Finding the true meaning of learning Interview with Samantha Ann Yang
PHOTO by CHEN YEE 1
Can you tell us a little about yourselves and why you are drawn to Waldorf Education? My name is Samantha. I’m an American mother of two children, 8 years old, and 4 years old. I am a certified Waldorf Grades teacher, certified to teach children grades 1-8. I am home schooling my grade two son, as there is no Waldorf primary school in KL, and I send my 4 year old to Hilltop House, a Waldorf inspired Kindergarten. I became interested in Waldorf education in the late 90’s, before I was married, or had any children. Although I attended mainstream American public schools, and feel as though I turned out well, I was very drawn to this different form of education. I was drawn to Waldorf, as it is such a beautiful alternative to my public school experience. Waldorf is full of life, beauty, nature, and the arts, and addresses the whole child, not just their intellect. All sorts of people can thrive in this environment, as there is a de-emphasis on competition and grades, and instead, a focus on being a creative, worldly person who can think outside of the box; someone that can think on his/ her own without reference to material that has been memorized. 2
A Waldorf school is not about what facts a child will learn; a Waldorf school is about what kind of person the child will grow into. The education is guided by two fundamental principles. 1. Every person contains the capacities of thinking, feeling, and willing (symbolized by the phrase “head, heart, and hands”). While traditional schools focus almost exclusively on the first, a Waldorf school brings the three capacities to maturity together. 2. A child goes through a number of specific, well-defined stages on the road to adulthood. Developmentally appropriate experiences nurture the child and his growth. While Waldorf education seems to be quite outside the mainstream, it offers different appeal to all different people. Although it has a tendency to concern some with its delayed academics, once one really delves into what the education entails over the years, it is hard not to fall in love with it. All parents want the very best for their children, and I was drawn to Waldorf as it offers the very best in multiple developmental areas to nurture a child through adolescence and into adulthood. Every step of the way, Waldorf education is designed to meet the developmental
needs of the child. In the early years, 0-6, the focus is on play, which then gives way to a natural unfolding of academics beginning around age 7. We all have so few years to spend in childhood, and almost our whole lives to be adults and study and work. Waldorf education recognizes this, and it protects this very short and important period of our lives.
foreign languages (usually two in elementary grades), to name a few. In the younger grades, all subjects are introduced through artistic mediums, use the children respond better to this medium than to dry lecturing and rote learning. All children learn to play recorder and to knit.
The best overall statement on what is unique about Waldorf education is to be found in the stated goals of the schooling: “to produce individuals who are able, in and of themselves, to impart meaning to their lives”.
• There are no “textbooks” as such in the first through fifth grades. All children have “main lesson books”, which are their own workbooks that they fill in during the course of the year. They essentially produce their own “textbooks” which record their experiences and what they’ve learned. In some schools upper grades may use textbooks to supplement skills development, especially in math and grammar.
The aim of Waldorf schooling is to educate the whole child, “head, heart and hands”. The curriculum is as broad as time will allow, and balances academics subjects with artistic and practical activities.
• Learning in a Waldorf school is a noncompetitive activity. There are no grades given at the elementary level; the teacher writes a detailed evaluation of the child at the end of each school year.
Waldorf teachers are dedicated to creating a genuine love of learning within each child. By freely using arts and activities in the service of teaching academics, an internal motivation to learn is developed in the students, doing away with the need for competitive testing and grading.
• The use of electronic media, particularly television, by young children is strongly discouraged in Waldorf schools.
What is Waldorf Education?
