Insights: Into Waldorf Education Emerson Waldorf School 6211 New Jericho Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 Issue 4, Spring 2006 A publication of the Emerson Waldorf School to inform and educate about our school and Waldorf education in general. Inside this issue: Puppetry: A new 7th Grade Program My $40,000 Wooden Spoon Trading in our Flutes 2 3 Class Trip 2005 Book Corner 4 The Challenge of Math 5 College and the Waldorf Graduate 6 West Meets East Biodynamic Agriculture Animals and Saints: Second Grade with Ms. Holley 7 8 EWS College of Teachers Stephen Beck Eric Boesch Ingeborg Boesch Lorraine Davis Ameli Fairman-Evans Judith Grant Dennis Hagerman Carol Kubik Andrew Levitt Whitney MacDonald Peter Moyers Robin Olson Victoria Palazzo Rob Rich Edward Schuldt (ex officio) Kathleen Stone-Michael Parent Organization Officers President: Kelly Calegar Vice-Pres: Charles Viles Treasurer: Jeff Kottiel Secretaries: Kim Moore, Colleen McCarron-Case Each class has a Parent Organization Representative and each parent is a member of the Parent Organization Busy Little Finger People: Handwork through the Grades From an interview with Carol Kubik, EWS Lower School Handwork teacher In the EWS Kindergarten, the children sing a song about “Busy Little Finger People”, and that is what our students are. The movement and education of the fingers and hands is an important part of Waldorf education, and one of the things that distinguishes Waldorf Schools from other kinds of schools. Throughout their education at EWS, Grades 1-12, students do handwork. Research in the last 20 years has shown the wisdom of this. There is a growing emphasis in remedial education on the education of the body, as well as the mind, or even before the mind. Teachers working with children with disabilities have them do patterned crawling. Neurological research is starting to show how the use of the fingers is involved in brain development. All of this simply confirms the experiences of Waldorf teachers in the past 80 years. Rudolf Steiner said that knitting in 1st grade helps students with their math in 11th grade. Now science is showing the truth of that. We also do Handwork because practical things connect them to the practical side of life. We crochet hats and knit socks that they can actually use. This teaches them skills that go far beyond knitting and purling. In all of handwork, as in most of their subjects, there is also the goal of accomplishment, perseverance, patience, waiting your turn. These are very important skills. It not only makes the classroom more harmonious; it also makes them more orderly in their thinking as adults, and more willing to see a project through. Handwork begins in Kindergarten with making pom-poms, finger knitting, making shoe bags. The skills and concentration needed to do these tasks help prepare the children for the beginning of concentrated learning in 1st grade. In 1st grade, the first thing we do is to make our own knitting needles. We try to introduce the knitting, the needles and the yarn in a way that is connected to life, continued on page 9 Adolescence as a Journey: The Waldorf Approach From an Interview with Andrew Levitt, HS English teacher Adolescence is a journey. As the child approaches 18 years, the moon reaches the place where it was in the zodiac when they were born. Just as the moon has completed a journey, so the child completes the journey of childhood: the journey towards individuality, towards the birth of the self. The Waldorf curriculum in High School mirrors this journey, giving the student pictures and stories to help chart the course, and meeting them with experiences that help them cope with the identity crisis that the birthing of the self entails. All schools these days are enthusiastic about looking at the development of young people and adjusting their curriculum in relationship to development. However, the model of development is very different in Waldorf education, because the understanding of the human being is very different. In mainstream education, there is a strong understanding of the intellectual development of the student, and they make adjustments in education to accommodate the child’s cognitive development. But by the time students get to High School, they are expected to be able to work with abstract ideas and develop their abstract thinking. Although there is an understanding that their intellectual powers are developing over the 4 years of High School, the emotional journey of the adolescent is not fully recognized. In a Waldorf High School, the literature curriculum grows precisely from that emotional journey. 9th graders come into High School torn, in their emotional lives, between their sympathies and their antipathies, what they like and what they don’t like. Our curriculum recognizes and accepts that that is where they are, and tries to help balance this tumultuous time. Everything is confronted in 9th grade as the interplay of opposites: hot and cold in thermodynamics, comedy and tragedy in literature, to help students feel the laughter and the sorrow, the pity and the fear, the good and the evil, and to begin to integrate these oppositions. The goal is not to become one or the other--happy or sad--but to integrate these opposing forces. In a Main Lesson Block on Comedy and Tragedy, we read Greek tragedies and Roman comedies (Roman comedy is the basis for all modern comedy, even sitcoms!). We study Commedia dell’ arte, which has had so much influence on the contemporary theater world, reading Servant of Two Masters by Goldoni and playing around with some of the improvisational routines of Commedia. We then do Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet is ideal because of this balancing of the male and the female, the romantic and the practical. 9th grade is the year of balancing. In 9th grade is also the year of Change. We do a Main Lesson block in Mythology, including Ovid’s Metamorphosis. We read this great book of changes, perhaps the most quoted book in literature, at the time that they, too, are going through their own great changes. In addition to the Main Lesson blocks, we have literature track classes, which meet several times a week throughout the year. In 9th grade we study different genres: short story, novel, poetry and personal essay. We write a lot--a short story, poems, a 1000 word personal essay-- and we read a lot of great personal essays: Annie Dillard, Aldous Huxley, John Muir, Scott Russell Sanders-these are the great essayists, who also help us to understand our selves. I also weave in an understanding of nature through the essays and poetry we read. We do a unit on poetry, which I call the Poetry of Nature, in which we go out into the natural world and write poetry in nature. 10th grade is the year of the Outward Journey. In 10th grade, one of the major continued on page 10 Insights: Into Waldorf Education Page 2 Issue 4, Spring 2006 Puppetry: A new 7th Grade Program By Kathleen Stone-Michaels, Nursery Teacher Puppetry is an art that has existed for many years. Long ago masks were used by the Greeks to tell stories. Not only did it allow the sound to travel and they could be seen from afar, but the stories told would be larger than life. They carried the mysteries and deeply held images and truths of the people. The puppet served as a vessel to carry and act out those stories. The reverent quality held for the puppet continues throughout the ages, and in many diverse cultures. Puppetry is used in many ways; for therapy, education, artistic performance, social commentary, political statements or in play. Steiner has indicated that it is a healing art. Think of a young child who sees a marionette, whether it is a person or animal. If the puppet begins to engage the child, soon the child will respond openly. A puppet comes to life and brings healthy communication to a situation. Puppetry is an avenue to bring stories, poems, or moral lessons to the world. One might think that the puppeteer hides behind the puppet but it is the human who “ensouls” the puppet. There are many kinds of puppets: rod, fin- capable all of them are to do a show. Being on both sides of the age spectrum was interesting. I do puppet shows every day for the 2- 4 year olds and they are so mesmerized by them. I hope the 7th grade students see how deeply a puppet show penetrates a child and feel the joy of the gift they gave to the younger children in the school. ger, table, shadow and marionettes. Which ever one is used, the more “ensouled” the puppet is by the performer, the more alive the performance is for the audience. This year the 7th grade class is currently divided into 2 groups: one doing their dolls and the other doing puppetry. Beginning the class they all experienced some of my puppets, moving them across stage and trying to have them do something. After that we got to work selecting a story and each of the students made their own puppet for the performance. The making of the puppet entails making the head and selecting and attaching the hair. For the garment and body, we selected colors, and dyed the silk with plant dyes. Once the base of the puppet is complete, final touches create the real character, then the hands are the last step for the final stringing. When the puppets are ready we draw the stage scene and begin gathering the parts to assemble the set. Setting the stage is important, as it gives the puppets a place to come alive. Mr. Child has had the students compose music for the show which they will incorporate into the performance. Now, with a few rehearsals with the reader, musicians, lights and marionettes the show will be presented to the grades. Everyone enjoyed the process of the creation of the show. It was a great experience for me to see how willing and very My $40,000 Wooden Spoon By Alyson Ramesh, EWS Parent My older son finished Sixth Grade last summer. As part of his Waldorf curriculum he partook of Woodworking with Dennis Hagerman. For my birthday I was given a much anticipated present: a wooden spoon hand carved by my son. I first fell in love with the idea of this present ten years prior. You see, I have this “thing” about wooden spoons – I love them. I covet them. I collect them. But let me share the story. When Neal was born (in Texas) I knew with no doubt that current public school methods were not what I wanted for him. My husband David and I began to search for alternatives. We found lots of Montessori Schools but found their standards varied quite a bit from school to school. We found high-intense college prep schools, but did not feel that our child (age 2) was in need for SAT prep, yet. Then I saw an ad for the Austin Waldorf School. Quite honestly, the ad, done in purple was what caught my eye – color in an ad – simple, yet it spoke volumes to what the education brings to childhood, color. We set up a meeting to visit the school – 15 miles outside of Austin in the rolling hill country covered with cedar trees. I loved all the trees; David sneezed. When we were left by ourselves in the Kindergarten to wait for our guide, we fell in love. As any parent in Emerson Waldorf can attest – a Waldorf Kindergarten classroom is a sight to behold. Grown adults have been known to get down on their hands and knees to build castles and play with wooden animals in a barn. I climbed the tree fort and built houses with tree blocks. I was in the midst of play when I was caught red- handed. The guide came in and welcomed us warmly and began our introduction to Waldorf. The colors in the Kindergarten and the philosophy in the lower school resonated with what I believed and I began to believe we had found a home. We continued to the middle school to see the advanced curriculum. Everything for me ended when we stepped into the woodworking building. There the guide explained that as part of the “practical arts” curriculum in 6th grade the students carve a wooden spoon. She went on to explain convex and concave and all the mathematical