The Rhythm of Learning

"Life in its entirety is like a plant. The plant contains not only what it offers to external life; it also holds a future state within its hidden depths. One who has before him a plant only just in leaf, knows very well that after some time there will be flowers and fruit also on the leaf-bearing stem. In its hidden depths the plant already contains the flowers and fruit in embryo; yet by mere investigation of what the plant now offers to external vision, how should one ever tell what these new organs will look like? This can only be told by one who has learnt to know the very nature and being of the plant." - From The Education of the Child, Ruldolph Steiner.

In modern textbook education many subjects are taught one page or one chapter at a time. The teacher will set aside a couple hours to teach the children "how to do division" and then will assign problems and continue to assign problems with progressive difficulty. Or, a teacher may explain what the subjunctive is and then have children practice marking these in sentences. No matter what the subject, the rhythm is often standard - teach the subject, practice the problems, answer some questions, and students who don't understand get the lower grade.

What is missing in this method (and I call it a method rather than attaching it to a certain place of education or name of an educational philosophy because you can find this method in many different systems) is an understanding of the quote above. People bloom like plants. Children bloom like plants and blooming is not something that happens so instantaneously. One cannot touch a rose bud, chant a little and it will open. One must slowly coax it out into the sunlight with a little water, some gentle breeze, rays of sun and most importantly - time.

When a child is given this time to really get to know a subject and become comfortable with it the fear related to that subject will vanish and they will truly learn instead of just "learning enough" to get by and go on with the next subject. This means that as a teacher we must be patient.

The most important part of teaching is not always what the child is taught but how and when they are taught. The teacher first presents the material in a gentle way. The children are not expected to fully understand or be able to mimic the process at this point. In this stage the children are simply expected to "encounter" the material. The children are then given a day to reflect on this encounter either consciously and/or subconsciously (during sleep). This process typically takes one day but it could take more if you are teaching at home and have more freedom with time. If your child needs more than one day with this stage, consider giving them more time. Sometimes I may even go through all the stages with my child and if they still are not easily grasping the subject I will set it aside and come back to it again in a week or a month. Miracles often happen during that week or month!

From this encounter comes experience. The second day the child is asked to participate in the learning process either through verses, painting, drawing, copying from the board, movement or other tasks. However, there is still no pressure on them to actually completely understand the material or to be able to "spit it out" again onto a worksheet or during a test. This stage may last a few days. There may be stories, paintings, movement, and many other experiences related to this concept.

Finally, when it is the right time for the class (as I said before, teaching at home you have more freedom with this time-line) the experience naturally crystallizes into the concept itself. You will find that some children will "suddenly" understand the concept and will be able to explain it and complete tasks. Their "buds" in this topic have bloomed.

Other students may need more time. In this case you should give them more time. To force a bud to bloom before its time can result in the petals being ripped apart, and falling to the ground. It is often hard to recover this bud and create a whole and beautiful flower from it later. One can force the child to finish the worksheets and projects and "half-understand" the concepts but their flower will be filled with petals that are glued onto the stem, always falling off and having to be put back on...and some petals may be missing. This "flower" may hate the subject for the rest of their lives or develop a fear of performing in that subject that will prevent them from growing in other areas. Or, they may simply not feel an affinity to the subject and will find it undesirable the rest of their lives. This could be why some children grow up and don't enjoy reading books, writing letters to friends, or doing anything related to math.

Perception, feeling, idea - these are the three steps in the genuine learning process that prepares the intellect for the abstract and conceptual thinking that will become possible later in adolescence.

When I think of this in terms of rhythm I think of the first method being akin to a marching band. There is a strict drum rhythm and everyone needs to keep the beat - ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three. When I think about the rhythm of Waldorf education I think more of the rhythm of a river...flowing instead of beating, with one idea flowing into another flowing into another and so on...until it reaches the ocean of adolescence.