Some distinctive features of Waldorf education include the following: • Academics are de-emphasized in the early years of schooling. There is no academic content in the Waldorf kindergarten experience (although there is a good deal of cultivation of pre-academic skills), and minimal academics in first grade. Literacy readiness begins in kindergarten with formal reading instruction beginning in grade one. Most children are reading independently by the middle or end of second grade. • During the elementary school years (grades 1-8) the students have a class (or “main lesson”) teacher. The ideal and goal is that the class teacher stays with the same class for the entire eight years of elementary school. This, however, is not always the case, for many different reasons, one being the high demand this puts on the versatility of the teacher. • Certain activities, which are often considered “frills” at mainstream schools, are central at Waldorf schools: art, music, gardening, and
What defines a Waldorf preschool/ kindergarten? What distinguishes it from other early childhood education philosophies? Rhythm, and learning through natural life occurrences really defines a Waldorf kindergarten. Waldorf kindergartens are NOT predicated on a school desk environment that one finds in most other schools, where children spend a great deal of their time filling out worksheets, and listening to teacher instruction. A Waldorf kindergarten is meant to be a home away from home for the small child. It is imbued with warmth in the wall color, natural play material, and the lovely smells of foods baking in the oven. Children are exposed to adults doing meaningful work (preparing snack, fixing/mending toys and dolls, ironing placemats, knitting, sewing, or making new play things), as they learn through play and imitation. Children set about their work of sharing things evenly as they serve pretend biscuits and tea to their friends, or setting the table for snack, requiring the use math skills to match the number of people present on any given day to the number of placemats, napkins or cups/ 3
bowls needed. Each day the children are involved in a circle time, where they will learn seasonal songs, finger plays and strengthen their body coordination. Puppet stories told to the children each day, use rich language to develop language skills and literacy. Watercolor painting is done by the children each week; seeing the colors mix is science at its finest. The children also regularly partake in preparing snacks or lunch, and bread making once a week. Cooking is chemistry. Often the meals they help prepare come from the outdoor garden that they help tend; gardening is science/botany, etc. Although there is no formal introduction of academics in a Waldorf kindergarten, as there is in many other programs, one can see from the description above, that the children learn a lot. A Waldorf kindergarten is about socialization, about imagination, about active play. In a lot of the other kindergartens, the race is on to see who can push the kids the fastest. The kids are sitting in desks in rows, filling in worksheets, learning as much math and reading as you can cram into a 5-year-old. In a Montessori kindergarten, quiet children work independently on activities that teach particular skills. “Put the round peg into the round hole.” If you put the round peg into the square hole, an instructor gently corrects you, so you learn the skill. Of course it is possible to teach a 4-year-old to read, but that does not mean that you should. The first 6 years of childhood are a beautiful, magical time; if you push the child into intellectual abstraction, you cut short this phase of childhood, and the developing child may miss the truly once in a lifetime experience of childhood. (And incidentally, you don’t buy any other benefits in return. Studies indicate that children who read in kindergarten have no advantage by the fifth grade: they do not wind up better or more avid readers.). The early childhood teacher in a Waldorf school works with the young child first by creating a warm, beautiful and loving home-like environment, which is protective and secure and where things happen in a predictable, regular manner. Here she responds to the developing child in two basic ways. Firstly, the teacher engages in domestic, practical and artistic activities that the children can readily imitate (for example, baking, painting, gardening 4
and handicrafts), adapting the work to the changing seasons and festivals of the year. Secondly, the teacher nurtures the children’s power of imagination particular to the age. She does so by telling carefully selected stories and by encouraging free play. This free or fantasy play, in which children act out scenarios of their own creation, helps them to experience many aspects of life more deeply. When toys are used, they are made of natural materials. Pinecones, wood, cotton, silk, shells, stones and other objects from nature that the children themselves have collected are used in play and to beautify the room. Sequencing, sensory integration, eye-hand coordination tracking, appreciating the beauty of language and other basic skills necessary for the foundation of academic excellence are fostered in the Kindergarten. In this truly natural, loving and creative environment, the children are given a range of activities and the structure that help them prepare for the next phase of school life.