applications but I had stopped listening. I turned to Dave and said that this was it; this is where Neal would go to school, and learn how to carve a wooden spoon. Pretty silly reason to enroll in a school, right? – and a very expensive reason, too. However my spoon is a bargain for what we gained. In the first years (enrolled in a Waldorf-inspired preschool) his creative play blossomed. His play was rich and varied and a delight to behold. As the years progressed I saw him continue to grow in academics but also in spirit. And the teachers always ‘held’ him. By that I mean, he was not a student or even a finished work, but always a work in progress: always a spirit that had been entrusted to our care. Even when social difficulties arose the teachers always spoke with love that there ‘was work to do’ not that he was doomed. He learned a variety of materials – weaving, knitting, music, writing and art. He also learned Spanish, German and Eurythmy – a movement class. By fifth grade I saw a confident young man emerging as he trained for his Olympic Games – he knew he was part of a larger community and his contributions were valued. He knew even if there were rough days, a class stuck together through thick and thin. New Polarity Practitioner (former Waldorf teacher) offering sessions at half-price with the mention of this ad Contact Nancy Preitz at 919-544-3013 When the class went on the Geology field trip they emerged from the cave as a unit – they had helped each other out of the dark and up steep ravines as a team. So for my birthday last spring I received what I had hoped for long, long ago – my wooden spoon. Wrapped modestly in yellow tissue paper was the most beautiful spoon I have seen anywhere. Carved out of walnut by my son’s hands. Sanded and sanded and sanded by his fingers and given to me at last. I see this spoon as representation of a journey of so much and the beginning of so much more. It is in my china cabinet – held in reverence. In ninth grade he will make me a copper bowl. Insights: Issue 4, Spring 2006 Page 3 Into Waldorf Education Trading in Our Flutes By Jason Child, EWS Music Teacher Not long ago, the third graders of EWS made a gift to our first grade. They entered the first grade room early one Friday morning and, after a short visit, left behind not only a lovely song, but the very flutes that they had played. Those flutes waited in a basket for a few weeks, all the while being eyed with curiosity by Class One as they continued using their simple one-hole flutes. Finally, the day arrived. The new flutes were handed out and their one-hole flutes were collected. The children reverently cleaned and oiled their new instruments and examined them with wonder- six holes! It was yet another week before they began playing the first simple melodies on their new instruments. Meanwhile, the third grade students also had new flutes with nine handsome holes. Over the past few weeks, they had gradually become aware that their old flutes actually had large gaps and that they seemed to skip completely over some notes that they now realized should have been there. Their new instruments allow them to play up and down a full scale. This also brought to their awareness the tonic note, the “home tone” around which Western music revolves. Enter a third grade music lesson and you will now find students merrily singing up and down the scale, playing on their flutes tunes that step up and down the scale or beginning to notate the music that they play. This careful progression in the early years is just one aspect of the attention paid to the pedagogy of the Waldorf music curriculum. In 1919, Rudolf Steiner suggested that music instruction should begin by working in conformity with the nature of the young child. About third grade, however, he asks that teachers change the instruction and begin to work in a way that compels the child to conform to the music. Thus, music lessons for the early grades are not didactic or intellectual. Rather, the children experience simple, dreamy and uncomplicated melodies. In a playful, exploratory way, music lessons bring to the children aspects of music such as rhythms based on words, high and low sounds, fast and slow tempos, or loud and quiet sounds. The focus of early music learning is on these inner, experiential aspects of music. The third grade year is the pivotal year in music instruction at a Waldorf school. To begin, it is the year of naming things. Each note now has its own name, and all of the discoveries made in our early music explorations begin to crystallize as, for example, we name the types of notes that make up rhythms (quarter notes, eighth notes, etc.) or name the ways in which a melody weaves between pitches (by steps, skips or jumps). The music also has a new quality. We leave behind the dreamy five-note music of the early years and begin working in earnest with the typical major scale. The children must now “conform” to the standards of Western music and, by third grade, they love it! The third grade year is the launching pad for the rest of their music experiences at EWS. The work started in third grade deepens the strong intuitive sense for music that was developed in the early years with a new understanding of the inner workings of music. They continue this learning in the subsequent years, but they are also able to begin applying what they’ve learned. By fourth grade, they are more than ready to begin their chosen string instrument, and in fifth grade they become members of our choir. They are growing into intelligent, sensitive and versatile musicians, and it all began with a few simple melodies and a one-hole flute. my friend came up with was taking salt and pepper shakers and hitting them across the table sort of like paper football. That consumed hours of our after dinner time. We spent time with each other and enjoyed it. The really wonderful thing about our class trips is that along with discovering different aspects of nature or art or whatever subject we may be studying, we also learn more about the dynamics of our class and about each person in our class. We know each other pretty well, but on class trips we become even closer. On the last day we sat around the fire pit and said something we learned about the forest and about a single classmate or the class as a group that we hadn’t known before the trip. In my opinion we understand each other better on our trips because we are not in school and don’t have to focus on studying for our next test, etc. The only things that we have to worry about are making dinner, drawing or keeping a journal, learning in nature and becoming better friends. Our class trips are one of the things that I love about Waldorf. Photos by Boris Elisayeff Class Trip 2005 By Molly Metz, High School Junior In October my eleventh grade class at Emerson Waldorf School went on our annual class trip. This year we had the pleasure of going to Fries (pronounced freeze), Virginia. In many Waldorf schools the eleventh grade class trip is a forestry intensive week, ninth grade is farming, tenth grade is crafts, and twelfth grade is zoology. We spent five days in an old farmhouse, located on approximately twelve acres, studying the flora and fauna of the area. On Monday we arrived at the school fairly early and the first few hours of the day were spent driving. Upon our arrival at the Farmhouse we all unloaded and ran upstairs to find our rooms. All three of us girls made sure that we got our room first. When we had unpacked we went across the hall to the boys’ room and the three of us had to laugh, because the six boys were crammed into the room with exactly one bed to each one of them. The next step was to figure out who was signed up for dinner, lunch, and breakfast for the next four and a half days and to go exploring. A few people had brought instruments, a few guitars and drums, so they started to jam on the porch. We walked down the hill that our house was on and across a field through a few trees and found a river, fire pit and a path. We walked along the path and eventually into the ice cold river water. Over the next four days the river became our congregating place. We would go down to the fire pit to receive our assignment, then we would split up into groups or all of us would walk together into the woods. In the mornings we would have a short lesson on a couple of trees, draw them if we wanted and then we had free time to walk in the woods or up the river. If we really felt like it we would work on our working assignment which was to draw nine trees with descriptions of their characteristics. Along with fauna we learned about the different types of soil and hiked part of the Appalachian Trail. At night we played Frisbee or lay in the open field looking at the moon and stars. On Wednesday night we built a fire in the fire pit, told stories, sang songs, and joked. The great thing about Fries, Va. is that there is no traffic. The only thing you could hear was the wind, birds, and nature in general. We didn’t have any electronic devices with us so there was no music other than what we created. We came up with games of our own that we could play to amuse ourselves. One game The WOODLAND SHOP at Emerson Waldorf School Chapel Hill, NC 919-942-9915 “Devoted to the Natural Child” specializing in handcrafted gifts, toys, art/handwork supplies, maternity supplies and more. hours: Tu 8:30-12:30 Wed 8:30-1:30 Th/Fr 8:30-4:00 Sat 10:30-2:00 Page 4 Insights: Into Waldorf Education Issue 4, Spring 2006 Book Corner Dear Parent: Caring for Infants with Respect by Magda Gerber Working with Nervous, Anxious and Depressed Children by Henning Kohler Reviewed by Lauren Mills, EWS Parent I was asked separately to review two different books and realized the benefit of reviewing them together: if you worked with the ideas of the book about infants, you’d be less likely to need the other book’s advice when your children are older. I say this laughingly because the truth is that both are packed with ideas that can support healthy relationships and development at any age and can support us (the adults) in our own personal striving, wherever we are in our paths. The author of Dear Parent, Magda Gerber, was associated with the Pikler Institute, a place where they work with children under the age of three in Hungary. She took the ideas developed at the Institute and started Resources for Infant Educators (RIE, pronounced “rye”) in Los Angeles. Members of the Waldorf Birth to age Three movement noticed the connections between their own work and the work of RIE and have incorporated many of the RIE approaches into Waldorf Early Childhood classes and training programs. The basic principles of the RIE approach are Respect, Trust in the Infant’s Competence, Sensitive Observation, Child Involvement in Caregiving Times, A Safe, Challenging, Predictable Environment, Time for Uninterrupted Play, Freedom to Explore, and Consistency. Sound like Waldorf recommendations? The ideas presented in this book are also very do-able and enjoyable. I followed this approach with my second child and noticed benefits in our relating, cooperating, and level of enjoyment of each other. I have also noticed that the approach works well for the first child, but is harder to do as we don’t have the strong foundation of trust that we might have had from the beginning – we’re getting there, though! Following the recommendations in this book will also increase the likelihood of healthy (or at least healthier) development of the senses, the importance of which is really in the awareness of parents, teachers, and therapists. If you missed working on healthy Pudding and Chips by Penny Matthews illustrated by Janine Dawson framework (writing in a Steiner-style of creating images, so expect to read the book several times or look for a group of people to read it with to get the most practical ideas from the book) and bases his approach on Steiner’s image of people having twelve Senses with the first four developing