A High School teacher spends a day in Preschool

This year for the faculty in-service days, Early Childhood and Grade School teachers spent a day visiting High School classes and then High School teachers visited Early Childhood and Grade School classes. We had done this before and found it to be a very enjoyable and informative way for teachers to get a sense of the whole arc of Waldorf Education. Also, Sigh school teachers get a small glimpse of some future students and what they are experiencing, and Early Childhood and Grade School teachers get to see some of the students they taught in the past and how they have developed. I saw several beautiful moments of reunion when High School students greeted their former teachers. For my visit, I chose the far end of the spectrum and spent a morning at the the Elves Corner with Heidi Schwarzenbach, Robin Brown, and eight beautiful two-to-four-yearolds. I knew that the Preschool children spent a large part of their time outdoors rain or shine, but somehow that knowledge did not translate into action when choosing my wardrobe for the day. I wore my normal teacher garb, consisting of street shoes and (nice) jeans. Luckily, my parka is 100% rainproof because that day it was pouring and cold to the point that at times the rain achieved the status of falling slush.

I arrived at the Lyons Gate a bit late and saw, through the downpour, groups of very small children waterproofed from head to toe playing amongst the trees. I made my way carefully towards them across the soon-to-be certifiable mud and greeted Heidi, Robin, and the children. I was painfully aware (in more ways than one) of my lack of rain pants and rubber boots, but Heidi and Robin made me feel welcome as they kept their skillful eyes and ears on the activities of the children. The children were absorbed in playing with sticks, climbing partway up stumps of trees, and examining the increasingly larger rivulets of water running down the hill. I thought to myself that these children were getting the best environmental education in the world by being left to their own explorations in the wonderful rain without some adult telling them what to look at or touch. It didn’t seem like it to the children, but Heidi and Robin heard and saw everything that was going on. At one point, Heidi took a child’s hand and guided them to a piece of branch that had been set up as a balance beam and assisted them in walking across it. They did this several times and then the child went back to playing with the others. After this, Heidi quietly told me that she had heard this child talking about the train wreck and environmental disaster that happened in Ohio. The slippery wooden balance beam successfully diverted the child’s attention away from something not suited to their developmental stage by providing a challenging and fun experience.

Free play and exploration of nature

After a little cup of warm tea for everyone under a huge cypress that kept away a portion of the raindrops,