Gateways

Download the article: WECAN Survey

In January 2004, WECAN sent a survey to all of its member groups and individuals. Sixty-five surveys were returned with a plethora of information, more information than was possible to summarize. Some of the areas of response had to be left out of this summary. Collating the results was a challenging task since so many written answers to the questions were submitted. So what follows is an attempt to summarize the results and give a flavor of the thoughts behind the answers when possible. Where it is stated "most common age range for Nursery/Preschool," that signifies "the most common age range only among the programs that responded." Of the many programs that responded, some are early childhood programs connected to or part of a Waldorf school and some are Waldorf home-based kindergarten/preschool programs. Semantics makes summarizing the results challenging, because there are not commonly used names to describe similar programs. What is a preschool as different than a Nursery program, for example? With all the preceding in mind, the following survey results are offered.

Download the article: News from China

At the International Kindergarten conference at the Goetheanum, the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America and China formed a partnership in order to support the development of Waldorf education in China. We had the great pleasure of meeting face to face with members of WECAN who had so kindly and graciously raised nearly $3,000 towards the cost of the trip for the Waldorf teachers working in China and to present our work. As an American working in China, it was very meaningful to stand with my American colleagues and my new Chinese colleagues. In our brief presentation, we showed pictures of the Waldorf school in Chengdu and talked about our work that began in the fall of 2004.

Download the article: Book Review: The Fourfold Path to Healing

Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutic Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine

The first time I met Dr. Tom Cowan, he was speaking to a group of teachers and described how a disease is merely the body's healthy response to a situation and that healing is not merely elimination of symptoms. Healing is a transformation or integration of some underlying conditions that the body responded to. That thinking was a breath of fresh air for me.

Thomas Cowan's own path in medical practice underlies the approach he takes in this book that attempts to offer "accurate information and effective advice" for the patient. Dr. Cowan decided to become a doctor after reading Weston Price's Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. After his training in family medicine, he began his medical practice twenty years ago. He came to believe the reason long term diseases were so hard to treat was that the wrong medicines were being used. So he turned to alternative approaches and natural remedies including herbs and homeopathy. There were some good results, but still a number of patients did not respond. So he began to think about the mystery of why some get better and some don't and began to think about lifestyles and personalities and many other non-biological factors in the patient's situation. He discovered the work of Rudolf Steiner, which radically affected the way he thought about the human being.

Download the article: Book Review: Lilipoh Holistic Wellness Guide

The editors of Lilipoh in cooperation with the Wellness Nurses of the Los Angeles Alliance for Childhood have entrusted Wiep de Vries, an anthroposophic nurse, to edit this new edition. It was originally compiled from suggestions of many doctors and nurses and filled with their many years of medical experience, and now has been revised and updated.

Download the article: Book Review:The 7 O'Clock Bedtime

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a child healthy, playful, and wise." Thus reads the cover of The 7 O'Clock Bedtime by Inda Schaenen. As a Waldorf early childhood teacher, I have heard so many parents bemoan the difficulties of getting their children to bed at night, and I have observed so many tired, cranky children who seem obviously sleep-deprived. In this sensible, funny, poignant, and, above all, helpful book, Inda Schaenen goes beyond anecdotal evidence to present studies that document the sleep requirements of infants and children, and also the results of inadequate sleep. Ms. Schaenen also describes convincingly and enticingly the benefits to the adults of the household when children are put to bed early in the evening. Many parents of toddlers and young children can scarcely remember what it was like to sit down with a good book in the evening, early enough to read without immediately falling asleep; to have peace and quiet in a tidy house; to have time for adult conversation. Yet this author claims to have these opportunities every single night! What is her secret?

Written for The Christmas Revels, 1977.

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the
Snow-white world,
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen.
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing, behind us - listen!

All the long echoes sing the same delight
This shortest day
As promise wakens in the sleeping land.

They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends, and hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year, and every year.

Welcome, Yule

Download the article: Meeting the Child

How can we meet the different children in the kindergarten? Some children are four-years-old, some are six, and what a difference that makes! As well, even at this young age, they bring their home environments, their incarnating bodies and their individualities. We multiply that times the number of children in the class and it can indeed be a challenging task for the teacher.