from birth to age 7, the middle four developing in the middle years, and the last four having the potential to develop near and during adulthood. Well-developed lower senses lay a foundation for development of the higher senses and an adult working on the higher senses will help nearby children develop their lower senses. (So it’s never too late!) Kohler focuses on fostering development of the four lower senses interwoven with ideas for fostering the higher senses. His book can be a help for children with behavior issues, and issues of attention, restlessness, or anxiety. It has been my experience that parents without these challenges still find the book helpful for the daily lives of their children and for themselves. One person who reads it says she uses the “drop-down technique” where she just opens the book, reads a passage and finds something helpful. She says it actually makes more sense that way than reading it in order. Any way of reading this book can be beneficial. Let me know what you think of these books. Enjoy! Lauren leads a monthly discussion Group for EWS parents. In the Land of Fairies by Daniella Drescher Reviewed by Alyson Ramesh, EWS Parent Reviewed by Alyson Ramesh, EWS Parent “The dusk brings deer into the glade where flowers grow, As dappled light gives way to shade.” This is a heartwarming tale of two friends: Pudding, a white goose, and Chips, a black and white sheepdog. Both live and work at Annie’s farm. Pudding is a strongminded goose, known for her overly loud honk which intimidates the other farm animals. Chips takes his herding skills and his watchdog responsibilities to heart, but he is no match for Pudding. The two work out a relationship of respect that blossoms into something deeper when a fox comes in the night. All may be lost, only the strongwilled will survive. Two new additions to the Waldorf shelf of classics, Ms Drescher has written In the Land of Fairies and In the Land of Elves. Each book takes its respected subject and shows the diminutive world of fairies and elves through the year. Short poetic text graces expansive watercolor illustrations to weave magical scenes that touch upon the true magic of childhood. The reader is catapulted into a richly colored world full of animals and nature spirits as the Earth turns through her seasons. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig Reviewed by Claire Viadro, EWS Parent When I was first introduced to Nourishing Traditions, I was both tickled and intrigued by the forthright and provocative title. Upon reading the 60-page introduction, however, my understanding of nutrition was shaken to its foundations. With graduate degrees in public health, I had been trained in many of the firmly held tenets of the mainstream nutritional establishment (see www.mypyramid.gov if you are interested in the current version of “politically correct nutrition”). Nourishing Traditions boldly contradicts much of this canon and asserts that our bodies need “old-fashioned” animal fats as well as traditional foods that promote digestion and assimilation of nutrients. The book also promotes “ancient preservation methods” such as lacto-fermentation over newfangled food processing techniques, and supplies numerous scientific references to support its claims. Far more than a cookbook, Nourishing Traditions is the brainchild of Sally Fallon, founder and president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. (The Foundation’s informative website, www.westonaprice.org, is well worth a visit.) Weston A. Price was a dentist and “nutrition pioneer” who spent 10 years in the 1920s and ‘30s studying 14 isolated traditional societies around the globe in an effort to “establish the param- sense development in the early years, you can catch up by working with the book, Working with Anxious, Nervous, and Depressed Children by Henning Kohler. Kohler works out of an anthroposophical eters of human health and determine the optimum characteristics of human diets.” Dr. Price’s seminal book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, first published in 1939, provides convincing scientific and photo documentation that modern diets adversely affect both dental and overall health. And, as Ms. Fallon notes in the preface to Nourishing Traditions, many subsequent studies “have confirmed Dr. Price’s observations that the so-called civilized diet, particularly the Western diet of refined carbohydrates and devitalized fats and oils, spoils our God-given genetic inheritance of physical perfection and vibrant health.” Weighing in at nearly 700 pages, Nourishing Traditions has something for everyone. Following the lengthy introduction, which reviews and questions politically correct nutrition and defines basic nutrients ranging from fats to enzymes, the book travels through wide-ranging culinary terrain. In “Mastering the Basics,” Fallon provides easy-to-follow instruction on culturing, fermenting, sprouting, and making stocks and sauces. Subsequent chapters cover other basics: appetizers, soups, salads, main dishes, vegetables, grains, legumes, snacks, desserts, and beverages. I found the chapters on whole grains and breads to be particularly educational, because they make the key point that consumption of improperly prepared whole grains can have harmful consequences. As Fallon notes, when our ancestors ate whole grains, “they did not consume them…in the form of quick-rise breads, granolas and other hastily prepared casseroles and concoctions. Our ancestors…soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and casseroles” (p. 452). Continuing, Fallon explains that all grains contain phytic acid in the outer layer or bran, which can block the absorption of important minerals (including calcium and zinc) if the grains are not first soaked or fermented. A warning: Nourishing Traditions may be a challenging read for many people, including vegetarians, processed food aficionados, and adherents to low fat or other recent fad diets. At the time that the book entered my life, I was a vegetarian and had been one for most of my adult years, including during my first pregnancy. The book forced me to question my nutritional beliefs and ultimately led my family down a very different path. On the other hand, I find Nourishing Traditions very compatible Crispy Nuts Pecans and walnuts: Mix 4 cups pecan or walnut halves or pieces with 2 teaspoons sea salt and filtered water and soak in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight. Drain in a colander, spread nuts on a stainless steel baking pan, and place in a warm oven (no more than 150 degrees) for 12 to 24 hours, turning occasionally, until completely dry and crisp. Store in an airtight container. (Walnuts should be refrigerated.) Peanuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts, and whole or slivered almonds: Use instructions for pecans/walnuts but use 1 tablespoon sea salt. Hazelnuts will need to have the skins rubbed off. Nut butter: A delicious nut butter can be made with 2 cups crispy nuts, ¾ cup coconut oil, 2 tablespoons raw honey, and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Place nuts and salt in a food processor and grind to a fine powder. Add honey and coconut oil and process until “butter” becomes smooth. It will be somewhat liquid but will harden when chilled. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator but serve at room temperature. with the Waldorf “way of life,” through the book’s commonsense emphasis on whole and nourishing foods, back-to-basics food preparation, old-fashioned family meals, and support for local and organic farming. Insights: Issue 4, Spring 2006 Into Waldorf Education The Challenge of Math By Rob Rich, EWS High School Math teacher One of the most rewarding elements of teaching at the Emerson Waldorf School is having the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers. For the past three years I have been fortunate to be able to share the teaching of the eighth grade math track classes with the respective 8th grade class teachers – Mr. McDonald, Mr. Moyers, and Mr. Boesch. I have brought the perspective and experience of a high school math teacher and aerospace design engineer, and they have brought a knowledge of their students, of middle school math, and of middle school Waldorf pedagogy. Together, I believe we have provided the students with a firm foundation in Algebra. We use a highly-regarded Algebra I text that provides clear explanations of new concepts, a section of “oral exercises” that give students an opportunity to demonstrate the new skills ‘out loud’ in class, and three comprehensive sets of increasingly complex “written exercises”. When applicable, these exercises are followed by problems presented in text form (word problems) that must be translated into algebraic form before being solved. The math track classes meet four times per week throughout the year, and math homework is assigned three times per week. This year Mr. Boesch and I have implemented a “hybrid” grouping approach that has been used very successfully at other Page 5 Waldorf schools. In our application, two a four year institution. Our earlier use of the founders of Shodor, who is a former days per week the class is taught as one an Integrated Math Program curriculum research chemist. They combined the best group, and two days per week it is divided has been supplanted by a more traditional principles of Waldorf science education in half and taught separately by with techniques of computational myself and Mr. Boesch. In one science with great success. The I used to believe that the purpose of math was group, those students who can simply to develop student‛s thinking. I now see math high school is currently planning benefit from additional practice additional collaborative work with as a means to develop the whole human being--not with the new skills can engage the Shodor staff. just thinking, but also feeling and willing as well. in that work; and in the other Incidentally, four of our Good math students have not only developed their group, those students who are high school students are currently ability to think, but, in the feeling realm, they find ready for additional challenges apprentices in Shodor’s Information joy in learning and are able to overcome frustration, can go deeper into the material. Technology Certification Program. and, in the willing realm, they are determined, With this approach, by the end of hard workers. It is clear to me that developing After successful summer workshops the school year both groups will with Shodor in Computational the whole human being, is the key to solving many have covered the same Algebra Science, high school Juniors Alex of the problems in our world today. Mathematics topics, but at levels appropriate to education is part of that noble effort. Kesling, Kate Brady, and Molly their developmental readiness. Metz, and Freshman Sandy Jamie York, Making Math Meaningful This collaborative work grew Brady were accepted into this out of periodic meetings held between the progression that ranges from track classes of apprenticeship program. The program high school math teacher and the middle Algebra I - Part B, to Geometry, to Algebra provides enrichment opportunities for school class teachers during the 2004-2005 II, and finally Pre-Calculus in the 12th those students with a particular interest school year. At that time the participation grade. The main lesson blocks, one per year in computer modeling. The program, of the high school math teacher in the 8th from 9th through 12th are: Probability, which is underwritten by a $1 million grade math track classes had been working Trigonometry, (the very abstract) Projective National Science Foundation Grant, not successfully for over a year. This had, we Geometry, and Calculus. only trains the students in critical elements believe, added to the rigor of the math In addition, the high school is of information technology, but actually curriculum and begun to solidify