Wow, the boys are really growing up and have shown on the outside all the inner growth of the last 7 years! Little Fox, now 8, really has gauged this for me, since we now have two older boys walking their path. He has truly set forth on his earth path, and come into his body. I mentioned the 12 senses on the last post and how important all of them are in raising children. He has taught me most about how highly sensitive I truly am. The term Highly Sensitive Person is a post in itself for another time. Either way as a parent I came to learn more about myself through watching my children grow and mirroring, as well as reflection upon my childhood.
Before we review the year I want to mention First Grade Readiness. This is something you can measure by a few standards. For one, has the child lost their first milk tooth? How are gross and fine motor skills, as well as core body strength? As a rule of thumb has the child experienced seven Easters yet? Below are a couple of links expressing this thought deeper and why we waited 7 years to start academics. Most people outside of our family sphere did/do not quite understand why our children did not match up with mainstream, but I took this very big notion to prayer and specifically felt waiting for each child to be ripe was necessary.
Each child is so different and Waldorf allowed me to bring a balance to each child and their differences. At first it does not appear as though our children are learning or at pace with their peers, and truly they are not. We want a whole child. A child who is developing evenly. We want their body, mind and spirit to be in sync. To mamas out there who are questioning yourselves because others are questioning you and this practice, hold steady, like an anchor on a ship in the high seas. You know what is best, somehow this seed was planted in your heart!
http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/first-grade-readiness
http://theparentingpassageway.com/2010/04/26/readiness-for-waldorf-homeschool-first-grade/
Namely our Little Fox is a cautious fellow. He likes to watch and observe before making his move. But once he moves he is graceful and confident. We waited a little past his 7th birthday to begin formal academics, and my oh my, he paced through with smiles. I love this because school should be fun, and we had some work to do the first seven years to get him ready. Auditory, visual and vestibular centers had to be assisted and balanced. Movement, sensory and games had to be encouraged. Here is my Pinterest board to give you a sense of what I look at, regardless if a child has sensory issues, in fact all children are special needs in these times when recess and art are not valued. They sure are valued here at home though!
Temperament plays a role in educating and I believe Little Fox to be much like me, melancholic and phlegmatic, but when balanced, quite all four temperaments, much like the Medicine Wheel, and Carl Jung’s Wheel, when finding our Center. It is important though to observe your child the first seven years and meditate on their temperament and your temperament and right-relationship. Meditating on how to bring the teachings and how to relate can make a huge difference in how your days go.
We began the year with Form Drawing. Not only did Form Drawing give us structure with using Main Lesson Books, it gave Little Fox time to practice using crayons and pencils for writing. Not only do I believe in the soul development aspect of Form Drawing, but also the quality it has to draw us into focus on Monday mornings! Monday’s are difficult for all to refocus, so doing an exercise first thing really helps us all realign where we are and what we are doing.
Language Arts had us visiting Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and let me tell you they work on the soul differently as a child than they do when we are adults. As adults we bring our baggage to the stories, unless we let the stories take their time to work on our soul too. Some people even believe they are gruesome, and perhaps they are a bit, but the things on television for children that have no soul are far more violent. I can understand how a highly senstive mama might think twice while reading the stories beforehand, but if you approach the stories archetypally, then they are very insightful and assist growth subconsciously in the first year grade, also known as the 7 year change. In the first grade letters are introduced to the children through a re-creation of the evolutionary pattern of language development. The letters are drawn out in practice books and Main Lesson Books to make a picture in itself. Like the letter M in the story Simeli Mountain is actually a part of the Mountain, and there is room left for a short summary of the story, which is beginning writing.
Math. Arabic Numbers one through 10 are introduced along with Roman Numerals and a story. The Four Processes are then introduced using a storyline and manipulatives. With our first son we actually used a Star Wars theme, but with Little Fox we used gnomes in a kingdom. It was just easier to use the traditional approach with our curriculum, the story was already set up. Our curriculum teaches Whole to Parts. For example, 10 equals 5+5, 9+1, 1+9, 10+0, 0+10, 7+3, 3+7, 5×2, 2×5, 10×1, 1×10, 11-1, 20-10, 15-5, 20/2, 40/4 and so on. During the winter we do daily math practice to keep up with what we have learned and to make it easier for entering into the next year. Winter and reviewing is where we are right now, as well as planning and dreaming for a new start.
Daily math practice is suggested in Circle Time, which takes place when we say our opening and seasonal verses and play our games. This is when I might encourage my older child to jump on the trampoline and say his multiplication table. Or if we are taking a walk we may try to find straight lines and curves in nature to compliment beginning form drawing. We still do Circle Time our with First and Third Graders together filling the time with Brain Gym activities, movement like stretching and yoga, reading, and music practice.
Waldorf Education has a curriculum for its students that reflects a pattern of evolution that is apparent in both the evolution of humanity and in the development of the human being. For the sake of the developmentally appropriate introduction of information to the young child many traditional forms of academic instruction are held back for an older age. The three stages of development in childhood are birth to seven years of age, seven to fourteen years of age, and finally fourteen to twenty-one years of age. Waldorf Education for the birth to seven stage concentrates on learning through activity (Hands), seven to fourteen through the feelings (Heart), and fourteen to twenty-one through thinking (Head).
The Head aspect we are covering with Language Arts and Math, however we introduce the Heart aspect through painting and music or song. We have a three day rhythm where I introduce a story and the student draws the story in a practice book. The second day the student paints the story and retells it. The third day we model the story and enter it into our Main Lesson book. With this rhythm Little Fox came to digest the story and the teachings and make it a part of himself. I could not believe how well he came to know the information and in a way that was filled with art and music. Music and song entered in mostly through the festival life, like Candlemas. We did not paint or model every single story, but occasionally we reenacted the story with peg people or action figures or even ourselves.
Handwork is introduced this year with beginning knitting. The student is taught to cast onto needles they make themselves by sharpening then sanding the ends of a dow rod, then adorning one end if they so choose. For Little Foxes first project we slowly and surely knitted an organic cotton wash cloth. I paired his cloth with a bar of my soap and we gifted it to the Church Bazaar, which is a fundraiser.
Music has always been a part of our lives in some way or another but this year Little Fox stepped up his involvment by attending Children’s Choir at church. Before he had attended Music Together classes when he was little and then again with Little Bear. Last week Little Fox began his journey with violin. For three bars of my homemade soap we rent a violin, bow and case. We have a teacher for private and group violin lessons and it turns out she was home educated.
Another activity that was very much enjoyed this past year and begins again in March is Archery with our local 4H club. Little Fox was in the Clover Bud section of the Archery team, which means he cannot compete till he is 9, but we are all okay with that.
I was happy to see my middle guy really blossom this year. He is sweet and giving. The year really culminated last night when he finally lost his two front upper teeth. He had been hanging onto those teeth for an extra amount of time which in my meditation meant he was unwilling to let go. Birth to seven years old was comfortable and special, and he didn’t care to leave the wonder days behind. It is all bitter sweet. We want them to grow straight and strong into the future, but letting go is more than hard.
Thanks for reading Nurturing Spirit. I hope you enjoyed this post and perhaps gleaned some wisdom from our year end review. I know reflection is just as important as having lived.
Nurturing Spirit 