Gateways

Download the article: Balance in Living

As I was coming home from school one day, my son greeted me and asked me how I was doing. I answered with my usual exhausted expression, “Tired “Yeah, you’re always tired, mom.” This had probably happened before, but this time something struck me on the head: This is how I will go into posterity, this is how I will be remembered—as a tired person! And what do tired people offer those around them? Irritation, exasperation, impatience, intolerance, moodiness, anger.

I could read the epitaph on my grave: “Herein lies an exhausted, insufferable Waldorf teacher, may she finally rest in peace!”

These reflections moved me to look for a change in my lifestyle.

As teachers we have ennobled struggle and suffering. The bigger the rings under your eyes, the larger the halo over your head. The more exhausted you feel, the better teacher you must be. Complaining becomes the underlying tone of every conversation between teachers: “It’s this time of the year, you know, never enough time to finish reports, to do evaluations, and we didn’t come out of the meeting until midnight!” Sounds like we should be giving Oscars to the most impressive martyrs in Waldorf education!

Download the article: Meeting Fear and Finding Joy

“Pleasure and delight are the forces that most properly enliven and call forth the organs’ physical forms. . . The joy of children in and with their environment must therefore be counted among the forces that build and shape the physical organs. They need teachers that look and act with happiness and, most of all, with honest, unaffected love. Such a love that streams, as it were, with warmth through the physical environment of the children may be said to literally ‘hatch’ the forms of the physical organs.” (Rudolf Steiner speaking about the child in the first seven years, from an article entitled “The Education of the Child in the Light of Anthroposophy.”)

Children of today are increasingly surrounded by the fears and anxiety of adults. These fears interfere with children’s play, their avenue for developing social skills and mastering their own fears and fear in the environment even affects the child’s proper physical development. The path to overcoming fear is joy.

Download the article: Taming the Dragon

How can we find the right imagination to bring to young children around the festival of Michaelmas? For many years I have lived with the questions: I work in a mature school which has rich traditions around this festival. A large dragon is constructed by the sixth grade class, so large that they all fit inside. At the festival, the third grade class is dancing a harvest dance when the dragon arrives. But behold, Michael appears (a carefully chosen twelfth grader) and, supported by verses recited by classes 2-12, subdues the dragon in a gesture with his sword.

Our kindergarten often included a story of George and the Dragon and the making of wooden swords, but I was a strong pacifist and struggled with the idea of arming the children, even if it was to overcome the dragon. As a mother of three sons, I had for many years focused on non-violence and peace, but I found I was meeting a very strong counter stream within my boys that needed understanding. For a while I became a militant pacifist but then saw that this counter stream was a dynamic with which I needed to work.

Download the article: Computers in Early Childhood Education

Computers and related technology have entered the classrooms of children of all ages in the past years. The idea of using computers to teach children programming goes back to the 1960s and to the invention of the Logo programming language. Since then thousands of educators have believed that computers are a tool for enhancing cognitive development in young children.

During the last three years all Victorian state primary schools in Australia have been equipped with computers and Internet access for their students, following similar developments in the U.S.A. and England. Between 1989 and 1992, U.S. schools acquired 1.1 million computers; in 1995 the total reached around 5.8 million, about one computer for every nine students. In New South Wales, computer technology is a newly introduced compulsory subject of study for all future primary school teachers, and primary schools are urged to provide computer access for their students. This development has now reached the early childhood sector, kindergartens and preschools, as well as the childcare industry. Advertising a “fully computerized center” has become a means of attracting enrolments.

Download the article: Cries of Conscience

A child wrestles with sleep
Another fiddets, whines and won't eat.
There sits one, expression stares in a glaze,
While in class he's unable to sit still or listen —
Oh, "It's just a phase"...
Some may say, so we think. Then we wonder, is there a link?

