http://www.sophiashearth.org/?p=articles&all
Dear Families,
It continues to be a gift to witness the growth, movement, and interactions of children in class. While I honor where children are rather than hoping they move along to the next milestone, it is nonetheless inspiring to observe how our children become freer in their movements, their powers of comminication evolve, and living imaginative pictures of imaginative play rise up in the classroom.
A discussion about sleep in class brought to mind Susan Weber's article "Sweet Dreams." Weber, the founder of Sophia's Hearth, weaves together the wisdom of an experienced Waldorf Early Childhood teacher with that of an inveterate researcher into nourishing traditions in early childhood (Weber was one of the teachers who created a link between Waldorf education, Emmi Pikler of Loczy, and Magda Gerber of RIE). Much as Eugene Schwartz or Michaela Gloeckler remind teachers and parents in the first seven years that children learn through observation and imitation of their environment--not just what the adults do but also the inner gesture and attitudes adults bring to their outer activity--and not through explanation or abstraction, Weber encourages us as parents of young children to reflect upon our own disposition toward sleep, calm, busyness, activity, and rest as we try to instill healthy sleep habits in our young children.
You will find a link to Weber's article "Sweet Dreams" at the top of this post. As I was rereading her article, I observed with gratitude that her web site now includes a number of new articles as well, and I invite you to explore. While there is no official "Waldorf" way to parent young children, Weber's Sophia's Hearth does provide a stable picture of insights into young children that weds contemporary research with tradition and experience.
Again and again in his lectures on education, Rudolf Steiner encourages teachers to beware of precooked educational systems that purport to be one size fits all; they cannot but be doomed to fail. Rather, the teacher (or parent) as artist must be as present and observant as possible with the child or children, and from nonjudgmental observation the path of what to teach or do will come forth.
Dear Families,
It continues to be a gift to witness the growth, movement, and interactions of children in class. While I honor where children are rather than hoping they move along to the next milestone, it is nonetheless inspiring to observe how our children become freer in their movements, their powers of comminication evolve, and living imaginative pictures of imaginative play rise up in the classroom.
A discussion about sleep in class brought to mind Susan Weber's article "Sweet Dreams." Weber, the founder of Sophia's Hearth, weaves together the wisdom of an experienced Waldorf Early Childhood teacher with that of an inveterate researcher into nourishing traditions in early childhood (Weber was one of the teachers who created a link between Waldorf education, Emmi Pikler of Loczy, and Magda Gerber of RIE). Much as Eugene Schwartz or Michaela Gloeckler remind teachers and parents in the first seven years that children learn through observation and imitation of their environment--not just what the adults do but also the inner gesture and attitudes adults bring to their outer activity--and not through explanation or abstraction, Weber encourages us as parents of young children to reflect upon our own disposition toward sleep, calm, busyness, activity, and rest as we try to instill healthy sleep habits in our young children.
You will find a link to Weber's article "Sweet Dreams" at the top of this post. As I was rereading her article, I observed with gratitude that her web site now includes a number of new articles as well, and I invite you to explore. While there is no official "Waldorf" way to parent young children, Weber's Sophia's Hearth does provide a stable picture of insights into young children that weds contemporary research with tradition and experience.
Again and again in his lectures on education, Rudolf Steiner encourages teachers to beware of precooked educational systems that purport to be one size fits all; they cannot but be doomed to fail. Rather, the teacher (or parent) as artist must be as present and observant as possible with the child or children, and from nonjudgmental observation the path of what to teach or do will come forth.
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