From: darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu (Richard Darsie)
Newsgroups: misc.education
Subject: Waldorf Education: Philosophy
Date: 2 Oct 92 22:00:42 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of California, Davis

In response to a recent post inquiring about Waldorf education, I am
posting here the first of three articles about Waldorf.  Our son is
in kindergarten in the Davis Waldorf School. It's the most nurturing
school environment we have ever seen, and we can't say enough good
about it. I'll post three articles, which are excerpted from this
year's parent handbook (which I happened to type).



                        WALDORF SCHOOL:  Philosophy

Philosophy and Anthroposophy
	As of 1991, the Davis Waldorf School is one of more than five hundred 
Waldorf Schools throughout the world following the Waldorf approach.  The 
first Waldorf School was opened in 1919 by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), 
Austrian philosopher, scientist, architect, artist and teacher, for children 
of the workers in the Waldorf-Astoria tobacco factory in Stuttgart, Germany.  
Since then the Waldorf School movement, founded on the teachers' work with 
Steiner's far-reaching insights and teaching methods, has become the world's 
largest association of independent schools.
	The aim of Waldorf education, as stated by its founder, is "to develop 
free human beings who are able, in themselves, to impart purpose and direction 
to their lives."  This can only be done through educating the whole childQhead, 
heart, and handQtoward the three great ideals of truth, beauty, and goodness.  
These three ideals taken together set the standard of education at a Waldorf 
school.  Rudolf Steiner expresses them in the following way:  "The need [is] 
for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibilityQthese three 
forces are the very nerve of education."
	This goal of education, to develop a balance of intellectual achievement, 
spiritual growth, physical health and personal responsibility, is based on a 
profound understanding of the process of human development.  Each subject is 
introduced to the child when he or she is most ready for it, and in a manner 
to which the child is naturally receptive at that stage.  Year by year, the 
content of the curriculum expands with the ever-growing powers of the child, 
nourishing the inner life successively through stories from fairy tales, 
legends, myths and history, and the outer life with the development of 
individual and social skills.
	Waldorf education recognizes the uniqueness of the individual and the 
spiritual in life.  It lays the foundation for a truly healthy adult 
attitude by developing the child's sense of beauty, wonder, and interest 
in the world of nature and in all humanity.


Nourishing the Soul

As Waldorf parents and teachers we are joining together in a special 
partnership for the growth and development of your child.  As partners, we 
need to be in close touch.  You are the "eyes and ears" at home as we, the 
teachers, are the "eyes and ears" at school.  We are not asking that you 
turn your home into a Waldorf school!  The individual home lives are as 
essential to the childrens' growth as is the quality education they receive 
at school.  Here are a few ways of working together to support your child so 
(s)he may reap the most benefit from her/his school experience.

Rhythm
	Rhythm is essential to all things which have life.  We have the rhythm of 
the year through the relationship of the earth to the sun, which is marked by 
the seasons.  We have the rhythm of the month, which revolves around the moon.  
There are also weekly and daily rhythms.  Adults have learned to partially 
withdraw from these rhythms, but the child is very connected to these and 
other organic rhythms.  When a child is living an orderly and rhythmical 
life, it gives her/him a deep sense of security.

Night Time
In order that the children may fully partake in the school activities, all 
parents are encouraged to protect their childUs rhythms.  Let there be a full 
nightUs sleep for the child, a calm and quiet rhythm for going to bed in the 
evening and rising in the morning, implemented by very little or preferably no 
television.  Overnight guests are best entertained on weekends, and please 
keep in mind that Sunday is a school night.

Monday
Please plan your weekends so that you are home early on Sunday and your child 
can have a "settling in" time.  Your child cannot be alert, calm, and fully 
receptive on Monday mornings if (s)he is still recovering from a weekend full 
of stimulating, overtiring activities.  The lesson planned for Monday morning 
is crucial to all that happens during the remainder of the week, and it is 
important that your children be fully rested and ready to receive it properly.

Warmth and Clothes
Physical warmth is vital to the healthy development of the child.  If a child 
is cold, (s)he must draw heat and energy away from the developing organs to 
warm other parts of the body.  Please dress your child in comfortable clothes 
suitable for the season.  Layering is wise; it safeguards the midsection when 
shirts and pants separate, leaving a vulnerable area to drafts.  We may even 
be going out in the rain to wade in puddles so please be ready with rubber 
boots, an extra pair of socks, and raincoat or poncho with hood or umbrella.  
Even though children sometimes resist neckscarves and hats, they help immensely 
in maintaining warmth.  Remember the children's play is their work.  We are 
dressing them for workQcomfortably and sensiblyQfor climbing trees, digging 
holes, and gardening.  Simple, functional clothing of bright, clear colors 
with shoes that are safe for an outside walk or jumping rope work best for 
the children.  Slogans, cartoons or caricatures on clothing are distracting; 
cowboy boots, clogs and thongs work better in other places.  Save dangly 
jewelry and hair ornaments for parties and special occasions.  It will also 
help the children focus on their work if wrist watches are left at home.

Food
Lunch is a social setting; we spread out our food on placemats, sing or say a 
blessing, and eat together.  The children need nutritious foods in a lunch 
basket or paper sack with two cloth napkins (one for use as a placemat).  We 
encourage the children to eat their main course first and to rewrap and bring 
unfinished foods home.  The children in the grades need to bring a morning 
snack in their lunch basket; the kindergarten children prepare their own snack 
in the classroom.  Please do not send candy or heavily sugared items, although 
occasional tokens of love, such as a cookie wrapped in tissue paper or an 
"I love you" note, are a welcome addition to a healthy lunch.

Electronic Media
	Like all Waldorf teachers, we prefer that our children not be exposed to 
television, videos, audio cassettes or computers and computer games at all.  
The developing child is simply too young and too open to cope with the physical 
effects of these electronic media, not to mention the damaging effect on the 
child's own imaginative faculties, its inappropriate models for imitative 
learning, and its substitution of electronic for human voices.   As with any 
bad habit, it is easier to abstain altogether than to try to limit it each day. 
Therefore we ask your goodwill and support in keeping a media-free environment 
for all the children in kindergarten through 3rd grade.  Further, and in a 
spirit of compromiseQand requesting that you remember that Sunday nights 
through Thursday night are school nightsQwe suggest that from 4th grade on 
there is selected viewing with parents on a limited basis only.