Here's a six year old mimicking sixteen.
Across town they're mourning at burying
Kids killed by kids, playacting something they'd seen,

But what do we see?
What can this be?
Media in their lives...who would've known
This could be
The result of playing videos and watching TV.
- poem by Nancy Forer

What makes a fourth grade teacher literally beg on his knees to parents at a recent meeting not to expose their children to the influences of commercial media? William Wordsworth lamented over two hundred years ago that "our world is too much with us." We are confronted with television screens not only in our homes but also in supermarkets, malls and clothing stores, post offices, airports, buses, planes, cars, waiting rooms, and dentist chairs! The mounting influx of information and entertainment that bombards us daily overwhelms, overstimulates, and inundates us. The world grows smaller as technology accelerates communication and transportation. As the world continues to become 'too much with us' it becomes harder for us to disengage from it to find the quiet and feel the calm in our lives. Our experiences with nature are becoming less as we plug in more to our television sets and computers. How often do we see teens choose a walk over a Walkman? Fewer families sit down together each day to share a meal. More children are spending more time away from home than ever before as the need for extended daycare increases. "Looking back now," Jill Mille, a mother of two, honestly confesses, "I can so easily see how all of this media penetration arrived at precisely the same time as the stress in my life had mounted. I defaulted to TV and Videoland when I felt the most guilt about being a working mom."

Download the article: Marionette Workshop in Ecuador

In July 2000 my husband, David, and I traveled with our children, a friend, and Dr. Basil Williams, an anthroposophical physician, to Quito, Ecuador. Quito, the capital city, is nestled in a beautiful high valley of the Andes Mountains, some 9,000 feet above sea level. Due to the high altitude, temperatures are spring like year round, even though Ecuador (“equator” in Spanish) straddles the equator. Each day we were greeted by crisp blue skies and warm, sparkling sunshine.

The purpose of our trip was two-fold: We visited David’s family in Quito and also spent two weeks working and sharing with the teachers of the Leonidas Proaño School, named after an archbishop who championed the rights of the indigenous peoples of Ecuador. The school is striving to be a strong and healthy Waldorf school; it has six grades and hopes to add two more in the near future.

We had already met several of the teachers of Escuela Leonideas Proaño and Nelson Aulestria, the school’s director, the previous summer, for I had brought a puppet show with me to the 1999 curative education conference in Quito.

Download the article: Alliance for Childhood Update

The Alliance is developing in several directions at once. The most recent is the work we have been doing this spring on the issue of high stakes testing and the push by Congress and the President to mandate standardized tests every year for children from third to eighth grades.

The Alliance worked with a number of leading educators, child psychiatrists and psychologists, school nurses and parents to create a position statement and call for action that highlights both the educational issues and the “exponential growth of stress” in children around testing time, as one school nurse aptly put it. Among the signers are well known individuals such as David Elkind, Jane Healy, Daniel Goleman, Jonathan Kozol, Robert Coles, and Howard Gardner.

Download the article: Book Review - Working With Anxious...

by Henning Köhler

Note from Joan Almon - Ann Pratt urged the Kindergarten Association to make an informal English translation of this book available to help kindergarten teachers who want to develop a therapeutic outlook in their work. We couldn’t afford to pay a translator for a book we couldn’t publish, so Ann asked Marjorie Spock if she would translate it. Marjorie agreed and does all such work for free. We had Marjorie’s manuscript typed, and distributed ten or twenty free copies. Then David Mitchell of AWSNA asked if we had a book we’d like to see in print, and we said this was the one. David negotiated with Floris to get the rights, and now it’s out!

In my travels into early childhood programs over the last 25 years, teachers have repeatedly asked questions about specific children, and what the teacher can do for children who are “difficult,” who do not fit into the routines of daily life in the kindergarten, and who disturb the group. Henning. Köhler’s book, a work arising from many years of study and therapeutic experience with such children, will be an inspiration and help to us all. This is a disciplined and inspired work, full of practical ways to approach the issues confronting every early childhood teacher today, a book that is perhaps more timely now than when it was first published in Germany in 1995.

Download the article: Book Review - The Singing Baby

We’ve just heard from Mary Thienes-Schunemann that the third songbook in her series has been released. This newest offering is called The Singing Baby! Mary writes: “It is a delightful collection of bounces and body games to do with infants and toddlers. It is wonderful for help with transition times as well as giving special ways to help you connect with the children in your care.”