Early in the year, the challenge lies in getting to know the children. As one little girl entered in with a firm step and a social smile, I thought, here is a strong, solid girl. This was confirmed a few days later when I saw her pinch the child next to her. Firmly I said her name. She looked at me surprised and burst into tears. I had spoken too firmly to her, for there was another very sensitive side that I had not yet seen. I had jumped too quickly to the conclusion of who I thought she was. I have taken that event into each school year as it starts and try to keep my thoughts of the child as open as possible. I also have a page for each child in my yearly notebook in which I write observations starting with the first day. I try to write in it at least every few weeks. It is amazing to see what I had observed the first week and then a few months later, for the picture deepens and reveals many layers as the year progresses. I have also found it invaluable in parent conferences to bring up specific incidents that might otherwise disappear in my memory. I find the ebb and flow of time in the kindergarten and the dreamy consciousness of the children creates a mood that is not conducive to observation. The recording of my observations over time awakens me to my perceptions as well as to who the child is becoming.

Download the article: Mixed Ages in the Kindergarten

Last spring, I attended a six-person retreat focusing on the topic of the older child in the kindergarten. Many deliberations confronted the working group who were asked to look at the needs and challenges of the six-year-old in the kindergarten class. Among these was the question of mixed age groupings. Does it serve both the youngest (generally thinking of three-and-a-half-year olds) and oldest (our six-year olds, some turning seven before the school year's end) students to have them together in one class? This consideration poses challenges of protection for the younger ones, freedom of expression for the older ones, and practical issues for the teacher of how to orchestrate each day to embrace the needs of the entire group.

This is an interesting topic for me personally to ponder. I have never taught in anything other than a three-and-a-half to six-year-old classroom and have loved every minute of it. As one's own personal experience tends to create a baseline of "normal and typical," it is fascinating to see the wide range of opinions around this question, each of which has its merits. In Denver, the four kindergarten classes, three at the Denver Waldorf School and one at Parzival Shield School, all enroll this age range. One class had for some years only enrolled four-and-ahalf to six-year-olds but changed to the wider mix a year ago. The teachers report great satisfaction with this change and will continue with younger children joining the class community.

Download the article: The Older Child in the kindergarten

From the results of the last North American survey, 30% of the groups surveyed contained children aged three or three-and-a-half to six or seven and 60% of the groups contained children aged four or four and-a-half to six or seven. Here are a few more comments about the benefits of having younger children in the mixed age kindergarten from our colleagues in North America:

1. The older and younger children balance each other out. When the older children go through their six year old change/crisis, the younger children reignite the older children's excitement for beautiful, lively and fanciful play.

2. Mixed age groups provide children with the advantage of staying with one teacher for more than one year usually.

Download the article: Celebrating Festivals with Young Children

Notes from a Conference

More than sixty early childhood teachers gathered in Spring Valley in February, 2004 for a meeting sponsored by the Pedagogical Section and organized by Susan Howard, Chair of WECAN. The purpose of this meeting, which preceded the annual East Coast Waldorf Early Childhood Conference, was to explore the nature of the festivals we celebrate with young children.

The meeting opened with a brief presentation by Nancy Foster, in which she delineated some qualities that she believes should characterize festivals for the young child. Following this talk, the participants took part in conversation groups facilitated by Susan Howard, Andrea Gambardella, Ann Pratt, and Nancy Foster; the session ended with reports from each conversation group.

Offered here is a somewhat informal, aphoristic summary of both the introductory presentation and the conversation reports, with the hope that this will stimulate and encourage teachers to continue renewing and enlivening their own work in this realm and perhaps to contribute other thoughts to share with Gateways readers.

Download the article: Living Under the Sky

When a pine needle falls in the forest, the eagle sees it, the deer hears it, and the bear smells it.
Native American saying

Many of our familiar indoor activities are just as relevant in the outdoors environment. In this article, I will give many living examples of the outdoor activities we have pursued over the years in our kindergarten at Michael Hall. Tidying up outside, for example, should be just as consequent as it is inside. Fetching someone else's bowl for a second helping is just as natural outside on a log as inside. It is a rhythm, a natural habit, brought about by imitation; no thought is involved, only joy in helping, doing and seeing the good. The six-year olds, already living in good unconscious habits, begin to repeat actions out of a recognition that they have to be done. These are acts of devotion, a real impulse of will, setting the scene for their class teachers to build upon. Hanging everything up properly after being outside, independently even if it is a struggle, becomes a necessary habit. "I can hear some boots playing around outside the door," say I when ready to start the story. The children jump to it and sort it out. "Oh, I forgot!" "I put mine away!" "Mine were just lying down, they got a bit lazy because they were tired." Dressing properly to go outside should equally be a habit, not thought about and done with time and care.