the bridge currently working in partnership with the pays them moderate amounts of money between middle school math and high Shodor Educational Foundation. This non- for completing each of the seven blocks of school math. But beyond that, there was profit institution generates curricula that technical and interpersonal skills. a collective desire to see the varying levels blend mathematics, the physical sciences, We are excited about the growth and of student math readiness addressed in a and ‘computational science’ – a branch of strengthening of our math curriculum more targeted manner. This was the impulse computer science that precisely models at EWS, and we feel confident that our behind the “hybrid” approach. natural phenomena. Our chemistry teacher, students are benefiting from these changes. The high school math curriculum Linda Schmallbeck, taught her 12th grade We will try to keep you informed of further has been growing as well, even as the chemistry main lesson block this past fall developments as they occur. high school itself has been evolving into in conjunction with Bob Gotwals, one of Come Visit Emerson Waldorf School! You are cordially invited to any or all of the events below. Open House: April 4, Tuesday, 8:00 - 10:00 am May Faire: May 6, Saturday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Open House: May 2, Tuesday, 8:00 - 10:30 am Open House: June 6, Tuesday, 1:00 - 4:00 pm Tours arranged any morning R.S.V.P. to Matina Metz tel: 919-967-1858 ext. 14 fax: 919-967-2732 email: [email protected] Emerson Waldorf School, 6211 New Jericho Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 JUDY WEINSTOCK LICENSED REAL ESTATE BROKER • ABR, CRS, GRI “MakeASmart Move.” Call Toll Free 888 SEE JUDY (888 733 5839) E-mail me at [email protected] Visit my web site at www.judyweinstock.com Donating to EWS with every sale. Page 6 Insights: Into Waldorf Education Issue 4, Spring 2006 College and the Waldorf Graduate By Lorraine Davis, High School Guidance Counselor The process of college guidance is a partnership between the school, students, and parents. The primary goal is to help every student develop good options for life after high school. For almost all students, this involves creating several college options; for some, it will mean charting a ‘gap year’ course that may involve, travel, work, service, or some other opportunity for personal growth. The guidance process begins early in the 11th grade, providing a general framework for planning and a timeline to de-mystify the world of college admissions. We meet with parents and students to help them become familiar with the big picture -admissions’ terminology, standardized tests, financial aid, and our school’s role in the process. Planning for standardized tests is a critical piece to consider early in junior year. All students take the PSAT in the fall of junior year, here at EWS (some also take it earlier in high school). For some of our students this is the first standardized test they’ve taken. The PSAT does not affect college admissions, but it provides practice for the SAT, and very high test scores may qualify students for national merit scholarship eligibility. The SAT is the most common standardized test required for college admission. We offer an after-school preparation class for the SAT. Thus far, we have contacted with Study Works to provide this service at a discounted group rate. The 20 hour course is offered at EWS for a few weeks before a test date in the spring of the 11th grade. This prep course is not required, but most students find the guided, focused practice time valuable. Other standardized tests include the ACT and SAT II subject tests. Understanding testing requirements for each college of interest is crucial; good advance planning is essential to meet registration deadlines for individual tests. Other than the PSAT, EWS is not a testing site for standardized tests. Occasionally, we are asked whether Waldorf students are in any way disadvantaged by their inexperience with standardized tests. We think that we can offer substantial reassurance on this point. First, we have the experience of other Waldorf high schools, which have seen that their students have the same range of scores as do students from non-Waldorf schools. Second, we can look at the test scores of our first two classes, whose scores show that Waldorf students can do well, and excel, on these tests. Of course there will always be some students who shine in standardized tests, and others whose strengths do not show up through this format. Education about how these tests work is essential. For many students, learning and regular practice of certain strategies can improve their score. For example, careful management of time, to enable the student to answer all or almost all of the questions, can have an important positive impact on one’s score. One should also know that, while random guesswork rarely will improve a score, more targeted guessing usually will be beneficial. These test-taking tools are relatively simple and easy to learn. We recommend that students take the PSAT as a means of practicing these techniques, and that they take advantage of either our own or some other test-preparation service. However, both our own experience, and the experience of other Waldorf schools, indicates that there is no real advantage to having taken a large number of standardized tests; only a brief exposure to the “number two pencil” type of test is necessary to acquire the basic techniques. In spring of 11th grade, parents and students fill out questionnaires and meet with me to discuss their college preferences and concerns. This process helps me discern a student’s interests and whether parents and students are thinking along similar lines about college. It also begins to create a profile for each student to help us work together to create a first list of colleges that are good potential ‘matches’ for that student. The heart of the college guidance process is helping each student develop a plan to research colleges of interest. I am currently creating a small resource library of various college guides, college catalogues, and books such as The Fiske Guide to Colleges, Colleges that Change Lives, and Beyond the Ivy League. Students and parents have begun to utilize these guides, and to discover the multiple online resources available. Starting last year, in the spring of 2005, several college representatives have visited the high school to talk with students about their schools, and to learn about EWS. Visiting schools included NC State University, Duke University, Antioch College, Warren Wilson College, and Guilford College. Each year, the college guidance program will expand these visits, and build greater awareness of EWS in the world of college admissions. We also have taken students to visit nearby campuses, including Elon University and UNCGreensboro. Each year, we will continue to increase the scope of our trips to college campuses During October and November of senior year, the goal of the college guidance program is for seniors to have a solid “college list” (including likely, 50/50 and reach schools). Often campus visits are part of this research process, and we allow seniors to miss three days of school for college visits. Once schools are selected, the formal application process begins. We have a “kick off” pizza party in October with HS faculty and seniors, where we can share general advice on filling out applications and creating a portfolio. The college admissions process can be daunting and a bit isolating - we hope to counter that by doing some of the preliminary work together. Usually, the application process includes writing one or two personal essays. In the fall of senior year, our humanities teachers will be offering instruction and review for essay writing. We will also encourage our seniors to create a portfolio, which is a compilation of their best academic and artistic work, primarily from junior and senior years. This is not a formal portfolio like those required in an art school application. (Some students will apply to art schools; those portfolio requirements will be determined by individual colleges.) It is common for Waldorf students to create portfolios containing written and artistic work, with perhaps some lab experiments, and photographs of other kinds of work. Typically, it is about 8-10 pages long. Many colleges are now aware that portfolios often accompany applications from Waldorf students. Students also commonly bring the portfolio with them to college interviews. The portfolio can be a distinguishing feature of a Waldorf applicant and helps him or her to stand out among the hundreds or thousands of applicants to a college. It is the responsibility of the student and the parents to create the portfolio — the school is in a supportive role, helping to make sure the portfolio is representative of their best work. As in most schools, each student will have an official school transcript, which will be submitted with their application. Parents who have students in the lower school may not realize that in the high school, students continue to receive narrative reports, but they also receive letter for purposes of college applications, those letter grades are translated into a GPA (grade point average). The transcript shows the courses taken, the grades and credits received, and the conversion to GPA. Students who have attended another high school must also request formal transcripts from the other schools. Students will also ask specific teachers to write personal recommendations, I will write a counselor recommendation for each student application. Our high school profile must also accompany each application--a summary introduction to the philosophy and curriculum structure of the school. We also have a number of high school teachers who have a great deal of experience in the college world. They have written recommendations, which have helped students at other schools get into college. This experience can help teachers recommend good matches for a student’s needs and abilities. This is a strong advantage of a small school like ours--we have teachers who really know their students, and can offer personal advice unmatched by a very large high school. This is very helpful for students who may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of college choices. Our students will benefit from the closeness of their relationships with their teachers in the college admissions process, as they have throughout their education. Across the country, Waldorf schools are by now well known and very desirable to most colleges, Waldorf students have been accepted into every type of school. Of course every continued on page 11 “BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD” - Mahatma Ghandi grades. Additionally, ��� ������������������������� for businesses that make the world better 919 834 5484 thechangestrategy.com Insights: Issue 4, Spring 2006 Into Waldorf Education Page 7 West Meets East by David Nikias, EWS 7th grade teacher For over ten years I have taught adolescents in a Waldorf school and had the very good fortune to spend much of the 2004-2005 school year teaching in south India. In fact, I declined a position at EWS to pursue the opportunity. With my 14year-old son, I lived and worked in three cities, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, (Bombay), each of which is recognizably different in their cultural makeup. To be sure there are many differences between our two countries, and on an almost a daily basis, I found myself scratching my head in an attempt to understand the cultural nuances of this magical and mysterious country. Traveling always tests and stretches us in interesting ways. In India one must adapt on many levels at once, for daily life can be initially incomprehensible to the uninitiated westerner, and even ways of being a human being and a part of society can seem so very contrary and confusing to our linear