With release of The Singing Baby! Mary completes her three-volume offering known collectively as the Singing with Children Songbook Series. Along with The Wonder of Lullabies and Sing a Song of Seasons, The Singing Baby! comprises a series of songbooks with a CD inside the back cover of each. Created as a musical aid for parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children, they are for both the confident as well as the bashful singer.

Download the article: Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

In the aftermath of the tragedy of September 11, there has arisen the realization that North America is in fact part of the world as a whole. There is no membrane that separates North America from the rest of the earth. The interconnectedness cannot be denied any longer. And this world situation presents a great opportunity for a turning point in world history. It is an opportunity to reexamine values and reflect on beliefs. Rudolf Steiner described as a necessary step of humanity’s development the individualization of the human being to the point of isolation and total separation of each from the other. The next step is then to reach out and form connections, to form a new community based on free, creative activity. He called this the consciousness soul stage of human development and it is upon us. Surely we all have experienced the deep loneliness of our own inner experience, our separateness from our fellow human beings. Now is the time to reach out and create a new community that puts the children at its center. Something we as individuals can offer the children is our own idealism and the values we hold. Of course we do not instruct the children in our values. But we can live out of our values and ideals, and these will serve as an example for the children and will form their own moral core as they grow up. We can reevaluate our own values and consider how early childhood education is in fact moral education. In these words from the Child Study Association of America in 1954, I believe the current situation is aptly described:

Download the article: Responses to World Events

Dear Editor,
I wanted to share one way I’ve responded to the recent events with my (very) small kindergarten. The news broke as I was preparing for a birthday celebration—at first I thought, “Oh, how can I continue with this lovely, sweet celebration when I’m so upset over what is happening?” But everything was ready, the birthday child was glowing in anticipation, and I turned all my attention to our tiny corner of the world—our safe and comfortable room filled with color and flowers. As thoughts of the events filtered into my mind, I concentrated even more on the “here and now,” and we had a delightful morning—the children thankfully oblivious to the dark clouds on the horizon. The next day, however, they had been exposed to the events, although they didn’t talk about it or play it out. My sister, who is trained as a play therapist encouraged me to stimulate play that would allow them to “play out” their fears, but I felt that such play needed to come from the children, and not be suggested by me. (Her suggestion was to build towers, have planes crash into them, and help rescue the people.)

Download the article: Supporting the Development of the Hand

The hands of a musician gracefully flying across the piano keys, the fingers of a young student playing a recorder, or the hands of a sculptor molding clay into artistic forms—these are all situations which show the uniquely human quality of the hand. Observe the hands of a mother caressing her baby, an elderly couple holding hands, or a hand giving a friendly pat on a shoulder—the hands can freely offer solace, convey love, as well as give and receive gifts of service. Besides these heartfelt and creative pursuits, the human hand develops several practical capacities, mainly through the activities of childhood and youth. With precision and strength the hand can use a screwdriver, a saw, or a hammer; it can spin a top, sew on a button, paint a delicate picture, and write with a pen or pencil.

In today’s push-button world the hand’s marvelous capacity for skill has taken on a regimented and manipulative character rather than its birth right, a living, creative agility. Do the eyes lovingly follow what the hands are doing when the fingers are clicking away at a keyboard, moving a mouse, or pushing buttons on any other machine? This lack of connection between the eyes and the hands begins early these days as more and more young children stare at screens while their hands do nothing or move joy sticks or push buttons in automatic ways. Does the rise in carpal tunnel syndrome and other ailments due to muscle tension in the neck, shoulders, and arms have anything to do with the ways we use our hands?

Download the article: Making Sense of Uprightness

When we understand incarnation as an ongoing process of childhood rather than merely as a physical event at birth, we extend our responsibility as adults beyond parenthood. All the early childhood caregivers and teachers become involved in the child’s incarnation. This fact complicates the incarnation process, but also provides hidden resources and opportunities for the child. Our modern day challenge is to educate ourselves to a process that, in times of old was a natural unfolding, but which is under attack today from many directions.

In the first few months of life the infant is completely dependent upon others for its mobility in space. Although the hands and feet are capable of movement, they do not have sufficient strength to move the torso any measurable distance. This dependency wanes in the third and fourth months and the infant “plays” into moving her own body through a steady progression of movements, which culminate in crawling and exploring the world around her.