Download the article: Math in the Kindergarten

The foundation for learning math lives in the body in the rhythm of the breathing and the heart. This "math genius" lives in the body of each individual human being through the rhythmic system. Of course, children see their parents doing activities that they want to copy and these activities may relate directly to math through computation, sharing of resources or with direct relationship to currency by watching mother purchase groceries, for example. Children begin to count through imitation. Watching mother divide the potatoes onto plates for dinner is a mathematical experience. By watching and copying others, children begin to understand the outward manifestations of simple mathematics. So, as you can see, the world of math is already a part of their natural experience of the world.

The foundation for beginning to teach math in the elementary grades begins in nursery and kindergarten classes with social and practical experiences, simple number rhymes, games, songs, and stories. During the course of a child's kindergarten experience, children learn math concepts through their experience of the world around them. They learn through movement, making things and playing. The children play "store" using shiny chestnuts to "purchase" items. A group of children may build a train and sell "tickets" for the ride. A basket of small puppets is distributed among a group of children before the beginning of a puppet show. Social concepts such as sharing with a friend are learned early in the Waldorf classroom. There is a natural expression of equality and division when they learn to take turns and share.

Download the article: Outdoor Puppetry and Big Movement

A Friendly Antidote to the Inactivity of Our Times

I grew up in the countryside where my brothers and I spent hours every day in outdoor activity, running through the woods, making forts under and in the trees, building igloos, sledding, and riding bikes. When my children grew up in rural British Columbia, it was much the same for them. It then expanded to include skiing, snowboarding, backcountry hiking, horseback riding, lots of yard and garden work, shoveling snow and chopping wood! Country life is a gift to childhood.

But the overall sign of our times is that people have reached an all-time low in physical movement and are inactive. Many children live in suburbs and cities where parents are afraid to let children play in front yards. Young children are strapped into car seats for endless errands, and, as they get older, sit in front of the television, computer or video games. This, of course, contributes to a host of childhood ailments. This inactivity is an illness of the will. The organs of the metabolism (home of the will) need to be strengthened, or the human will becomes weak or damaged. Its cure is activity, or more importantly, meaningful, purposeful activity, especially with movement of the limbs.

Download the article: The Joys and Struggles of Growing a Home Kindergarten

I am now entering my fifth year of teaching a small home kindergarten for three- to five-year-olds in America's heartland, St. Louis, Missouri. The joys of such an intimate program are myriad, coming down the stairs while still in my nightgown on a frosty winter morning to begin setting my bread sponge, knowing I will not be fighting rush hour traffic before beginning my teaching morning, having such a small group (eight children) that I can afford prolonged and multiple home visits with each family and the joy of witnessing the very young child blossoming in a group setting that is, in my opinion, just the right size. I teach three mornings each week in the four-hour rhythm that I used when I taught in larger schools. Since my health does not permit me to teach full-time, this part-time schedule allows me to continue serving in a meaningful way. I thought that it might be helpful to share a few of the lessons have learned upon my journey.

First, I am grateful for the years I spent teaching in two pioneer Waldorf schools in California. Without the form that became a part of me, I do not feel I would have been able to create my kindergarten as it now stands. This may not be so true for home kindergartens that stand under the umbrella of a thriving Waldorf school, but for those who are working in truly pioneering programs, some years of experience are invaluable. Since the school is in your home, it may appear to be only a home (although a warm and inviting one) to your prospective parents. There is no formal edifice to impress and reassure new parents; there is mainly your inner experience to attest that you are indeed a school and offering a genuine educational experience.

Download the article: Re-Inventing Spindlewood

For many years, the morning kindergarten, nestled between the woods and the family farmstead, seemed all that the children needed. But increasingly, parents are seeking out afternoon programs and looking for a place for three-year-olds, as well. How could we provide continuity of care in a way that could be nourishing to both children and teachers? How could a teacher carry the child through the "grades" of early childhood? How could afternoons provide, as closely as possible, the best elements of care found in a healthy family?

Something new (or was it ancient?) was being called for. I embarked upon a journey to find a way of life that could carry a wider age range of children over an extended day. I found myself experiencing a shift in focus to relationship-based care with the adult as curriculum, as well as an appreciation of ordinary life including the living arts of nurturing, domestic, and social arts, with the creative arts revolving around the seasonal festivals. The shift was a re-visioning of the "morning program" to an 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. day that allows time for the nurturing physical care of the children and includes children in the daily work and play of life. Rather than the fairly intense three-and-a-half hour program of structured, organized activities for children, framed with hours of adult-only preparation, clean-up, parent contacts and seemingly endless faculty meetings, the door was now opened to living with and around children, weaving in stories, games and verses throughout the day. I found an inner door opening to the LifeWays Training.

