands for lunch.ġ2:30-1:00 Lunch Time - We will set the table and all sit down together. Whole group lessons will be introduced if needed.ĩ:30-11:00 Play/work Cycle - Children are free to choose any area that they would like to play in using the choice board. Say “goodbye” and your child will engage in free play.ĩ:15-9:30 Morning Circle - Greeting, morning song, mindful techniques, calendar / weather. Put lunch away, fruit/vegetable in colander, hang up jacket and place school bag on hook.
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