Download the article: How Do Stories Nourish Children's Organs as They Grow?

How do stories nourish children’s organs as they grow? Like color and musical tones, do imaginative pictures resonate with specific organs? We can look with wonder and fascination at the fundamental archetypes of our organs to find characters and plot structures that express them.

In the Book of Tobit from the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, an angel directs Tobias to a mysterious “fearful great fish,” saying: “Catch the fish by the gills. Open it and take out gall, liver, and heart for they are excellent remedies.” This tale points to the holy and healing powers stored within each of these organs.

Gall relates to clear decisive thoughts and fiery will. It can be daunting to experience healthy gall radiating from a parent, colleague, child, or from ourselves. Nudging ardently at our blind spots, it goads us toward new vision. In The Twelve Huntresses of the Grimms’ collection, a bold and eager princess and her eleven companions, disguised as huntsmen, attempt to wake up a prince who does not recognize his true bride. They test and challenge him repeatedly. Yet his vision remains closed until he trusts the insight of his loyal lion counselor.

Download the article: Thoughts on Storytelling as a Healing Art

For many years as a teacher and a psychotherapist, I have worked with storytelling as a healing art in family life. Storytelling can help children and their caretakers cope with these overwhelmingly difficult times. Every adult who is a role model is now feeling an immense burden of responsibility but parents, teachers, and other caretakers can tap into wise and healing creative forces. Children need creative imagination because imagination is the language of childhood. When an imaginative story comes to them directly from the loving heart and soul of an adult, they are satisfied as in no other way. Stories warm the hearts of children and adults alike, allowing both to grapple creatively with emotions. They awaken buried wisdom and in the midst of turmoil and exhaustion, they bring profound refreshment. Storytelling transforms daily life with children. A true healing art, it comes naturally through the spirit of Love without great training, to help both adults and children open to wisdom within and beyond us. I have worked with thousands of parents from around the world and have had many experiences of how this art changes lives. My new book, Storytelling with Children, focuses on parenting. It presents encouraging and inspiring anecdotes and simple, practical techniques and guidelines for adults of all ages to become the storytelling companions children need. When children are confused and families distressed I know of no better way through the darkness than with storytelling. This intimate, ancient household art can align us with the spiritual sources that may bring us through this terrible time. I received this story from a mother today. Her six-year old daughter told her dream shortly after the attacks of September 11^th.“I was on a ship and it crashed. There were a lot of skeletons around and then some people came who were trying to kill us.” Her mother, who before attending my Storytelling School had never told a story, said: “That sounds like a story. It just isn’t finished yet.” They sat up in bed, snuggled close, and then...

Download the article: The Rhythm of Life

By Helle Heckman

Translated by Jean-Paul Bardou

How do we bring to the child childhood’s gifts of total acceptance, innocence, faith, and trust? For me, it has always been through life in Nature, its constant changes and transformations, never the same and yet recognizable. For me, the fact of being a human being in Nature, working with Nature with consideration and respect, has been a means to bring to present day children (and adults) an experience of forces that are far beyond our understanding, but that ask for our wondering. To be able to see and wonder is a driving force for life forces.

Nature Celebrations and Cosmic Celebrations
Regardless of where we are on the Earth, Nature is at the base of our culture and our survival. We must adjust our existence according to the natural forces, it is deeply ingrained in us. A calling for a religious force that goes beyond all religious denomination is also present in Nature. Nature’s celebrations must always be an expression of the surroundings we live in.

For me, the cosmic celebrations are another element. They take place at specific times all over the Earth, because they express a realm beyond the plane of Nature.

Download the article: King Carrot and Aaron Apple

Once upon a time, there was a mighty king named King Carrot. He was married to a beautiful queen, who was called Carla Corn, and they had a daughter even more beautiful. Her name was Princess Pear. They all lived in the beautiful country where the rainbow ends. The people living in that country were all good and skilful farmers. Every year at harvest time the people praised their mighty King Carrot for the wonderful harvest he had brought them.

Everywhere, the grain stood thick and on the golden fields, juicy apples, pears, and plums were hanging down from the vigorous trees. The flowers stood proud and beautiful with their clear and shining colors. While the farmers were harvesting, they sang:

We praise you King Carrot
For all these gifts
Which during the long wintertime
Fill our stomachs and make us happy.