thinking. So, as a teacher, I was most interested in what the children would be like and how the Waldorf curriculum would meet their needs. What I found in India were recognizably “normal” kids, early teens who are boisterous, energetic, playful, and at times, a bit rebellious, as well as challenged with the anxieties, social pressures, and questions which we view as typical of the age. The religious upbringing of these children was varied and although predominantly my students were Hindus, every one of my classes also included Muslims and Christians. Their economic backgrounds were also varied but comparable and even proportionate to the children I have taught in U.S. Waldorf schools in California and here in North Carolina. So, these children came from rather privileged homes, practiced different spiritual paths and led lives which were surprisingly similar to american children in many ways, including media consumption. However, despite many similarities mainly in the reflection of the personal challenges of their developmental stage, these children were remarkably different from the children to whom I am accustomed to teaching. What I was met with in Indian Waldorf schools was essentially the same in every instance, adolescents who were still young of soul, consistently very respectful, and actively interested, eager, and hard working in their studies. Of course, not all the children were “golden”, but by far, these were the qualities which dominated the mood of the classroom. Certainly, these are qualities which we find in our own classrooms, but in my experience, these virtues and characteristics are not as common as we might wish and I have observed a significant increase in behaviors and attitudes which should be of concern to us all. Often, american students are challenged with basic social skills particularly in the expression of simple courtesy and gratitude, display an increasingly combative attitude and a lack of boundaries with regards to social and classroom propriety, are increasingly difficult to motivate, and can be significantly challenged with listening skills and a willingness to apply themselves objectively with care and effort. While these qualities and attitudes are generally not severe in our own community (and when they do arise they are consciously the lookout for rascally behavior and the teenage bad attitude with which we are so familiar. I must confess that none of the responses to my questions were satisfactory and I never encountered, with any note, the behaviors or the attitudes to which I have referred. So, just what is so different here? I cannot pretend to have the answers and can only reflect on my observations. In India it is the family which holds society together and it matters not whether the family is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, or Buddhist. The country struggles with profound challenges for the system is bursting at the seams with unchecked growth and a ballooning population puts tremendous strain on the supporting infrastructure and any potential services, particularly in the urban centers. It is the family which provides the individual with a “safety net” most clearly apparent in times of hardship whether it is personal injury, unemployment, or the eventuality of old age. It is very common for three or more generations to live together in the same household and there is a clearly defined hierarchy where the elders are unquestioningly respected and honored. The elders are a connection to the past, one’s roots, and in short, families stick together. It is only with the rapid modernization of today that individuals have begun to move long distances from their extended families, but even then regular communication and visits are the norm. I believe that the essential point here is that one’s extended family provides a foundation for the individual, a basis from which to grow, develop, and mature. There are complicated issues of equality with the traditions of the caste system which are still active and the distinctly different roles which men and women play within the family and in society generally are not what we would find to be acceptable. While the traditionalists can from our perspective be quite oppressive to women, such limitations and inequalities are not compatible with the modernization of Indian society; therefore, if the family can afford it most girls who have passed their exams go on to college and successful careers. The old order is changing but like all cultural ideas, change can be very slow in coming. Such inequalities and injustices, which seem so prominent to us, are greatly overshadowed by the issue of wealth. It is hard for us to fully comprehend the masses of underprivileged, underemployed, continued on page 11 and compassionately addressed), they do point to something which requires greater attention. My intention is not to be an alarmist nor to be overly negative, but such observations do call up questions about cultural differences, the effects of our permissive society, and perhaps even some aspects of how we raise our children. What is it in the Indian culture that encourages and raises young people with many characteristics and attributes that appear to be on the decline in our own culture, one might even say, qualities which seem to have been lost with the 50’s and 60’s? I asked this very question of numerous people while in country and I was constantly on Biodynamic Agriculture By Jon Lyerly Biodynamic agriculture or biodynamics is a method of farming and gardening that originated in the 1920’s in central Europe. It developed from a series of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, a gifted scientist, philosopher and spiritual researcher. Through detailed observations of nature, clear and objective thinking and spiritual insights, Dr. Steiner was able to give details of how to best build up fertile soil, enhance plant and animal life and increase the quality of our food. These improvements have been born out on biodynamic farms and gardens over the last 80+ years. Various comparative studies of biodynamic, organic and chemically grown plants and produce have likewise shown the beneficial effects of biodynamic practices. Biodynamic agriculture is similar in many ways to organic methods. Both use composting and cover cropping instead of mineral fertilizers. Both ban the use of pesticides, herbicides and other poisons. Neither use hormones or antibiotics on livestock. However, biodynamics differs from organics in several ways. The first is the idea of the farm as a living being, an individual entity that should be as self-sufficient as possible. For example, on a biodynamic farm this would lead to establishing the proper number of animals necessary to satisfy that farm’s fertility needs without importing manure. The second difference from organics is the recognition of cosmic influences as well as earthly influences on plant growth. The earthly factors (water, temperature, soil chemistry, etc.) are rightly acknowledged by modern science. However the forces streaming in from the cosmos are equally as important for healthy plant development. The sun’s effects are obvious and the moon’s influences (i.e. increased germination rates sowing near full moon) are slowly being accepted as fact as it was in olden times. There are also many other forces coming in from the periphery as all of the heavenly bodies and even the starry constellations play their part in nature here on earth. Just as we would take into account not only the compass needle and its properties but also the entire magnetic field of the earth when considering how a compass works, we must look down on earth and up above in order to better understand nature and improve our agricultural practices. A third departure from organic agriculture is the use of the biodynamic preparations. These preparations make use of the unique qualities of specific herbs as well as certain animal organs. Each preparation works in its own way to aid plant growth. They undergo a potentizing (almost a composting) process and the result is highly energized substance containing beneficial forces. The preparations are then applied homeopathically (finely diluted) either directly in compost piles or used as field sprays. The use of these preparations aids in germination, photosynthesis, the forming of extensive root structure and increased nutrient absorption. This leads to healthier plants, thus more nutritious produce with longer storage capacity. Biodynamics is, in a nutshell, making use of forces in nature through substance. These forces are very real even though modern science has no names for them as it does for the forces of gravity, magnetism and so on. Every activity in nature from germination to seed formation and all in between could not happen without forces at work. Biodynamics strives to understand the interaction of these forces and influences between the natural world and its greater surroundings and apply this knowledge in agricultural practices. For more information about biodynamic agriculture, go to…. www.biodynamics.com www.jpibiodynamics.org www.attra.org/attra-pub/biodynamic/html www.biodynamic.org.uk/ Infinity Farm is a local biodynamic farm located in northern Orange County. A wide variety of biodynamic vegetables, herbs, flowers and strawberries are available from May to November. For more info go to www. infinityfarm.org or contact Jon Lyerly at infi[email protected] or 919.732.8542. Insights: Into Waldorf Education Page 8 Animals and Saints: Second Grade with Ms. Holley The second in our annual series, following Ms. Holley’s class in their journey through the Grades, as told to our Insights reporter. First Grade is the year of wonder and joy, the year of the Fairy Tale. Second Grade is the year of polarities, thus we bring the stories of the Saints and the Animal Fables. There are great polarities in the animal fables: the cat and the mouse, the tortoise and the hare. It is often a great surprise to find out which animal prevails. This is a wonderful lesson for the children. I started with the Fables of La Fontaine and Aesop. Then we did Asian fables - the sources are limitless. We learn a lot from the characters of the animals, even a lot about ourselves. For the children’s birthdays this year I have created little books for them out of watercolor paintings. The first page is an animal totem verse I write for them, and the children love to guess what animal I’ve chosen for each child. For the Stories of the Saints, I started with Christian saints, and then went on to Buddhist and Hindu saints. The final saint block will be living saints. I think it is really important for the children to understand that there are saints walking among us now, and that each person holds the quality of a saint within them. We don’t always exercise it, but it’s definitely part of who we are. I really want them to hold that within themselves. For our Arithmetic, we practice the four processes. The key to 2nd grade is repetition, repetition, repetition. The children know that ‘Practice makes perfect’ is one of my favorite sayings. Last year we had the story of the gnomes who had gone to the ocean to count shells. This year their wise, wise King noticed that the gnomes were becoming confused by counting all those shells. He built a lovely wooden shelf with three sections to help them. The children put the single shells in the first section. When they have counted ten shells, they put them in a pouch in the second section. When there were 10 pouches, they put the pouches in a basket in the third section. In this way we introduce place value. We’re still really living into that: we are learning and practicing how a number such as 324, can be 3 baskets, 2 pouches, and 4 individual shells. We are also taking the 324 shells and separating them into two different numbers: always starting with the whole and going to the part. We have done a lot of writing this year. We started by sharing