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■K <br />^ iailll(lini'rCMAS»CNG <br />Lessons mW)nder <br />Waldorf schools emphasize what others don't — <br />the fairy-tale magic of being a child. <br />When you walk mto one of the kindergarten class- school for the employees’ children. C urrcntly there <br />______:_______^1_____jf lM«r Waldort schools m 27 countriesrooms, it’s like entermg a fairy-tale wonderland. <br />The walL radiate with per -h-toned pastels applied <br />armdcally in swirls. The tireplace. skylights, and <br />kirchen nook ail have a storybook lcx>k about <br />them. The teacher assembles the children by <br />sweetly singing their names (“Na-than!"), then <br />leads them in simple movement acQviaes where <br />they become, for the moment, giants, pixies, and <br />gnomes. During playtime, the children create fan- <br />II <br />.-.yp <br />■ 1 .a . - V <br />TV WddoifphilosopkY in action: Learning is aajuiml not only though sound and <br />sight but also imagination, touch, movement, and feeing. <br />tasy worlds from tree stumps, brightly colored <br />scarves, and homemade dolls shaped to look like <br />little elves, fierce dragons, and brave knights. <br />This is a Waldorf classroom, the settmg for one <br />of the most unusual approaches to childhood edu­ <br />cation in practice today. Created more than 60 <br />years ago by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philoso­ <br />pher. the method was named (iromcally) after the <br />Waldorf-Astoria agarette faaory in Siuttgart. Ger­ <br />many. where, in 1919, Dr. Steiner developed a <br />are at least 400 Waldorf schools in 27 countries <br />throughout the world (including 100 in the United <br />States and Canada). Programs range from simple <br />kindergartens to full-scale K-12 facilmes. <br />The Waldorf movement is soil small, yet its <br />philosophy IS in harmony with some of the latest <br />ideas in education. For example. Wildorf teachers <br />share prominent educators’ increasmg alarm at the <br />tendency m many schools to push young children <br />to learn reading and other <br />abstract skills before <br />they’re ready. A recent re­ <br />port issued jomdy by the <br />Naaonal Assoaaoon tor <br />the Educanon of Young <br />Children and the Naaonal <br />Assooanon of Elementary <br />School Pruiapals urges <br />preschools to reduce the <br />heavy emphasis on aca ­ <br />demic learning. While be­ <br />ginning reading is taught at <br />many preschool*. Waldort <br />kindergarmers — even the <br />early readers among them <br />— leave their books at <br />home. Reading isn’t intro­ <br />duced until the end of first <br />grade. “By not teaching <br />reading, but instead giving <br />them puppetry, stones, <br />poems, verses, smging <br />games, movement, and <br />gesnire. we’re building a <br />strong inner reservoir that <br />children can later draw <br />upon when they do learn to read, says Ann Pratt, <br />founder of Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton, <br />New Hampshire, and coordinator of the Antioch- <br />Waldorf teacher-training center there. <br />Hond^On Culture <br />If early readmg isn't stressed, cultural literacy is a <br />key concern throughout a Waldorf program — and <br />here Waldorf educators arc also in accord with <br />other experts in their field. Bestsellers such as The <br />Pmintinc