Download the article: The Shining Loaf

Once in the castle of a great kingdom there lived a king and his only daughter. Now it happened that the king became sick and his daughter was afraid that he might die if she did not find help. All the doctors in the kingdom had done their best, but none could make him well again. Not knowing where else to go, the Princess set out to find the Wise Woman who lived down among the people of the town. There she found her beside the hearth in which a fire of wheat straw was burning with clear golden flames. The Wise Woman was kneading shining dough into a golden loaf of bread. The Wise Woman welcomed the Princess in and bade her speak.

“My father is very sick and no one can help him,” cried the Princess. ”Do you know what might make him well again?” “Yes,” said the Wise Woman. “Three crumbs from a shining loaf of bread that is a free gift from the people of his kingdom.” “We have brought the finest bakers from all the world to bake in our castle,” said the Princess. But the Wise Woman said, “For the King to be well, it must be a gift freely given by the people of his own kingdom.”

Download the article: The Legend of Babouschka

Author’s Note
From 1995 to 1997, I traveled to Russia several times, visiting different areas of that vast country and offering courses on Waldorf Early Childhood education. It was a new experience for me to be in a country where the original archetypal stories and the local handwork were still being practiced. Reports from colleagues who are continuing these visits to Russia tell me that this may be quickly changing, so I want to share with you one of the treasures which came my way during my journeys there.

It is the story of Babouschka, and the setting for the story is imagined by the Russian people that I met to be in the northern part of the country. Although I did visit Norilsk, (a city north of the Arctic Circle which experiences polar night, 45 days of total darkness), the translation of this story came from a young university student living in Rostov, a city situated on the Don River near the Sea of Azov. There I met a small group of educators and medical practitioners who were studying Anthroposophy in English, French, German, and Russian. These devoted and hardworking individuals were trying to start a Waldorf kindergarten and incorporate some of the Weleda remedies and ideas into their medical practices.

It was telling this story of Babouschka at Epiphany one year in the presence of the intent shining faces of kindergarten children that gave me a deeper understanding of this story. I have only changed a few words from the original translation. I hope that you also find this story of benefit to your work. Accompanied with a Babouschka circle, there can be a wellspring created for the “kings” in your mixed-age groups.

Download the article: Sugaring Time: An Early Spring Circle

I savor the change of seasons from winter to spring. The late winter event of “sugaring time” exemplifies the transition from one season to the next. There is a thawing and flowing. Our own beings seem to soften—spirits becoming lighter as we move into the joyous season of spring. Tapping maple trees for sap and transforming that sap into sweet maple syrup is a gift given to the world by the native people of this land. It is such a sweet gift at a time when the promise of spring is so welcome.

Langston Hughes’ verse, which I repeat throughout the circle, takes me to a magical place and inspired this circle. My husband, a naturalist and director of a nature sanctuary, encouraged this inspiration. As winter wears on, there seems such a need around early March to experience the subtle seasonal changes. Spring does not yet seem here, and winter snow and the unique beauty of that season are waning. I wanted to honor the sugaring tradition by creating a circle that playfully involved the work and process of making maple syrup. My class was given a large pot of sap to boil down in our room. We saw the steam and stirred the thickening sap in the pot. This year we will tap a maple tree that is in our play yard and add its sap to what we have from other sources to boil down into maple syrup. Maple sugaring engages the will of the child in transforming substance and magically draws in the young ones who can’t resist the sweet promise of maple syrup! I hope other early childhood teachers will try out the whole circle or take excerpts into your late winter circles. It is a work in progress, and your ideas are welcome.

Download the article: Ending the Commercialization of Childhood

The Alliance for Childhood has joined 25 other organizations to form a new coalition, Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children (SCEC), to oppose the ever-growing presence of advertising aimed at children. Corporations now spend more than $12 billion annually marketing to children, according to information compiled by SCEC, which also reports the following:

Children consume over 40 hours of media a week after school and see about 20,000 commercials a year on television alone.

Marketing influences every aspect of children’s lives: the foods they want to eat, the way they want to look, how they interact with parents and friends, and how they play.