Why does Waldorf delay teaching kids how to read? Based on the Waldorf philosophy of child development, it is believed that reading and academics should be delayed until about age 7, or the change of teeth. In the period of 0 to 7 years the human body undergoes a tremendous amount of physical development, and at a faster rate during this period than any other in our lives. Therefore, Waldorf believes we should allow the 0-7 year old to develop physically, without the interference of the introduction of early academics that might rob the physical forces, in favor of intellectual development. In the evolution of humanity, spoken language developed first. Then came written language, originally through symbols (think hieroglyphics). Finally, once there was a written language, people learned to read. This is exactly the sequence in which children master language, and so is the sequence in which reading is taught in Waldorf education. From birth to age seven, the focus is on the spoken word. The children hear stories – nursery rhymes, nature stories, folktales and fairy tales. Teachers are careful to use the original language of fairy tales without “dumbing them down” or simplifying
the language. The teacher is careful to use clear speech and to enunciate. This will help children later when it comes time to learn to write and spell. In early childhood, language is taught through story time and circle time: songs, verses, rhymes and poems are all incorporated. It may look like play, but language skills are being developed daily. Because the same circle time sequence is repeated daily for 2-3 weeks at a time, children learn the songs and verses “by heart,” and will retain them for life. Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf education, stressed the importance of repetition when he developed the first Waldorf School in Germany in the 1920’s. Current brain research confirms that repetition aids a child’s brain development. The connections of billions of neural pathways in the brain are strengthened through repeated experiences. A visitor to a Waldorf kindergarten might notice the children are not being taught the ABC’s. They are not given worksheets, nor do they practice reading from books. But we Waldorf teachers know that language skills are being built through the repetition of stories, songs and verses. We are preparing children to read and write through the spoken word. On the other hand, that same observer is likely to be impressed by the children’s precocious verbal abilities, their impressive vocabulary, and the number of poems and stories that they can recite by heart. In addition to our work with speech, we work on building a child’s fine motor skills—through
activities such drawing, finger knitting and sewing—to prepare children for the next stage of language development: writing. It is during first grade in a Waldorf School when the alphabet is formally introduced, but in an imaginative, pictorial way. Think again of hieroglyphics. Each letter of the alphabet is introduced as a symbol, representing an element from a story the children are told. For example, they might hear the story of a knight on a quest who had to cross mountains and a valley. The children will then draw a picture with the letter “M” forming the Mountains on either side of the “V” for Valley. In this way, the child develops a living relationship with each letter and the written word. It is not 5
dry and abstract. Writing is taught in a way that engages the child’s imagination. After learning all the letters, the next step is to copy the teacher’s writing. Typically the children will recite a poem together until it is learned by heart. Then the teacher will write the poem on the board, and the children will copy it into their “main lesson books,” the books that children in a Waldorf school create themselves. Because the children already know the poem and they have learned the alphabet, they will begin to make connections. “Oh, this must spell “brown bear” because both these words start with “B” and those are the first two words of the poem!” The final step is learning to read, which generally starts in second grade and continues into third grade. It is important to know that reading requires decoding skills that develop in children at varying ages. In Waldorf education we understand that learning to read will unfold naturally in its own time when a child is given the proper support.
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Just as a normal, healthy child will learn to walk without our teaching her, and just as a child miraculously learns to speak her native language by the age of three without lessons, worksheets or a dictionary, so will a child naturally learn to read when she has a positive relationship with the spoken and written word.
Why should I send my child to a Waldorf school? The main reason is that Waldorf schools honor and protect the wonder of childhood. Every effort is expended to make Waldorf schools safe, secure and nurturing environments for the children, and to protect their childhood from harmful influences from the broader society. Secondly, Waldorf education has a consistent philosophy of child development underlying the curriculum. All subjects are introduced in age appropriate fashion. Finally, Waldorf schools produce graduates who are academically advantaged with respect to their public school counterparts, and who consistently gain admission to top universities.
Why is so much emphasis put on festivals and ceremonies in a Waldorf School? Seasonal festivals serve to connect humanity with the rhythms of nature and of the cosmos. The festivals originated in ancient cultures, yet have been adapted over time. To join the seasonal moods of the year, in a festive way, benefits the inner life of the soul. Celebrating is an art. There is joy in the anticipation, the preparation, the celebration itself, and the memories.