colored pencils, as we shared crayons last year. For St. Nicholas day the children each received a wooden box with 8 colored pencils to use for their writing. We are working with word families, introduced through stories. For instance, I told them the story of a very frail snail, who left a trail. We draw a picture of this snail and its very faint trail behind him, and then we write those words in our word family book. We have also started writing books. In November, we wrote a book called The Case of the Missing Blue Putty. The story arose from the fact that, whenever I tried to hang paintings on the wall, they would fall. I finally discovered a kind of blue putty that would keep the pictures on the wall, but then the putty kept disappearing. What a mystery!! Recently, we created a little book about St. Valentine. We have started reading together as a class, beginning with the book, Hay For My Ox. In January there were some children who had no concept of where we were on the page, whatsoever, and there were other children who could already read, and who followed right along. Now, in mid-February, all the children know what line we’re on, and what word we’re on. They may not know what the word is, but they know that’s the word we’re on. So there has been amazing growth in that area. We do this for ten minutes a day. It’s the same way with the pentatonic flutes - their playing has grown tremendously, their flexibility and dexterity with their fingers. We continue to sing our way through the day. Most of my cues are given via song. When it’s time to start cleaning up, a certain song will come. We have many days in which we move all the desks back and all our work is in the middle of the room - whether it’s the material for arithmetic, or whether we are acting out the stories of the saints. Main Lesson involves, of course, the Main Lesson book, where the images are brought alive, but also the physical experience. At the beginning of the year, to start the day, we drew pictures in our Wonder Book. I saw this as an early morning activity, which would allow the children to express whatever they had been holding since the previous day. When I reviewed these drawings it gave me wonderful insight into what each child was experiencing. I started by providing the drawing, and then began let them do their own drawings. However, I began to find that the children would rush through. They were driven to produce quantity rather than quality. Some children wanted to do 2 or 3 drawings, but the drawings were not really alive. I found myself really struggling to slow the children down. In our second grade year, we are beginning to feel the effects of media exposure and over-activity. I see the children challenged with impatience, and struggles to express themselves with creativity that comes Form Drawing from within. I think this is a symptom of too much stimulation from the outside world: after-school activities, soccer games, ice skating with loud music, family dances on Friday after a whole week at school, birthday parties - all these influences are seeping into the children’s lives. What each child does has an effect on the whole class - they bring these influences into the class as a whole. Second grade is hard. We are having conversations about all these issues, and parents have very different viewpoints. It’s not the fairy tale land any more. Social preferences are emerging, and hard social lessons are coming in. Their eyes are beginning to open. We have a large class of 26, which is a little microcosm of the social world, and conflicts arise. This is sometimes hard for us, as parents and teachers, to embrace. Our children very much manifest our struggles, and it is hard for us to recognize this. We all, as parents, need to ask them- Issue 4, Spring 2006 The Wolf and the Crane selves, what do we want from Waldorf Education? We should ask this question anew every year. Some parents in my class have put together a survey, which touches social issues, the curriculum and household culture, so that we can all know where we are coming from. This was handed out in our Feb. parent meeting, and we will discuss the results in our March meeting. I have put the Wonder Books aside for now, and as our early morning activity we do seasonal projects, such as necklace and bracelet making, candles, leaf plaques from leaves we collect on our nature walks, candle holders, lanterns - the children love these. In the early morning, it gets them into their hands, into their limbs, and brings their creativity from within. They share in the set up and the clean up. This has been wonderful for them in the morning. Then we prepare for our morning circle, which either takes place outside on the field, or the basketball court, or in the Eurythmy room if the weather is cold or rainy. Our Morning Circles are always very lively and physical: running, jumping, skipping. We do various different types of tumbling exercises, which carry the feeling of different animals: cartwheels for crabs, etc. And always lots of jump roping. On Mondays, we come together in the Eurythmy room with the rest of the lower school, Grades 1-4 to sing a few songs and hear a story from a teacher. Ms. Callaway continues to allow me to be part of the children’s Eurythmy class - a real treat for me and for the children! I feel that leading by example is one of the best gifts we can give to our children. My love for Eurythmy, as well as my struggles alongside them, is a wonderful dynamic, unique to the EWS tradition. We continue with our hikes through the campus forest. The children absolutely love it. We hike down the trail past the kindergarten and take the trail that doubles back to the border of the campus property. There are all kinds of fallen trees that we scale and shimmy. We walk over tree bridges. Watching them helps me to see where each child is, on a particular day. These hikes also build appreciation of the children for each other, and brings the class together. I hear the children expressing appreciation: “Wow, Alice went all the way to the end of that tree trunk!! She’s the only one that went all the way!!” and, “Look at Benner, he’s hanging from the tree! Only Benner would hang from the tree!” It’s really fun, and builds appreciation in a way that doesn’t happen in play alone. We gave the fairy meadow over to the 1st graders this year, and moved to the area next to the Woodland shop. It’s much more of a forest than the fairy meadow, and that has been good for them. We are looking at projects to improve the area. Starting in January we began making soup on Fridays. Parents send in the ingredients, and we cut the vegetables and cook it. We also make biscuits. They love this. For the first time this calendar year, 2006, I’ve been able to leave half of them in the classroom working on things, and be with the other half in the kitchen. This shows a wonderful, mutual trust has developed. This summer I went over to the Farm, and Suzanna Hough graciously gave me a complete tour. Now, our class goes to the Farm and we do what I call “chicken observation”. It’s a kind of role reversal. We sit on the outside of the chicken coop and the chickens observe us. It’s phenomenal what the chickens will do when we sit there quietly. There are a couple of rabbits over there, and a horse - different things that we find and enjoy. This is my way to introduce them to the Farm, and lead into our farming curriculum for next year. I’ve been in conversation with Robert Long and John Lyerly, and we want to really bring the Farm alive, and make it an integral part of our Farming and Gardening studies. Second Grade is a year of polarities, in each child and in the class as a whole. The children still have one foot in Fairytale Land, but one foot is creeping outwards towards the world. Some of the children are more awake and some are still dreamy. Second Grade is also a year of tremendous growth. The children’s skills are growing daily as we continue on our path together. I have seen that in all areas, from jump roping, to reading, to drawing, to flute playing, to fitting into the play structure perch for afternoon reading! EWS Board Members President: Dee Anne Lamb Vice President: Rich Schmalbeck Treasurer: Bob Durovich Secretary: Alice Armstrong Joyce Felder Amy Knight Ingeborg Boesch Nick Meyers Gart Davis Tobi Reil (Parent Rep) Edward Schuldt (ex officio) Administration Director of Administraton: Edward Schuldt Enrollment Coordinator: Matina Metz Business Coordinator: Kim Anderson Receptionist: Benjamin Trueblood Facility Manager: Tom Wright High School Coordinator: Lorraine Davis HS Receptionist: Bri Godwin Insights: Issue 4, Spring 2006 Into Waldorf Education Page 9 Handwork through the Grades continued from page 1 so I tell a story about a little birch tree that wanted to come inside and see what was happening. When this tree is turned into knitting needles the plain wooden needles they are making can have more of a connection to their feelings and imagination. We try to keep the children’s natural feelings for reverence, wonder and awe in all that we bring to them. This keeps the knitting needles from just being something abstract, for drumming on the table or poking your neighbor We do a verse at the beginning of every class, to bring a moment of stillness and reverence--at least I aim for that. Then we do some finger exercises to wake up the fingers, as we recite poems that have something to do with knitting or handwork. Repetition is important: we do it over and over and over again. Interestingly, I have seen these same finger exercises used in screening for learning disabilities. We start with something very simple, like a square. They work very hard, and we always have the problem of some finishing before the others. I give the quicker ones extra projects to do. There is always a spread of abilities in each class but that’s ok, as long as each does his or her best. I don’t point out their mistakes to them at the beginning of first grade because I want them to have enthusiasm for the work and if they are too concerned about their mistakes they will get stalled. Towards the end of first grade and in 2nd grade, they can become more responsible for their mistakes, for recognizing them and fixing them Then we add a skill, so that after the square we do a flute bag, which changes colors. They have to count their stitches and count their rows. They learn to cast on, cast off, change colors, thread a needle, sew up the edge, knit holes. Everything I teach, I teach with a picture, with the imagination. It makes me slow down as an adult, and look at what I am actually doing, every little step. So when we knit, for example, we sing “In through the front door, run around the back, out through the front door, off jumps Jack.” I introduce knitting with stories: the third son of the king had to go through 20 archways, (20 stitches on the needle), and get a red apple and bring it out to tame the dragon. There is a picture of going in through an arch, which is what the stitch looks like, getting something red which is the color of the yarn, and going out. In 2nd grade we finish the flute bags, and then we do animals and gnomes, something they can love and play with. Animals are linked to the animal fables they are hearing in main lesson. The gnome is used to introduce purling, as the face needs to be smooth. In 3rd grade we do crocheting. This is the year of farming, the year of landing on earth, and so everything is very practical: potholders and blankets and little mats to put under flowers or candles. We crochet squares, octagons, pentagons--a foretaste of geometry, without putting a name to it. As they study housing, we make a hat, which is like a little house for the head. We talk about color, asking, what color would keep your warmth in? We give colors purpose. We would avoid the yarn that changes color randomly, because we want the choice of color to be conscious rather than random. We also do a little carding and spinning in 3rd grade, which ties in to their farming block. In 4th grade, we do cross stitch and embroidery. Now instead of a long continuous tread, you are working with shorter threads, and with a needle. We felt a ball and do chain stitch embroidery on it. When you are knitting, once you start a row, there is a lot of repetition, and you can get very dreamy. In 4th grade we start to require the children to be much more awake. With cross stitch and embroidery, almost every stitch you have to make a decision: am I too far, too close? When you make decisions, it wakes up the intellect. When you make decisions that are connected through your feelings towards something beautiful you are making, you are connecting the head and the heart, the morality and the thinking of the human being. 