Thank you all who attended our Meet the Alumni Night! For those who missed it or would like to share it with your family, here is the recording.
Handwork, Distance Learning, and Looking Forward
In Class Four students learn to cross stitch. The finished product is sewn onto the front of their new, handwork bag.
by Louisa Hopewell, Handwork Teacher
As schools transitioned into distance learning, the importance of Handwork in Waldorf Education remained. Students at the Waldorf School of Cape Cod were given a small knitted project to keep their hands and minds busy while the rest of their daily life transformed. Students were disappointed at first that their current class projects were put on hold, but they were enthusiastic to continue handwork in the comfort of their homes.
A knitted scarf from Class One
As a Handwork teacher, I wasn’t sure if remote knitting would work. Or what success would look like, and how I might have to adjust my expectations for myself and my students. I wouldn’t be there to help with dropped stitches, or to offer encouragement when students felt like their projects were at a standstill.
I will admit that it was touch and go the first few weeks. My youngest students accustomed to sitting close and checking in with each knitted row were now only given what support I could offer twice a week, through a screen.
A pair of socks from Class Five
But looking back, I am thrilled to see the independence and confidence that all of my handwork students gained. My youngest students became experts at recognizing and fixing their mistakes. Older students were able to cast on and off with ease, read through knitted animal patterns, and make beautiful projects start to finish. Their eagerness to continue with handwork was uplifting and inspiring.
The start of a mitten from a student who finished their fifth grade socks.
As my gaze shifts to the new school year, it’s a mixture of excitement and worry. I know there will be challenges. But the ever-present joy of handwork remains in the forefront. I have seen the dedication of my fellow Waldorf teachers and know that as a community, we will find innovative ways to continue our commitment to educate the whole child.
Although students had to put their class projects on hold when remote learning started, they have not been forgotten! Here are a few that we will continue when we come back to the classroom.
A completed “roly poly.” This was the project that students completed during remote learning.
The Healing Power of Storytelling
by Kim Allsup
Waldorf educators teach through stories. A eurythmy teacher skips around a circle with a class while telling a story about a squirrel. A language teacher tells a story in French while illustrating the tale with puppets. Physical education teachers often base games on imagery from a story. Class teachers teach history through biographies and math through engaging stories that illustrate a concept. In fact, Rudolf Steiner designed the grades curriculum around a set of stories for each grade level. (more about this later.)
Waldorf teachers also use stories to support the healing of individual children or the social life of a class. As a class teacher I've told stories to help children process grief, to support self confidence and to deal with unexpected circumstances. Like many Waldorf parents and grandparents, I've also relied on stories as a source of connection with my own children and my grandchildren. I encourage you to explore stories as a powerful way to relate with and support your children.
It helps to have an ongoing story that you add to almost every day. You can borrow a character from a book or make up your own characters. I once told an ongoing story about a talking cat who had the ability to sniff out pirate treasures buried under sand. He worked with Captain Obadelia, a reformed pirate who hunted for treasures which she donated to charities. My first ongoing story was one I told as a live in summer babysitter when I was thirteen. It was about a tiny person who lived in a radio and was the source of the radio's voices. I also remember telling a story about animals from a zoo who would sneak out at night and take my son on adventures. And then there was the set of stories for my daughter about Elfrie and Elfred, two elves who accompanied us on a cross country excursion. I had great fun making up these fantastical stories and I think my listeners enjoyed them as well.
An ongoing story provides a setting for healing episodes. Is your little child afraid of bugs? You could show your ongoing character making friends with an insect. Is your child so shy that they rarely talk with others? You can introduce a secondary character who is also very shy. Your story can show the beauty of life as an introvert. At the same time you can show the shy character slowly gaining enough confidence to speak with the main character who your child already knows well and is clearly a trustworthy person (or cat or hippo or whale.)
As I mentioned earlier, Rudolf Steiner prescribed a story theme for each age level. As I moved through the grades with my students, I was continually amazed by the power by Rudolf Steiner's vision of a story-centered curriculum.
Steiner perceived that:
All children go through similar developmental phases characterized by both behavioral tendencies and central questions and concerns.
Children can be supported through each stage by stories that shine a light on their inner journey.
The inner journey of each child is akin to the journey of the history of civilization. Steiner's story content for each grade level connects the central questions and strivings of each developmental age in childhood to the central questions and strivings of particular historical cultures. For instance, he saw that fantasy-rich first graders would be met by imaginative fairy tales and that fifth graders would appreciate the ancient Greek culture and other stories from Ancient Civilizations.
As I moved through the grades with multiple classes I was continually amazed by the deep connections children made with the story curriculum Steiner prescribed. A study of Steiner's indications about the developmental journey of each age can help you make deep connections with your young listeners when you create healing stories.
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Today, children and many parents are stuck at home to protect public health. So much has changed for children unexpectedly and all at once: daily routines, traditions, social lives, ways of playing and approaches to learning.
As a former Waldorf teacher, my impulse was, of course, to create a story to help children adjust to their new normal. I chose a medieval prince as a role model. Prince Ronduin is stuck in a castle surrounded by flood waters. He misses his friends and his usual activities. But he's a resourceful lad. Steiner said that a goal of Waldorf education is for children to become able to "give purpose and direction to their lives."
Prince Roduin, like kids stuck at home today, is sometimes antsy, sometimes sad, and sometimes feels a bit lost. Yet he finds his purpose and direction. He takes initiative to make a jump rope and teaches himself to sew. He puzzles over why the flood waters continue to rise after the rain stops and he finds an answer. He fills quiet times with singing and thinking. I was thrilled when two parents (one in Vietnam and one in India) told me that Ronduin had inspired their children to make their own jump ropes!
When I posted the first chapter of The Secret Prince on my blog I did not know where it would go. I know from my experience that helping stories can have a life of their own. When parents and teachers told me how much the The Secret Prince means to their children, I promised to keep writing chapters as long as we are stuck at home.
I hope you and your children will join Prince Ronduin and Mirabel (and her family) and Sir Andrew and the Queen and the King and Cook Agnes as they, like us, figure our how to live in unexpected times.
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An excerpt from Chapter 17
“So there have been many floods?” asked Ronduin. “And many times our ancestors had to stay in the castle for a long time?”
“Yes, there have been many floods,” said the King. “But maybe only one or two in each person’s lifetime. It seems to us like being stuck in the castle is unusual. And it is for us. But, if this very old castle could speak, it would tell us that in the very long life of a castle, foods happen again and again.”
....The King studied the big book for some time, then he closed it with great care and a long sigh. “I had hoped to learn how many days it took for the floodwaters to disappear. But the book did not tell me. Still, it helps to think about all the ancestors who, like us, had to stay inside for a long time. It helps to know that they figured out how to live differently during those times. And, if they could learn how to live differently, then we can too.”
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related: https://childrengrowing.com/2016/10/27/is-this-part-of-your-emotional-first-aid-kit/