Children tend to believe what they see and do not understand that ads are meant to sell them something. They have trouble differentiating between commercials and programs.

Advertisers work with psychologists to develop marketing strategies that encourage children to nag their parents.

Ninety percent of Saturday morning TV ads are for foods high in sugar, fat, salt, and calories—and this in a time of growing problems of obesity and Type II diabetes in children.

Forty percent of fifth grade girls report dieting; discontent about body image correlates to how often girls read fashion magazines.

Download the article: The Walakota Waldorf School

In the early 1990’s, a group of Lakota (Sioux) people met to find a better way to educate the Lakota children. In Waldorf they found an approach that ran parallel to Lakota spiritual beliefs. They wanted a school and a community where people would live and work and that would retain the Lakota values of respect, generosity, wisdom and courage. The Wolakota Waldorf Society was started in 1993. The society raised funds and purchased 80 acres in the middle of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota. A building was put up and the kindergarten was started in 1994.

Like any initiative, we have had our ups and downs. Last year, there were only six children in the school, three in kindergarten, three in second grade. This year we have seven children in third grade, 13 children in kindergarten and a waiting list of seven. We have begun this year with many changes. Over the summer, many trees were planted around the school, some ground has been leveled to make a playground, and the buildings have been painted. We hope to start a teacher-training program on the reservation. Renewed enthusiasm means we will need more teachers soon.

Download the article: Two New Books from Hawthorne Press

Free to Learn by Lynne Oldfield
The Genius of Play: Celebrating the Spirit of Childhood by Sally Jenkinson

There have not been many books written from a ‘Waldorf perspective’ addressing the development and needs of young children. Hawthorn Press has recently published for their “early years series” two new books by Steiner school kindergarten teachers from England that help fill that gap.

Lynne Oldfield is a kindergarten teacher and directs the London Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training Course. She has written an excellent introduction and overview on the work of Waldorf early childhood education in Free To Learn. This book is filled with short essays and quotes from Waldorf kindergarten teachers around the world. Also included are many photos of children at play and at work. Lynne addresses many important themes including the importance of rhythm, learning through imitation, the care of the senses, and the development of play. Included in this book are a glimpse into the life and work of Rudolf Steiner, and an interesting history of Elizabeth Grunelius and the Waldorf kindergarten movement starting with the founding of the first Waldorf School. Interspersed throughout the book are short quotes from Rudolf Steiner and others that help to elucidate the themes addressed. Free to Learn will be a welcome addition to any parent library and a support for kindergarten teachers everywhere.

Download the article: Book Reviews

Sing through the Seasons
Compiled and edited by Marlys Swinger

This Bruderhof book is familiar to many in our Waldorf circles. It was originally published in 1972 by Plough Publishing House. A new and expanded edition with lovely illustrations has just been released. Though not just a collection of pentatonic songs, it is a wonderful resource for early childhood educators everywhere.

The Christmas Star Songbook and CD
By Mary Thienes Schunemann

Newest in the Singing with Children Songbook Series, The Christmas Star is a collection of songs to sing with children for the Christmas season, from Advent through Three Kings Day. Mary tells us, “It is a mixture of traditional, non-traditional and original songs . . .to bring joy, pleasure and peace to children and adults alike.

Like Mary’s other offerings, the songbook contains a CD at the back to help with learning the songs. Mary hopes that her book and CD will, “. . .get families and classes singing together during the Advent season and twelve days of Christmas to help create the special mood cherished and longed for by both children and adults at this time of year.

Contact Mary at (262) 642-521 or email; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Download the article: The Education of Early Childhood Educators

"Remember, you are the preparers of the path for those young souls who wish to form their lives in these difficult times." Thus spoke Herbert Hahn to Waldorf teachers and kindergarten teachers in Germany many years ago. These words continue to inspire our work in Waldorf early childhood education throughout the world in today's "difficult times".

In this light, those of us who train teachers can be seen as the "preparers of the preparers". How can we support those who wish to take up the work with children in today's world? What qualities and capacities do they need to develop? What are the essential experiences and elements of an anthroposophical training? What do we actually mean by "traning" in the context of lifelong self-education?