4th grade is also the year in which the right and left sides of the brain are starting to make connections. It is the year of crossing: in Eurythmy, in form drawing, in cross stitch, we cross, cross, cross in 4th grade. In Handwork, we do the kind of cross stitch in which you have to cross every stitch every time-you don’t do a whole row of left stitches and then go back and do the right stitches. We also work on the color and design following the function, through stories. We make the embroidered ball, and the design on the ball is swirly as the ball is round, and rolls. The zippered pencil case, which children continue to use in the upper grades, has a design to show its use. 5th grade is back to knitting, and we do socks. This is a time when they are really crossing from childhood into adolescence, and they have all this stuff swirling around them. Sometimes they act like teenagers, and then they turn back into children again. This is reflected beautifully in the process of knitting on four needles. There are four needles all trying to get in your way and going in different directions. You have to focus on one stitch at a time and ignore that other mess that is hanging out there trying to confuse you. Through rhythm and repetition, going round and round, and through concentration, you can bring all this into order. It’s an incredible picture of the emerging adolescent. Of course it’s also something very practical, something to put on their feet, not their heads, and it’s warm. There is also a lot of engineering involved. A few years ago one of the boys said to his Mom “I really like the engineering of the sock.” How can you do these strange things with knit stitches to make this beautiful turning of the heel? You have to do it with complete lack of understanding--you really can’t understand it until you’ve done it. It teaches trust to the children who want to think about things-trust in going ahead and doing something you don’t know how to do. It teaches industry. In 6th grade we make animals-when we are truly being adolescents, we make animals. The children choose an animal. First they draw it, which is a feat in and of itself, and then we make a pattern. How do you take this two-dimensional pattern and turn it into a three dimensional form? It takes a flexible kind of thinking, to put your imagination around the back side of an animal’s leg and think about what kind of fabric would need to be there. We’re working with circumference and diameter, in a concrete way, before they get to it in Geometry. We stuff the animal from the inside out, while in Woodwork, in 6th grade, they are carving from the outside in. This is the perfect picture of the adolescent: things coming from the inside out--emotions and hormones--and from the outside in, as they are waking up to the world. So in Handwork and Woodwork, we provide a picture of what is happening to them developmentally. In 7th grade we make dolls. The children are becoming citizens, and are really awake to the world around them. In their academic curriculum, they are studying the Age of Exploration, and coming to understand the human being on this planet. They choose a country, research and design an outfit from that country, and make their dolls and their doll’s clothing from that country. This year, Kathleen Stone-Michaels is also doing puppetry with them. Other years we have done other extra projects, such as felting, but the basis of the 7th grade handwork curriculum is doll-making. In 8th grade we do machine sewing. We use treadle sewing machines, and start by studying the mechanics of the machine--we take it apart, we clean it, we put it back together. Our first project, the First grader’s handwork bags requires fairly simple construction, and it is nice to give something to the first grade. We then learn to use a commercial pattern and the electric sewing machine. We measure the body, at the same time that they are studying anatomy. We have a wonderful time with the 8th graders in their body measurement sessions! We make pajama bottoms--they are very popular. The students go out and choose their own fabric. While they are studying the Modern World in their academic curriculum, they can even use fabric with modern images like Coca Cola on it! Our Handwork curriculum continues into High School, but I don’t teach there. The general rule is that teachers in the Lower School are generalists, but in the High School you want to bring in specialists, who are experts in their field. Therefore experts teach the Handwork blocks- the students learn from an actual working artist. There could be a potter to teach pottery and a weaver to teach weaving. Some of the blocks are electives, and may include spinning and weaving, batik, basket making, pottery, bookbinding or felting. In modern life, children have fewer opportunities for meaningful practical activities. Our society, and our children, have lost the benefits of ‘learning by making’. The Waldorf handwork curriculum steps in to fill that gap, by enabling children to have the healthy experience of making real things that serve real needs, while at the same time developing their thinking and understanding. It is a fundamental aspect of the Waldorf approach to learning through doing. Page 10 Adolescence as a Journey Insights: Into Waldorf Education Issue 4, Spring 2006 continued from page 1 literature Main Lesson Blocks is Homer’s Odyssey. Through this book, the students get a sense of the journey they are starting, an overview of the great journey of life. The book has wonderful characters that embrace all the passions of humanity. I have the students get inside the characters by writing monologues for the characters and new scenes--things that aren’t in the text. The other Literature Main Lesson Block in 10th grade is Poetry. We do what I call ‘coming to the surface’. In 9th grade, when we read poetry, we concentrate on the meaning of the words, but in 10th grade we look at the Word itself. We look at poetry as an integration of sound and sense, how it is structured, the meter and orchestration of a poem, the sounds, and how thoughts become embodied in sound. I focus particularly on the Romantics and the transition that happened in the 19th century with the Romantics in England and Whitman and the transcendentalists in America. Until this time, language was used in a glorified way, in the honoring of heroes and gods and kings. With the Romantics, poetry began to talk about common everyday things. We are still living with this, very democratic, transition. In the 10th grade track classes, we spend about a third of the year on the Bible as literature. We want the students to experience some of the background to literature and art, to have their bearings in both the Old and New Testaments. We give them the story of Moses, David, Job, some of the prophets, the gospels, Paul, and some of the apocalyptic books if we have time. The rest of the year we read various novels, most touching on the theme of coming of age. This year we read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. It’s a great book for 10th grade--it raises all the contemporary issues of race and class, but it’s also a wonderful coming of age story. I also like to read The Robber Bridegroom, by Eudora Welty, because it’s a play on folk tales, and I can’t resist that in a Waldorf school. In 11th grade we have Main Lesson blocks in Dante, Parsival and Shakespeare. Whereas the theme of 10th grade is the Outward Journey of life, the theme of 11th grade is the Inward Journey. For this inward journey, you have to go down. As Dante shows us, you have to go to hell first. You have to face the raw material of your existence--all the transgressions we are all prone to. Once you climb down, you can then go back up the mountain of Purgatory, which is where the characters transform themselves. And finally Dante comes to Paradise, and we see the opportunity for earthly paradise as well. We have the good fortune to do Dante in a 4 week main lesson block, so we read all three books in their entirety. Parsival is the perfect book for the journey of 11th grade. Parsival tells the story of three knights--the knight who represents thinking qualities, the one who represents heart qualities, and the knight who represents the Will. Each of these knights goes on a journey. The foolish knight has to learn to think less foolishly, but then also has to connect his thinking to his heart. The knight of the heart has to go from his tumultuous emotional life to a fixed point of devotion, and the third knight, the man of action, who is really heroic, is transformed through commitment to faith. It is a beautiful book, mirroring the phenomenal journey that we go on. Spend a Weekend in the Mountains Besides its well-known ski area, Wintergreen Mountain Resort boasts horseback riding trails, six swimming pools, two championship golf courses, a top-ranked tennis program, a mountain biking area, and an extensive spa and fitness center. Or, you can do what we do ignore all that, relax in the beautiful mountains, splash in a stream, and hike along the Old Appalachian Trail. Only a three-hour drive from Chapel Hill, our house is ten minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway and barely an hour from Charlottesville and Monticello. Our first weekend at Wintergreen, we fell in love with the area. Now we have a house on a mountain stream, and we go there every chance we get. See www.magic-river.com for more details, and EWS COMMUNITY MEMBERS TAKE 10% OFF THE PRICES because we’d love to keep it in the community as much as possible. Come share our dream vacation home! -Kenny, Joyce, Mary, Benjamin, Jackie and Shannon Felder There is lots of alchemy in it, and lots of alchemic sayings, such as “Make haste slowly” and “the volatile becomes fixed and the fixed, volatile” (feeling becomes devotion and rigidity of thinking becomes compassion). Finally, we read Shakespeare. In the Renaissance we begin to see how to put all this together. The great theme of the Renaissance is The Prince. “The Prince” is not just a very good person, but someone who can integrate it all. My example last year for the students was Prince Hal, who spent his early years with Falstaff, being an incorrigible youth, and then developing, through the seamier side of life, a real compassion. In 11th grade, since they are doing American History as a history track class, we read a lot of American literature in the literature track class: we read Scarlet Letter, Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, etc. They love this. Last year we also read Damian by Herman Hesse, and it was amazing. Two days into it, and students came from other classes into my class to participate in the discussions. I found it was the perfect preparation for Parsival. We also read Great Expectations around Christmas time, simply because I couldn’t resist, and Jane Eyre. Basically, in the track classes we read the classics and do a lot of writing. In 12th grade there is a real turning outward to the world. The question that comes up in 11th grade, in Parsival, is “how can I serve? How can I help?” Parsival asks the ailing Grail King, “Uncle, what ails you?” but within