The Waldorf ideals of natural materials, daily rhythms, and lack of media sometimes seem pretty far removed from modern life with its media overload, plastic toys, and earlier and earlier academic pressures. Do you have any tips for parents who are interested in incorporating Waldorf ideas into their home life yet reluctant to purge all vestiges of modern society? First, why do Waldorf Schools discourage TV watching? The reasons for this have as much to do with the physical effects of the medium on the developing child as with the (to say the least) questionable content of much of the programming. Electronic media are believed by Waldorf teachers to seriously hamper the development of the child’s imagination - a faculty that is believed to be central to the healthy development of the individual. Computer use by young children is also discouraged. Waldorf teachers are not, by the way, alone in this belief. Several books have been written in recent years expressing concern with the effect of television on young children. See, for instance, Endangered Minds by Jane Healy, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander, or The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn. If you are looking to incorporate more Waldorf ideals in your home, one could start by turning off the TV and computers during your child’s waking hours, and, if that seems impossible, just start reducing it (limiting it to just certain hours of the day, or particular days of the week). Next, you can start to bring the beautiful tradition of
celebrating festivals into your home. Seasonal festivals, and religious traditions, don’t just make beautiful family traditions and memories, but they also help children mark time (the beginning of understanding the rhythms of the year). One might also consider paring back their child’s extra-curricular activities, in favor of more freeplay time. Over-scheduled kids quickly become stressed out kids, and this can even happen if they enjoy the activities (dance classes, art classes, sport classes, etc.) Lastly, one can go through their children’s toys and box up ones that are rarely or never played with. Hopefully, these will be the plastic, noisy ones. Keep them packed away for a while and see if your child even notices or asks for them. Also, observe how your child’s play changes as a result. Young children generally forget fast, “out of sight, out of mind.” In fact, I’ve been known to hide my daughter’s favorite Disney princess books, and after only 2 days, they’re forgotten, and she’s moved on to something else.
What are the most important mindsets or preparations for parents who are considering sending their child to Waldorf kindergarten? If you are preparing to send your child to a Waldorf kindergarten, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First off, one needs to keep an open mind about learning. Do not expect your Waldorf kindergartener to come home spouting off facts, or letters that they have learned in school. Prepare yourself to have faith that your child will learn naturally through play and social interactions, amongst all the other goings-on in the Waldorf kindergarten. Further, do not drill your kids at home either. Also, be prepared to address your family rhythms or lack there of. Rhythms are key in a Waldorf kindergarten, and should be in your home too. From regular mealtimes, to regular bed times, it is vital for your child to have the experience of predictability in the home; knowing what’s coming next. You might be surprised how smooth this makes transitions go at home, especially bedtime (if it is done the same way, and at the same time everyday, the battles will disappear). And, on this note, early bedtimes are also important. Well-rested children are happy, healthy children. Young children need far more 7
sleep than we do; don’t forget they’re growing so fast, and need sleep to do it.
Do you think children attending Waldorf kindergartens will be able to adapt to public primary school in the later stage? Do you have any tips for parents to better prepare for the transition to public school? I definitely think that children attending Waldorf kindergartens can easily adapt to public primary schools. With a bit of academic preparation (a short introduction to letters and numbers) in the months preceding the transfer, most children will be right up to speed in no time. In fact, the years of play in the Waldorf kindergarten will prove to only help your child be more relaxed in his new school environment, despite possibly being slightly behind academically. Children who are forced to learn academics to early, have a harder time taking in more information, than their more relaxed Waldorf counterparts. I regularly bore witness to these transitions when I lived in Hong Kong, where there was also no Waldorf primary school. At the Waldorf kindergarten in Hong Kong, they offered a 8
transition class to 4-6 year olds that were preparing to transfer to mainstream schools. In these classes, the children were given a gentle “Waldorf” introduction to letters and numbers. Then, the children went forward with a bit more confidence, and would catch up to their peers in no time. Generally, transitions to public schools, when they are anticipated, are not problematical. The most common transition is from an eight grade Waldorf School to a more traditional high school, and, from all reports, usually takes place without significant difficulties. Transitions in the lower grades, particularly between the first and fourth grades, can potentially be more of a problem, because of the significant differences in the pacing of the various curriculums. A second grader from a traditional school will be further ahead in reading in comparison with a Waldorf schooled second grader; however, it’s highly likely the Waldorf schooled child will be ahead in arithmetic.
The interview was conducted in March 2012 by justlife™ for Earth Day Issue 2012, published in conjuntion with justlife™ Earth Day Carnival 2012. For more on justlife™, visit www.justlifeshop.com