Woodworking - A Pet Running Pen - Easy/Moderate

Free Woodworking Project - Animal Running Pen
Ages 5-16
For more projects see the e-book "Woodworking with Kids" at:
http://waldorftv.weebly.com/e-books.html
or the video "Woodworking with Kids" at:
http://waldorftv.weebly.com/videos.html


Sunii and I finally finished the bunny running pen! We plan to let the bunnies enjoy the outdoors in the spring (with supervision) and we have been letting them out together once a day since we made it. They really like it! The instructions below are complete. Be sure to read them all before you start because some steps look easier than they are but if you don't use the "tips to make it easier" some steps could take you a half hour instead of 5 minutes. Seriously - we tried it :)

We also plan on using this for our rats to run around in and we plan on expanding it to 6 panels sometime soon.



Small Animal Running Pen

1. Purchase supplies or scavenge for supplies:

16 wood strips - all the same height and width (ours were 3')
Screening for screen doors (amount depends on your project - we needed two rolls of 3' high screening)
Hinges - 6
Screws for hinges (even if they come with screws - you will see why later)
Nails (depending on how thick your wood strips are - we needed smaller nails)

2. Get out/borrow or purchase the following tools:

Staple Gun & Staples
Saw (if you need to trim wood strips - we didn't - we had the guy at Menards do it for us ;)
Drill
Small bit for drill
Large heavy hammer
Scissors (to cut screening)
Measuring Tape

3. Lay out wood in square shape. Nail them together on all four sides. TIP: Be sure to use a large heavy hammer - your work will go faster and will be more accurate. TIP#2 - Be sure to hold the hammer correctly - at the end. The trick to hammering quickly and accurately is a heavy hammer and holding it at the end. You can even talk about hammer physics with your older child: http://en.allexperts.com/e/h/ha/hammer.htm#hd3. Do this to all 16 panels - you will then have four wood squares.




5. Measure the screening to fit the square exactly







6. Lay the wood squares down and staple the screening to the squares.






7. When you are done with all the squares add the hinges to both sides of one panel.

8. Attach squares to either side of the panel by attaching the other end of the hinges to each panel. Be sure all the panels fold in the same direction as you are attaching the hinges. Use a drill to do this. TIP: Pre-drill each hole before you drill or screw the screws in - it will make the project go faster. TIP #2: Use screws for wood that you purchase separately. The screws that "come with" the hinges are never very good and take about 5 times as long to drill into the wood. Make sure you have good screws!

9. You will now have the gates attached on all but two sides. You can attach hooks to these and tie them shut with string, you can attach velcro to them or you can just put them against each other or a wall - it depends on how clever your pets are, how hard they will try to nudge their way out and/or how much supervision they will have. We used some eyelet hooks and some string (see picture).

Circle Time for Older Grades?

By Kristie Burns
www.Earthschooling.com
Don't miss our before-Christmas sale - "Buy One Get One" of EVERYTHING on our websites - Ebay store, www.TheWaldorfChannel.com, www.Earthschooling.com and even www.HerbnHome.com (offer does not apply to knitted unicorns but applies to everything else). Order your first items then E-mail me at: herbnhome@gmail.com and tell me what free items you want and WHO you want them sent to (they can be given as gifts).

I have to admit that as the children grow older I miss the little finger rhymes and verses from our old circle time days, I miss the sweet puppet shows, the dress up box and playing daily with our Ostheimer figures. However, lately I've started to realize that we never did really give those things up - we just modified them and they grew into different things! Here are some examples of what has happened around here now that my kids are 11,13, and 15!

Circle Time
Circle time has now become "family meeting" time. Every Wednesday and Sunday we have a family meeting. This is a time to share a verse, a story, ideas on how to improve things around the house, a request to other members of the family and much more. I try to integrate a story, a verse, and some meditative time into the meeting. We spend some time going around the "circle" talking about what we are thankful for in each person and in each of our lives.