Download the article: The Christiana Foundation

Christiana Marie Sullivan was born to a loving Waldorf family in Fair Oaks, California. She had a brief three months on earth. During her short life and in the experiences that followed after her death, the whole community felt the presence of a special being whose brief appearance in life was a gesture of beautiful love that transcends death.

Christiana's parents and many friends in the community were inspired to create the Christiana Foundation's mission. In her memory, the Christiana Foundation raises money to support the efforts of a wide array of anthroposophical initiatives around the world doing good work with meager funds. Donations have been given to Waldorf schools with ethnically diverse student bodies; biodynamic farms offering hands on experiences for students; youth empowerment programs promoting community service; a project promoting reconciliation between families in Israel and Palestine that have lost children in the fighting; Sophia House, which supports homeless families; the Early Life Center at Rudolf Steiner College and the Mother's Support Network, a program offering classes and support groups. Even though the grants are small, they are imbued with the special blessing inspired by Christiana.

Download the article: News from China

Li Zhang spent several years in Spring Valley doing the early childhood training and working in the Rudolf Steiner Fellowship Community. She and her husband, Harry Wong, also a Sunbridge graduate, nurtured their dream of bringing Waldorf education to mainland China. Over the course of the past few years, they formed an initiative group and, together with other colleagues in China, were able to acquire land and buildings and the dream began to become a reality. After completing her early childhood training in July, she returned with her young children to prepare for opening day two months later. This article is compiled from recent reports and personal correspondence with Susan Howard.

Our kindergarten just started last week after almost two months of solid hard work. I have six children right now, but there are still numbers of parents who plan to send children to our kindergarten as soon as we work out the transportation problems. I am very happy, though, to have a small group at the beginning.

Download the article: Nurturing Children and Families

This newly published book from WECAN is a wonderful resource for anyone considering creating a parent-child program, as well as for those who want to re-envision their existing parent-child programs.

Sarah addresses themes such as why one might choose to have such a program, what inner and outer qualities that the teacher might need, and the specific details of the activities in the program Sarah was a part of. There is a section on parent education, and the appendix is an invaluable resource filled with stories, references and resources for the reader to investigate. This is a wonderful reference resource for every Waldorf school for this important and often overlooked element of a total family-oriented approach in a school.

Download the article: The Well Balanced Child

Hawthorn Press has released another volume in their Early Years series, this time in partnership with the Alliance for Childhood. And it is another important resource for our work with the young child in today's world.

Sally Goddard Blythe is the director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, England. She works with children who experience various types of neurological dysfunction and "learning difficulties." As is often the case, those who work with children not functionally "normal" can offer insight into what activities and practices support healthy functioning and developmental ripening. Sally Goddard Blythe's book is an excellent example.

In recent years, many Waldorf educators have become more interested in movement development, early reflexes and sense development. This book is a significant contribution towards a deep understanding of these subjects, and serves to deepen our work with young children through the enhanced understanding that can be gleaned here. One can become informed as to the relationship between movement and neurological development and read suggestions of activities supportive of healthy movement development. This book is highly accessible, using images that make clear the concepts described. It is so important to understand the role of primitive reflexes, and how they become integrated. More and more children seem to struggle with the integration of the early reflexes, and retain them longer than in the past. This little book offers a window into that realm with gifts of insight, understanding and practical tips.

Download the article: Letter from the Editor

I've been thinking a lot about thresholds lately. I am reminded of something Michaela Glockler once said in a lecture, that, "The threshold is not somewhere out there, it is right here," (while gesturing toward her heart). Every day we all experience the thresholds of sleep and waking, of "inside time" and "outside time," of day waking consciousness and meditative consciousness, and many other thresholds.

Family thresholds: This week I became the uncle of twins, and recently Jennie Whitehill, my ninety-seven-year-old grandmother, passed on. Jennie was President and Chair of the Board at various times of an organization called the Child Study Association of America. In looking back, I have to say that she was key in my finding my destiny as an early childhood educator. And last night I received word that Elvira Rychlak, a longtime kindergarten teacher from Kimberton, crossed over the threshold. Elvira was a wonderful kindergarten teacher and adult educator. I had the good fortune to be connected with her over the years and to be able to co-present courses on Waldorf kindergarten with her. Her thoughtfulness, warmth, and enthusiasm will be greatly missed by our movement!

