We had an edge of the seat discussion at the snack table on Friday about Waldorf Early Childhood Education, especially about what might be tradition (perhaps a good one) but not necessarily an essential "has to be there" aspect of early childhood education. If there is an aspect from the conversation I would want to emphasize, it is the following:
There are many helpful ways to be parents to our children; there are many helpful ways to be parents at a Waldorf school; what works well for one family is wonderful for that family but need not be the requirement for other families; if we are being present and observant of our children, and what we are doing seems to nourish them, celebrate. If things are not working, know that there are many paths toward releasing resistance and enabling flow to happen again.
In light of this, I encourage you to read the following article by Susan Howard, head of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America.
http://www.iaswece.org/waldorf_education/what_is.aspx
In the future, I will send more about "20 Myths of Waldorf Education" and Ingun Schneider's "Care and Development of the Hand." I would want to say 2 things about those articles now should you choose to seek them out yourselves.
Stephen Sagarin, the author of the article about Waldorf myths, holds Susan Howard's article as a luminous example of what we need more of: well researched and thoughtful language that informs us and leaves us free to observe our children and families where they are and bring together the right aspects of environment.
I would want to frame Sagarin's comments about the color black (that we may or may not be making too big a deal of keeping it away from young children; Steiner never made this prohibition in his color lectures) and about the possibility of making things too beautiful and precious for young children (he writes, with love, of his wife staying up all night to sew a beautiful doll for their children; and in contrast Steiner writing of how the most helpful dolls and toys for young children were much simpler and cruder, knots tied in a cloth with dabs of paint or ink) in the following few ways:
1) Observe your child. If it is working, celebrate (inwardly).
2) If you enjoy art and beautiful things, accept this. If it causes stress in your family to "try to keep up with the Waldorf Jones" and get your wall colors and baby dolls and everything perfect, consider the value of dirt and mud and crudeness and roughness (all natural stuff).
3) Celebrate scribbling, messes, mud, scratchiness, texture, contrast--also celebrate stillness.
This third point would be what I want people to take away from Ingun Schneider's article on supporting hand development (which I will send in the future). There are many other bits of wisdom she offers that we can talk about in the future.
At the end of Howard's article, she recommends we take a middle path, one based on awareness, presence, and observation. We should be free from doing this or that just because it is tradition or everyone else seems to be doing it. At the other extreme, it is not helpful if we move away from presence and observation and just lapse into "anything goes" with our children.
With appreciation,
William Dolde
