Dear Parents,
Before we go into our next Main Lesson, which starts tomorrow, I thought that you may like to have a little look into one of the approaches Waldorf teachers use to help them better understand and work with the children in the class. Rudolf Steiner gave teachers many different indications for working with the child, one of which is using the Four Temperaments. As humans we are special beings. Each one of us is unique. There are no two people who are the same, not even identical twins who are given similar bodies when they come into the world. Each person is an individual with a particular combination of qualities, and in the course of one's life, one discovers more and more what these individual qualities are. Using the Temperaments is therefore not about pigeonholing or labelling, but rather about better understanding certain aspects of ourselves. There are four temperaments, and these are related to the four elements, EARTH, WATER, AIR and FIRE. They are known as MELANCHOLIC, PHLEGMATIC, SANGUINE and CHOLERIC respectively. We all have bits of each temperament in us, which show up at different times of our lives or in different situations, but generally there is a dominant and a secondary temperament. In Waldorf schools teachers use the basic, simple Four Temperaments, understanding that for the most part, there are no pure styles, but all people share these four styles in varying degrees of intensity. In dealing with the temperaments, it is not only a matter of knowing the children in order that the teacher can handle them better, but of harmonising their natures. In a well-integrated, balanced, complete person, the four characteristics would be harmonised but since this is not the case it becomes one of the tasks of education. When working with the temperaments in the classroom, it is critical to remember that we look at the assets of the temperaments and appeal to the different strengths of the children. We can bring them into balance gradually over time by appealing to their gifts first and helping them overcome any one-sidedness through the curriculum. Understanding your child's temperaments can also help you as a parent. For example, melancholic child loves order and to do things right. She will look for hinderances and obstacles and never seem satisfied. Show the child how human beings can suffer. Stories of trails and suffering are a godsend to the melancholic. The phlegmatic child likes comfort, to be kept warm, enjoy delicious food, but needs to be encouraged to have many different playmates as possible. Sanguine children respond well to calm parenting but enjoy social situations. Love is the magic word for the Sanguine. Choleric children like to be leaders and you may find letting them be in charge of tasks helps to give them direction. Having things which challenge them, obstacles they need to overcome will build their resilience and understanding. When working with the temperaments, it is important to think of them in relationship to all the other influences in the children’s lives, both hereditary and environmental. Working with all aspects of each child helps us see all children in their totality and keeps us from making stereotypical judgments about them. These are the tools we can use as parents and teachers to better understand children as they develop and help us find the best way to help them come into balance. Our ultimate goal is to help the children develop interest in the other, find compassion, and fulfil the mission of the human being on the earth: to develop true human love. The Sanguine – AIR – SPRING This child lives in the realm of thoughts and ideas, which, if untempered, can lead to chaos of images. These children can easily flit from idea to idea and not settle on anything. Think of the butterfly. This child is usually very social and can bring great delight into the classroom. They weave between children and can be the great social equalisers in the classroom. The Choleric – FIRE – SUMMER The choleric child may seem self-centered and have a strong presence in the classroom. This child will want to be assertive in every situation and can be aggressive or bossy with other children. But cholerics can also be strong leaders when their passions are channelled into doing good deeds for others or to help the teacher. The Melancholic – EARTH – Autumn These children may feel that the body is too heavy for them to manage and this creates a disharmony inside their being. The melancholic may seem inflexible and very sensitive to pain and sorrow in the soul-life, which may become a source of inner grief or brooding. This inner struggle may become manifest in the sad countenance, more inward gaze, and dragging gait. The Phlegmatic – water – winter In the phlegmatic child, the physical body dominates her expression in the world. There may be a complacency that develops as the child feels inwardly all is well and nothing more needs to be done. This can result in a lack of interest in vigorous activity. These children like to eat and digest their food! They can be the calm anchors of the class because of their inner balance; what they lack in physical initiative they make up for in imbuing the classroom with their quiet presence. They feel connected to nature spirits, and elemental beings, they have a vivid imagination and much is directed inwards. Wishing you all a good week. Warmly. Teacher Beulah 24th August 2021 Please note: Much of this letter has been taken from these sources: 1. Helping Children on Their Way - Educational support for the classroom Compiled by Elizabeth Auer 2. A.C. Harwood: The Recovery of Man in Childhood, Chapter XVI 3. Rudolf Steiner: The Temperaments. Dear Parents,