Download the article: Preparing the Soil for Growing Great Minds

Waldorf early childhood teachers work with the habit body of the young child, strengthening the will to rise and meet the variety of circumstances that call and challenge it in many different ways in each day of living. I began to notice in my nursery class an increase in the numbers of children who could not raise themselves up off the ground when they fell down, but waited or expected the adult to rescue them from this meeting with gravity. There are different ways a child gets there-losing balance in tripping and stumbling, or getting jostled or pushed unintentionally or intentionally. Each situation must be dealt with individually, yet all of these must be met with warmth and caring from the teacher and in a way that strengthens the child's own resolve and sense of self capacity. Important messages are given to little children at these times in the responses of the adult. Are we saying in our response, "I know you can care for yourself and I am here to help and comfort," or are we saying, "You cannot have healing and comfort without me?" How do we also share these ideas with parents? We in Waldorf education have many aspects to view the development of the child. I have found parents interested in considering a point of view when it is first prefaced with information about an element of the child's development. Here I share these thoughts about the sun and rain that enters a child's life and how we might accept both as important for the growing child.

Download the article: Nurturing the Activity of Connecting

A fundamental activity of human existence is the activity of relating, and connecting, to all aspects of experience. The human being relates to the world, other human beings, spiritual beings and themselves. Once one becomes aware of the activity of connecting, it begins to be visible in all aspects of human life and experience. Margret Meyerkort holds this as a central theme in her work with young children and the adults who relate to them. (See Gateways, Fall/Winter 2002.) This powerful idea has become a core thought in my own thinking. This article is an attempt to articulate some ideas and, in doing so, enliven my own thinking as well as that of others'.

In our modern world, human beings increasingly experience isolation from each other, from the world of nature around us, and from the spiritual world, and, most of all, are disconnected with themselves.

Download the article: The Nursery Class as a Foundation for Later Life

This article appeared in Child and Man in 1965 and is reprinted with their permission. The language reflects the year in which it was written.

As a layman closely interested in the education which Rudolf Steiner has given to the world, and particularly occupied with the study of modern society, I am increasingly impressed with the fact that social problems of very many kinds can be traced to individual disharmonies which arise very early in the child's life. We can, I think, see quite clearly how certain political conflicts can only be understood as large-scale expressions of innumerable tiny stupidities, which have been daily enacted in the nurseries of an earlier generation.

There is a dramatic cleavage that exists in the modern world between the people who have excellent intentions, but somehow do not manage to seize the reins of power, and the people who are notably devoid of real morality, and even not particularly intelligent, but whose strong willforces carry them inevitably into the seats of the mighty. We have the spectacle of millions of human beings enduring the rule of dictators, simply because, although they may dislike such a life very much, they have not the faintest idea how to create for themselves the kind of social life which they can imagine as ideal. Moreover, it is quite clear that a deep distrust of self is typical of modern people in general, and that most of us feel habitually that it is the job of someone else to know how things ought to be done, and our function to find such "leaders" and follow them.

Download the article: A Rainbow Ruckshau

Looking back over twenty years of Waldorf kindergarten teaching, I experience the wonder of a rainbow with gratitude, I acknowledge all the children, parents, and colleagues whose lives have been woven into the color arc of my teaching destiny. As I look to the future, I know that many new teachers are coming forth in the Waldorf early childhood movement eager to take up the work in the classroom. So many new ideas, insights, and teaching systems are being developed to help teachers meet the needs of today's world. I am grateful for the basic guidelines my teachers and mentors gave me throughout my career. They have a special place in my heart and in the rainbow memory.

Several years ago, the Early Childhood Association held a conference in New Hampshire. We invited key mentors from Europe so that participants could experience how the various individual styles in kindergarten classes differed, that each mentor had worked very hard from the foundations of anthroposophy and had come up with individual ways of manifesting their insights.

Download the article: Reflections on Child's Play

Let us consider this in connection with the child's play, especially how the child plays between birth and the change of teeth. This play depends, as is obvious, on the one hand upon its impulse toward imitating. You know children do what they see grownups do, but they do it in a different way. Their play is far removed from the purpose and usefulness with which adults connect sense activities. It is only the formal side of adult activity that is imitated by the child, not the material side. Its usefulness is absent; the child pursues no definite purpose. Akin to what in the adult is purpose, in the child is a sense of satisfaction. . . We must also observe the soul qualities that flow over into the bodily organs if we want to study that which manifests in the child's playful activity. This is not so simple, but the study of the child's play activity in the widest sense would be extraordinarily important for the art of pedagogy. . . We must ask ourselves; when does the moment arrive in human life when those forces that are developed in the early child's play become fruitful for the complete, external life of the human being?