Week Four – 9, 10, 11 February 2021 Dear parents, Over the last two weeks we stepped into the magical world of LETTERS, as we continue to follow the children on the Quest of Courage. We travelled from the TREASURED TREE to the HUMBLE HOUSE and the journey continued to the VERDANT VALLEY, where KIND KING KARL came to subdue the Monster in the MIGHTY, MISTY, MAGICAL MOUNTAINS .... and slowly more stories are unfolding ....like our PROUD PRINCE.... In a Waldorf classroom, the children learn to write before they learn to read. Writing is active whereas reading is passive and so it comes first to activate the will and to allow the children to experience and then build the concept. Therefore, their reading develops out of their own writing, their own experience. Letters are just foreign symbols to them and it is therefore important to engage them as fully as possible by working with one letter over two or three days, thus allowing for a deeper connection with the letter. In an alternating rhythm of bringing it to consciousness through story, art and movement, and then letting it sink into the subconscious mind during the night's sleep, then reawakening it again the next day, the child will really know the letter throughout their whole being. Every day the children ‘read’ their writing. Each letter story has an alliterative verse, e.g. “Treasured tree with trunk so tall, you tenderly care for us all!” The children ‘read’ the verse as they run their fingers over the letter they have written in their books. The blackboard drawing is a very important tool for the teacher. After the children have heard the story, they draw a picture from their imagination in their drawing books. The next day the children arrive and there is a drawing on the board, focussed on the main ‘letter character’. During the RECALL of the story the children repeat the alliterative verse and they ‘discover’ the main sound, feeling where it is in their mouths and then the teacher ‘finds’ the letter in the image on the board and superimposes the letter on top of it. The letter therefore comes out of the image. As with Form Drawing, the children will first find the letter in their bodies or in the classroom or in the plants, trees or rocks outside, then they will draw it in the air, then on each other’s backs or on their hands, finger nails, practise them with their fingers in their books and then when they feel ready, they will draw the letter in their books – first a big letter and then some smaller ones. Now they are becoming aware of space and how they work within it.... The letters are all written as CAPITAL letters – the archetypal form of the letter. Only later in the year will the children go through a process of ‘transforming’ the letters to lower case. In the state curriculum it is the other way round. We start with the CONSONANTS - which are ‘grounding’, holding and firm – they hold the word and have a very different quality to the VOWELS. So, as you can see, we don’t do the letters in the order of A,B,C.... In Term 2 the vowels are all taught together over a few days (more on that another time). The children are taking to this process easily, with interest and enthusiasm. Alongside this we are counting every day from 1-50, in 5s’, 10s, and backwards....etc. Our repertoire of verses, songs, beanbag games, movement-based activities are growing and the children are moving easily from one part of the morning to the next. They are building more stamina so that we can extend our morning time, without needing a snack break too soon. You are all winning with regards to snack time. Every day is a feast and the children love it. They spend time in class eating their snack, chatting quietly and then packing up, wiping their tables and asking to be excused. Then there is a good time for having a break. Even though they may be busy with some game or the other, they are happy to run back to class when the bell rings. I am including some articles on the Waldorf approach and process to writing and reading for you to read at your leisure. These articles will give you a simple, but full description of the process, principles and philosophy that I am following. All the best. 16th February 2021 *apologies - CAPITALS used in this letter for emphasis onlyJ |
AuthorTeacher Beulah's 'Letter to the Parents' Archives
February 2023
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