So, we have completed our all Vowel stories and I must say it went very well. We wrote three wonderful sentences, each on different days: THE WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL. I STAND ON SACRED LAND. THE SKY IS BLUE, MY HEART IS TRUE. At this first threshold moment it is not about learning to ‘read’ it is about writing. A sacred act in itself. And so the first writing needs to be meaningful, beautiful and worthy! In the Waldorf approach the children write before they read moving from the ‘active to passive’. At this stage they write texts/sentences that they know. They recognise the letters we have done/worked with in the past and they start to recognise/see/learn sight words. Over the short time they come to sounding out the word and a real sense of satisfaction comes over them. While being immersed in stories, they do not feel pressurised to ‘learn’ sounds but rather to experience how the words evolve and develop out of what they know - and always within a context (a story). This does not mean that they are not learning sounds. Through the stories, verses and word games the children learn the ‘name’ sound (Aye = Ayden, amen) and the ‘earth’ sound (a = Annabella, apple) of the letters. The ‘heavenly’ sound (Ahhhh = far, star) – the continuous sound is brought simply in the story – bringing the feeling quality of the letter. It is not formally referred to in the ‘lesson’ – it and other vowel sounds will come later – in Class 2 when we go deeper into Phonics. It’s really fascinating to help them sound out the words and encourage them to ‘see’ the words. Slowly they come to see what letters the word is made up of. Within all this is to allow them to develop a love for words and to see how they fit into what they already know and to become excited about writing and reading. Another important aspect when teaching the Vowels – and in fact all the subjects – is the moral aspect (not moralistic). Whether it is in Numberwork where Princess Minus prefers to ‘give away’ or David Divide who ‘shares equally’ or in Literacy where Angel E brings kindness, Angel O brings love and protection, etc. In everything we do in a Waldorf classroom, we try to instil a feeling of reverence, of beauty and goodness, kindness, love, caring, nature, community, honesty, sharing, etc. This work is not only about learning the 3 Rs (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic) – it is about our constant journey of becoming human. We constantly stand on sacred land. Wishing you all a good week. Warmly. Teacher Beulah 15th August 2021 Ps. A small request… during this week break… please could you continue to immerse the children in nature, encourage them to play with their animals and friends, and try to refrain from technology, movies and other electronic devices… Dear Parents,
We are well on our way with our Vowel stories and their sounds. At this moment, we are still living in the world of orality, but soon we will be writing our first sentence and officially step into the world of literacy. This is a big step, for them and for you. When this moment happens your child will be crossing a threshold that is wonderful and magical, but one from which there is no return. Once the child learns to read, they enter the world of literacy that changes the way they see the world. I’m sure that you may have had some ‘concerned’ friends and family asking when you child will actually learn to read and you may even be feeling a bit of pressure and anxiety in that regard. This is understandable as there is a growing trend across the world to get children into schools younger and to get them to read sooner. A great amount of time and money is spent on developing programmes and learning materials to get children to earlier linguistic and reading proficiency. Technology is used to get babies to recognise sounds and images which will (so it is presumed) allow them to become proficient readers sooner. The idea is that the sooner they learn to read, the better they will do at school. But the strange thing is, the sooner we tend to start with literacy, the less we seem to get to it! Many education systems presume that they can fix the problems around literacy with more literacy. However, literacy cannot be fully or truly understood and mastered without exploring its relationship to orality – the ancient state of consciousness that we passed through and have forgotten, leads us to literacy and gives us the framework that we need to work with the world of the written world. Norman Skillen (an experience Waldorf teacher and trainer) says that; “if orality is not given its rightful place, school will not be a wholesome environment for children and literacy will ultimately suffer.” Literacy, which is vital to the developing human being, needs to be grounded in spoken language and so the cultivation of oral skills always underpins literacy. Literacy begins with Orality – ‘it fits like a glove on the hand of orality’. The task in this modern, technological age however is, as Rawson & Richter states, “to cultivate a transformed orality”, which, as Skillen concluded, “is none other than the power of imagination itself.” In his book ‘A is for Ox’, Barry Sanders states that, “Orality provides a proving ground, a safe place, where a child’s imagination can unfold without fear of judgement or censure.” Where then do we as teachers find this ‘transformed orality’ that will take us into a dynamic, imaginative, creative approach to literacy? I think that the answer lies in stories. We know that stories answer our questions, they allay our fears and help us to make sense of the world. When we hear stories that touch us, we fall in love with the words and language and within us is ignited a desire for more, a love of learning. Stories bring the idioms, expressions and sayings of our community and people, and we develop a deeper, richer understanding of the world. Stories hone listening skills, they develop a sense of logic and comprehension. When we recall and retell stories, we organise and ‘storyfy’ the information, with expression, rhythm and timing. The teaching of literacy needs to be founded on a curriculum of stories, jokes, riddles, songs, plays, improvisation, and recitation. Children need to hear stories made up and told by the teacher. Teachers need to love words. This will inspire children. Teachers need to use good language, rich descriptions filled with colour and sensations. A child with an abundant vocabulary will become a good reader and writer. Past generations were able to read well because they learnt to speak well. They acquired an increased vocabulary through rhetorical practise. Good readers grow out of good reciters and good speakers! However, stories, verses and songs are often regarded as a waste of time in countless education systems and teachers are told to ‘get on with real work’. But children are hungry for stories. As Philip Pullman says, “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” TERM 4 Week 1: 12th – 14th October Week 2: 19th – 21st October Week 3: 26th – 28th October Week 4: 2nd – 4th November Week 5: 9th – 11th November Week 6: 16th – 18th November Week 7: 23rd – 25th November Week 8: 29th Nov – 3rd Dec (full week) Watching the children everyday as they listen to the stories, I agree with that…. Warmly. Teacher Beulah 5th August 2021 |
AuthorTeacher Beulah's 'Letter to the Parents' Archives
February 2023
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