that question is, “How can I be of service?” In 12th grade, we help the student to turn outward to the world and discover what it means to serve, what it means to engage in the struggles of the world. Our two literature Main Lesson Blocks cover Transcendentalism, and Faust. Faust is the great myth in which the character makes a pact with the Devil-- as long as he’s striving, he can continue to live. In Faust, we deal with the transformation of evil and we even get a sense of the appeal of evil. Sometimes Faust behaves despicably-you want him to be taken away. But he’s still striving, he’s still trying to work with the world. Sometimes that means engaging with the forces of darkness, and sometimes you have to learn to transform these forces, too. Faust is a picture of how, through Man’s striving, through his efforts, he’s ultimately redeemed. It’s a great work to direct students towards the rest of their lives: how to strive throughout their lives, to know that they are going to confront difficulties, and be drawn into darkness, but they still can continue to strive to do more and better. When I was working in Mime Theater, I had a great Director, who taught us an important lesson. You may come into life being good at certain things, being talented at acting, for instance, and then just lean on your strengths. But if you do, you will never be a creative human being. You will only be a creative human being if you strive to do tomorrow what you can’t do today. That’s also part of the lesson of Faust. He strives. He doesn’t always do the right thing, in fact he sometimes does the absolutely wrong thing. The students hate the character of Faust at moments, but they still know that the striving is what is important. That is a lesson, which stays with them for the rest of their lives. Issue 4, Spring 2006 Insights: College and the Waldorf Graduate continued from page 6 individual student’s own individual academic performance is the most critical factor, but many colleges actively seek Waldorf graduates. Colleges recognize that these are students who have had a broad and deep exposure to a very well established, rigorous curriculum that encompasses significant experience in practical and artistic work. Many students and parents may not realize how competitive the college admissions process has become. Today, there are many more applicants than when most of us went to college. Admissions’ GENERAL TIMETABLE FOR COLLEGE ADMISSIONS’ PROCESS officers state that they are looking for a distinguishing characteristic in applicants. There are many students who have a 4.5 GPA and who have taken 14 AP classes. Colleges are hoping to find something in a student’s application that sets him or her apart, and which says that the student can contribute positively to the college. Often, the fact that a student is from a Waldorf school, or their portfolio, can contribute to this aspect of an application. We are lucky, as we graduate our first senior class, that we do not have to start from the beginning to establish a reputation as a Waldorf high school. Our students will be recognized as coming from an educational system, which is international and well established. south India, I was immediately struck by the genuine enthusiasm and love that the students, parents, and teachers had for their school, the curriculum, and it’s methods (definitely a very different mood from what I experienced at the mainstream schools). For the Waldorf students, their school experience is not only less stressful, but richer and fuller than those of their mainstream peers even though basic classroom materials and facilities are very far from ideal. The students are active participants in the process of learning, not passive recipients, and they are called upon to fully engage themselves by calling upon capacities and developed skills to create something for and out of themselves. They see that these are the qualities which will secure a meaningful and successful future for themselves and their families. It truly is about cultural renewal. These aspects of Indian culture- the touchstone of the family as a source of individual development, the relatively recent rise of the middle class and the appreciation of privileges, as well as the drive for academic excellence are all significant points in an attempt to understand Indian adolescents, but there is one other point which I feel is perhaps even more significant. India is essentially a modest society and the interaction between men and women has thousands of years of tradition guiding it, much of which lives strongly today. Ways in which men and women express their affections such as holding hands or kissing in public, which we find so very commonplace and even harmless, are not to be found in India. Displays of affection such as kissing are not even allowed in films (which are astoundingly popular and an essential part of the culture). The lack of such behavior publicly does not mean that it is an oppressively prudish society, but rather as a people, they do not revel in the animalistic urges to which we seem to be addicted. A visit to any number of temples or a perusal of numerous ancient texts will clearly demonstrate that this is a society which acknowledges that sensuality and sexuality are an essential part of the human experience. The difference is that this aspect of the human being is seen within a larger context. It is but a part of the rich fullness of life and not a defining element, not an aspect which articulates our identity and from which a deeper meaning is derived. Although it is changing with the rapid westernization within Indian society, Indian children are not bombarded with the same kinds of messages which glorify sexual promiscuity and in the same breath condemn it. In short, for Indian youth, the level of stimulation and exposure to what are considered private, adult activities is far less than what we have come to accept as normal. The same could be said with regards to violence and the ho-hum attitude we have towards it. The exposure to violent images or activities such as laser tag, gun play, or even a tolerance for the glorification of violence is amazingly different in India. These astral influences on our children should not be underestimated for it robs them of something which can never be regained, the innocence of their childhood. So, although I have painted a fairly glowing picture, India is far from an ideal society and these are at best the observations of a reasonably informed West Meets East continued from page 7 and underfed people in India. We are an extremely wealthy people with too little awareness of our exaggerated materialism and disproportionate affluence. Our casual consumption of unnecessary material things is grossly out of proportion with our actual need and the effect, the ultimate cost to the planet, our limited resources, and even other peoples is poorly understood by most westerners. Although we may appear to be spoiled by our affluence, the middle class Indian family struggling to get ahead is very aware of the privileges which they enjoy and the possibility of losing them is much greater, the stakes are much higher. They do very well with much less than we are accustomed to, avoid accumulating large debts, and often take great pride in their accomplishments which may seem quite modest through our “rose colored” glasses. It was my impression that they not only had a much greater appreciation of their privileges but were more diligent in maintaining them for themselves and their families by encouraging habits of frugality, saving, and at times sacrifice to ensure a more comfortable future. In their situation education is the key. It is the ticket to a better life and Indians fully appreciate the power and opportunities that come with a solid, meaningful education on an individual scale and a national scale. Through education this young nation can enter into the emerging global economy and individuals can take on greater responsibility and improve their personal lives. Consequently, mainstream schools push students very hard with an accelerated syllabus, intensive testing, and tremendous pressure to excel. In short, children are stressed for they are academically pushed harder and faster with harsher consequences for failure or poor performance than those we face here. In the Waldorf schools in Page 11 Into Waldorf Education Fall, Junior Year – Take PSAT Spring, Junior Year – Take SAT and/or ACT (consider prep class) Begin preliminary college research Fill out questionnaires and have guidance interview Consider making college visits (generally, the most productive visits are when school is in session) Fall, Senior Year – Finalize list Take additional tests, as needed for schools of interest Fill out guidance questionnaires Develop list of range of colleges Make college visits Ask teachers to write recommendations Fill out applications and write essays Give complete information to guidance counselor to mail with school transcripts ...all in time to meet your deadlines! outsider. These points and observations are specifically relative to my questions about the differences between the adolescents of our respective countries. So, just what is it that makes these young people so different? Why are they consistently more respectful and more responsible than their american counterparts? Is it connected to the astral influences in their lives? The strength of the hierarchical family in society? The dispersal of wealth? Is it a combination of these? None of these? Is it connected to more clearly defined expectations of behavior and attitude? How can we encourage greater responsibility and more respect from our own children? At this point, I could begin to draw conclusions and make some definitive statement but this is a temptation that I shall resist. Although my insights are far from complete, space does not allow me to elaborate for these are broad, complex issues and there are no easy answers. It is enough to simply share some of my observations and pose questions. Festival Cake A recipe for celebration at the Morning Song Nursery Wet Ingredients: 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup honey 1-2/3 cups vanilla yogurt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Dry Ingredients: 4 cups pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Mix the dry ingredients in a second bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13-inch pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired, or serve with fresh whipped cream and fruit and... CELEBRATE! Gingerbread Cookies Yummy cookies from the kitchen of the Acorn to Oak Nursery 3 cups whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon alspice 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses 1 egg Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine wet ingredients and add dry ingredients to wet. Refrigerate dough until firm. Roll out dough and cut into shapes. Bake on oiled/ buttered pan for 8 minutes. Waldorf Education Assoc. of N. Carolina Emerson Waldorf School 6211 New Jericho Road Chapel Hill, NC 27516 Insights: Into Waldorf Education Issue 4 Spring 2006 A publication of Emerson Waldorf School Insights Staff: Alice Armstrong, Kimberly Harry, Kim Moore, Alyson Ramesh Staff Advisor: Edward Schuldt Visit our web site at www.emersonwaldorf.org. Submissions are welcome and encouraged. If you know someone who would like to receive our publication, or if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please contact us. Direct communications to: Insights at Emerson Waldorf School 6211 New Jericho Road Chapel Hill, NC 27516 (919)967-1858 Or, online: [email protected] Insights is a semi-annual publication of the Emerson Waldorf School. The purpose of this publication is to inform and educate about our school and Waldorf education in general. Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily endorsed by Emerson Waldorf School.
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