Dress Up Box
The dress up box has now become real-life dress-up. When we go out together my kids and I often plan our trips around an outfit or a theme. If we visit the Renaissance Festival we always dress up, if we go to the Civic Center we wear fancy clothes. If we go to Living History Farms we may dress in clothing from that era. We really enjoy being creative in the way we dress. It is not just "jeans and a T-shirt" every day :)

Puppet Shows
My kids now enjoy going to some more "adult" events with me and are now creating their own "puppet shows" and events! We saw a professional magic show a couple weeks ago, and a Native American Powwow before that. We enjoyed the Nutcracker Ballet together and attended a rock band concert that my eldest was the lead singer in. Along with attending different events, the kids are really starting to get more out of the events. When they were little I might take them to a musical and they would enjoy it and perhaps play-act after-wards. Now, they may get out their guitar and find the music for the musical, ask questions about it, write about it, create something inspired by it or even sound out some of the music on the piano. The kids are also starting to create more elaborate events instead of sitting and listening. They create their own stage shows, plays (complete with script), band concerts, magic shows, comedy skits and even storytelling shows. Both of my daughters help me with the large group cultural shows I perform in the local public school system. One of the favorite workshops I do is called "A Meal in the Middle East". Sofi's favorite part of the show is telling the story to the classrooms. She won't even let me tell the story anymore!

Play Kitchen
The play kitchen is still played with from time to time but now it is the real kitchen that I see the kids in more. They all have their own style of cooking and my son, especially, likes to explore new tastes, new techniques, and new dishes in the kitchen. Sometimes they cook breakfast or lunch for each other and they all have their own dishes they are "famous for" around the house.

Bread Baking
We don't bake bread every day or even every other day anymore however we do enjoy baking a variety of things and we still enjoy baking bread together now and then. It is hard to believe we have been baking bread together for 15 years now!

Nature Walk
I remember the days when we used to take off with a butterfly net and a bag and wander through the woods. Little legs never took us very far but we could find amazing worlds within a few blocks or few yards of forest. Now, we still walk together but now we can go farther and we talk more as we walk. It is a time, not only to connect with nature, but to connect with each other, too. We may explore more advanced concepts in our walks (like identifying specific herbs and talk about the biology of plants and their growth patterns). We enjoy walking through the wooded bike bath TO places - to the grocery store, to the library, to the cafe, and even to the stores. Sometimes the kids go on their own now, or with a friend. My eldest likes to take walks every day - she says it helps her think clearly and she likes all the good energy she gets from the plants. My son likes to ride his bike for long distances with friends. It feels good to him to get all that energy out and he likes the excitement of what he may see on the trails. A few weeks ago he saw a buck and the week before that he saw some fawns.

I would love to hear what transitions other families have made in these areas and how your early childhood experiences have merged into the older years with your children.

My Child's Music

This can now be found at www.BEarthBLOG.com

Watercolor & Meditation w/ The Middle Grades

As winter approaches the kids (mine and the ones who come for Waldorf Enrichment) have been both more meditative in many ways but also more physically energetic! So we have been outdoors a lot but when we come in their favorite activities seem to be painting and bread-making. There is a meditative comfort in these two activities that seems to go so well with the colder months.

And as the kids become older they are not always guided by the stories and verses but sometimes simply guided by their inspirations and their heart. As the kids grow from the early childhood years into the age of awareness of themselves and others I take some time each week for them to express themselves in watercolor AND in writing without being guided by story, verse or lesson. Children in the middle grades enter a world of intellectual depth and insight. At this stage, when they aspire to problem-solving and knowledge, students are challenged with great philosophical ideas, the precision of mathematics, and the beauty of ensemble music. Some time of individual meditative expression is helpful during this period. Part of the reason I do this is to help them to learn how to take time to meditate through the activities they are doing.

At this stage in life children have often been shuttled into a way of life that can involve too many activities and a lot of intense schooling - a lot of head work. Having them sit down and meditate while they watercolor - either to nature or music - is a way for me to help them balance that "Heart" nature with their head and hands and to help keep that element strong in their lives. This is the age when a lot of schooling starts to take the heart out of things and keep the kids occupied in their head and their hands only.

So this week we decided to take inspiration from nature instead of from stories or verses for our watercolors. The kids collected their favorite leaves and I asked them to reproduce them onto their watercolor papers. I was very clear to them that "re-produce" only meant the mood, the colors, what the leaves evoked in them and that they did not have to draw the leaf itself unless they wanted to.

I am always amazed at how insightful and spiritual and artistic the kids can be. The pictures below are some of what they came up with when working with the leaves...