Dear Parents,
We are starting our 3rd Term tomorrow 26th July! How amazing that we have already come this far! After the long break the lovely winter weather calls for busy hands and minds and so we will start off with three full weeks: Monday – Friday from 9am -1pm every day. Over the past few months we have made good progress with our Literacy, as we completed thirteen consonants, giving us a solid store of letters to work with. The children have a good feel for the letters, they have been immersed in stories and rhymes and now it is time to introduce the vowels. So, why the separation of the Consonants and Vowels? If we listen to consonants, we hear how clearly defined they are. The lips, teeth and tongue are very active, and we can experience how consonants are formed mostly in the front of the mouth. They often reflect sounds we hear in the world around us. The Consonants give definite form to words, as in MaN, BiG, KiNG, RouND, SaM and we can say that they have a structuring, forming, conscious quality. They are the building blocks of words…. Vowels have different characteristics. They are generally more continuous, building a bridge from one consonant to another. Vowels also have a very different quality about them. They have a ‘carrying’ quality – they seem to go on forever. They somehow reflect and express soul qualities, and inner states of being as opposed to consonants that have to do with definite objects and are more grounded. They are less strongly formed and are experienced further back in the mouth. Vowels also tend to express moods, feelings and colours in a way that consonants cannot do. They bring wonderful feeling qualities of reverence, warmth, awe, wonder, love and joy. In many Waldorf schools the vowels are presented as singing beings or angels coming down the rainbow from heaven to earth, each with a very particular task. Because children learn to read first through hearing, it is important that the sounds come through very clearly and that there is enough time for repetition of sounds. Unlike Afrikaans and Xhosa and even German, which have pure vowel sounds; English has several sounds for each vowel - which can be very confusing. I will therefore try not to bring too many sounds at one time as the children may become confused and not know which sounds to listen for. Only the most important phonic rules will be taught in the least complicated manner possible. And so our journey towards reading takes its next step…… Warmly. Teacher Beulah 25th July 2021 |
AuthorTeacher Beulah's 'Letter to the Parents' Archives
February 2023
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