|
Vi
<br />Closh^ of tht Amerkan Mind and Cuiturai
<br />Uteracy have pointed to the lack of mean
<br />ingful content in Amencan school cumc-
<br />ula and to the students' seemmg ignorance
<br />of history, literature, and other important
<br />components of the legacy of avilizaoon.
<br />By contrast, Waldorf schools make the
<br />study of human culture their central
<br />focus: Frcm kindergarten through high
<br />school students learn (and often memo
<br />rize) poems, stories, and historical and
<br />cultural informaaon from all over the
<br />world. Wark sheets and
<br />textbooks are eschewed
<br />in favor t^direa study of
<br />Greek and Babylonian
<br />myths. Aesop’s fables,
<br />Shakespeare, the Renais
<br />sance, botany, Arthurian
<br />legends, Hindu epic po
<br />etry and the discovery of
<br />the New World, among a
<br />wealth of other subjects.
<br />The guiding premise is
<br />summed up by M.C.
<br />Richards, author of
<br />Toward Wholeness: Rudolf
<br />Steiner Edsuation in Amer
<br />ica: “Childhood is the
<br />tune to store the memory
<br />with cultural riches,
<br />which later can be con
<br />ceptualized and subjected to independent
<br />judgment and criticism. ”
<br />The Wddorf approach to the basics is
<br />also in keeping wi^ current theory that
<br />early learning should be muldsensory, ac
<br />quired not only through sound and sight
<br />but also through imagination, touch,
<br />movement, and feeling. All the senses ate
<br />engaged to teach the three R's. Color
<br />plays a nujor role, and children do most
<br />academic writing with brightly hued pen
<br />cils and crayons. Movement activities are
<br />integrated with mathematics and reading:
<br />To learn multiples for the times ubles,
<br />students march around the room dapping
<br />and counting out loud, and they aa out
<br />the week’s reading in skits. Vivid images
<br />are used to teach the alphabet — for exam
<br />ple, the letter s might be introduced
<br />through the metaphor of a snake. The
<br />children might hear a story about a snake,
<br />put on a play about it, paint a picture of it,
<br />or mold a snake out of beeswax — and in
<br />the process they yrauld see that a snake
<br />can assume the shape of an r and that it
<br />also makes a similar sound.
<br />OmiiAtVIfeifcl
<br />This integrated approach seems to pay
<br />off Despite some parents ’ fears that Wal
<br />dorf programs spend too much time
<br />AugustI98B
<br />md images are
<br />used to introduce
<br />the alphabet The
<br />letters might be
<br />taught through
<br />the metaphor of
<br />a snake.
<br />teachmg the arts, students' standardized
<br />test scores for academic achievement
<br />compare favorably with the rudonal aver
<br />age. And a study conducted in Europe
<br />showed that IXbldorf students also score
<br />above average on verbal and nonverbal
<br />creativity tests.
<br />The Waldorf education picture,
<br />though, is not entirely peachy. Draw
<br />backs for many parents include the cost
<br />(which ranges ^m SI,-400 to S6,500 per
<br />year, depending on grade level and loca
<br />tion) and a lack of em
<br />phasis on individuality
<br />(cnocs complain, for in
<br />stance, that children’s
<br />artwork on the walls all
<br />looks the same).
<br />Waldorf children
<br />switching over to a pub
<br />lic school may at first
<br />have trouble adapting to
<br />the emphasis on skills
<br />and the more com
<br />petitive environment —
<br />especially if they're in
<br />the primary grades.
<br />Still, Waldorf
<br />schools in the United
<br />States have doubled m
<br />number in the past de
<br />cade, with supply failing
<br />behmd die demand: One Waldorf pro
<br />gram in Sanu Rosa, California, reports a
<br />waiting list of 90 new applicants for the
<br />coming school year, most of whom will
<br />be turned away for lack of space. And
<br />more than 100 Waldorf teaching positions
<br />nadonw'de remain unfilled due to a short
<br />age of tramed Waldorf teachers. Appar
<br />ently many parents are discovering that
<br />Waldorf fills a need for a creative, ardsric
<br />approach to learning that is hard to find
<br />elsewhere. In a society that may be nudg
<br />ing its children prematurely into
<br />adulthood, Waldorf schools try to pre
<br />serve the magic and fairy-tale wonder of
<br />being a child.
<br />For more informadon about Waldorf
<br />educadon or for a list of Waldorf schools
<br />in the United Sutes, write to the Assoda-
<br />don of Waldorf Schools of North Amer
<br />ica, 17 Hemlock Hill Road, Great Bar
<br />rington, MA 01230. To obtain a free
<br />catalog of Waldorf-oriented books, toys,
<br />art supplies, games, musical instruments,
<br />and other resources, wnte to Hearth-
<br />Song, P.O. Box B-4, Sebastopol, CA
<br />95472. □
<br />Thomas Armstrong is the author of In Their
<br />Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging
<br />Your Child’s Personal Lea-ming Style.
<br />PARENTING
<br />Magazine
<br />August, 1988
<br />For further information please contact:
|