the enchanted knoll

reflections on the college experience

Every morning these past five weeks, I would walk to Steiner College. Through a curved path lined with rosemary, day lilies, pittosporum, Japanese maples, and river rock, I entered into a magical realm atop a wooded knoll in Fair Oaks, California. There, the transformative process of becoming a Waldorf teacher took place. And the five week program ended today, but we take with us somthing we will carry for the rest of our lives.

We came together from far away, from diverse backgrounds, connected by the strong feeling that we would find at Steiner College whatever it was that would strengthen our work-lives. In the above picture, a few of us stand with Laura Embrey-Stine (in yellow polo top), co-author with Ernst Schuberth on the book Form Drawing, Grades One through Four.

Our classes introduced us to the teachings of Steiner and the concepts of Waldorf education. One integral component of the experience is inner work, that to be good educators, one must really be attuned to one's own inner life and to the souls of the children. Above, we were walking the paths of our form drawings. It will be for the children, but for us, it was just one exercise of many that allowed us to cultivate the holistic spirit.

In Waldorf education, it is all about the balance of the feeling, thinking, and willing - or heart, head, and hands. The woodshop is one room where the balance can be achieved. The act of working the wood combines all three aspects of one's life. Bodo Langen, seated in the above picture with his foot in a tub of iced water, was our instructor. He sprained his left foot early in our program. Intuitively, I came over to examine his foot, and with some stretching and pressing and holding his foot over the two weeks I was in his class, Bodo really believed I helped in his recovery! As a gesture of gratitude, he gave me an excellent book entitled Educating through Arts and Crafts, edited by Michael Martin. He says I am a "true healer," and a new friend.

Patrick Wakeford-Evans, the Academic Dean, and our instructor for inner work and theosophy, guided us in the richly complex world of the soul, and the cultivation of meditative practices. Our discussions with him had been fruitful, as he always had insights that are poignant and practical.

Our classes were held mostly at the heart of the campus. This room above is of the Barn. With unusual clerestory windows, and painted in a wash of pinks and blues, it was a backdrop for framed prints of eurythmy poses, and for many sessions sharing our biographies, and inner work, and learning about the art of the main lesson.

One of my classmates is Jo Rabbetts. She has a wonderful spirit and personality, clearly expressed in this photo I took of her while at our inner work class. Like with all of my other classmates, my friends and colleagues, the five week program showed us that there is something living within us, the living artist, according to Antje Staub, and the outward expression is like that seen in Jo's face: I am here for you, genuinely joyful, nurturing, gentle, creative, strong in my will to do good in the world, learn from me, and I will learn from you, I reveal to you my spirit, my heart, my hands, take from me what you need to become a person who also will do good in the world.

verse for joey

a poem for my daughter

A Waldorf tradition, the individual verse is written by the teacher for the student near the beginning of the year (starting in 2nd grade to the 6th grade, thereafter a verse is chosen from classical literature). The words reflect the teacher's wish for the child's development, or to praise the strengths of the child, or to give encouragement and lift a struggling child. The individual verse can be written by anybody, for anybody, wishing to convey in a poetic and artisitic way the thoughts and feelings you want to share. I wrote the following verse for my daughter Joey, who is going to a Girl Scout camp for a few days. See you in a couple of days, Joey!

She crafts with the hands
Of a learned soul
Brilliant fibers
With colors so bold.

She strums the guitar
While her heart sings
Musical verse
On Calliope’s wings.

Her gifts are many
Blessed are we
A family full of joy
And happiness a plenty.

She is my daughter
My wonderful girl
Bringing truth and love
To this great world.

Though you may be
Far from my sight
My spirit walks with you
And tucks you in at night.

Go and discover
Mountains to climb
Good, brave child
Daughter of mine.

graduation 2009

a four-year metamorphosis

In support of my colleagues who are graduating from their four year summer teacher education program, I attended their evening ceremony. Pictures from the night would have been nice to see, but as I am finding out with many of our events, we are all so in the moment of the experience of a song, or verse, or dance, enthralled by the swirling energy, consumed by the force of a collective spirit, it is often hard to step away from that and snap a picture! No wonder so many Waldorf teachers become poets - it is a way to translate and express those moments later on.

So, with that said, I must say, to express the evening in a blog will not do it justice. With a sense of awe and pride, I watched as the twenty-eight graduates entered the main hall of the college as they sang Pachelbell's Allelulia. The song swelled when their processional reached the stage. Applause and reverence.

Patrick Wakeford-Evans and Irene Francois welcomed the graduates. Irene greeted us in French, as some of the graduates were a group from Montreal. Bodo Langen, my woodcarving instructor, was honored as the opening faculty speaker, and he spoke of metamorphosis. Truly, the path is one of change, of birth, and awakening. Much in the same way as rough, natural wood is transformed into a vessel or lyre or something else functional and beautiful, so do we undergo a metamorphosis, one of a spiritual nature.

Student speaker, Marisol Thellier, addressed the faculty, graduates, and guests. With her French accent, she spoke about their shared journey. Along that journey, she spoke of painting, and in the word painting, is pain. She used the process of art as a metaphor for the act of working the will, of the intensity needed to create something beautiful. Surely, the work on our own selves is a task that can be painful, perhaps in a sense that conscious effort can be emotionally and physically taxing, or the act of releasing preconceived notions can be difficult, or the act of opening up to receive new thoughts can be a challenge. To learn new skills, new paradigms, to trust change - yes, all come with the initial pain.

But, if I may add, in the word pain is in. So to take the thought thread further, after the pain, is the blossoming of one's in, the inner life. And another step further from that, in the word in, is the i - or I. The singular aspect of who you are.

Songs were sung beautifully, Indianalieder, The Veil of Destiny, from the Magic Flute, and Siyahamba, an African freedom song. And eurythmic pieces were performed, Gibraltar, Der Wolkendurchleuchter, and Autrefois.

Closing faculty speaker, Antje Staub, delivered an eloquent blessing for the graduates and all in attendance. She sent us forth into the world as living artists. It is what we all should strive to be in our work and play as Waldorf educators, as citizens of the world. To express the beauty of the universe and the individuality of the inner soul, this is being a living artist. To share it generously and joyfully, this is being a living artist. To respect the processes of creative transformation, this is being a living artist.

The graduates were honored with a short verse from Patrick Wakeford-Evans, and sent across the stage, and under a rainbow veil, to complete their metamorphosis. Changed individuals, the pain behind them, enlightened and enlivened, educators who will love their children, living artists.

nestling visitor

the joys of nature

We had a reprieve in the yardwork this Saturday morning. Amidst the raking, and pick-axeing, pruning, and planting, a baby bird just hopped into Rabbie and Navy's home. We knew there were many birds in the trees and shrubs all around, but it was a welcome surprise to see a nestling visit us from some mysterious roost nearby! My first thought was that its parents must be worried, as it was so small and awkward, with downy feathers, and clearly unable yet to fly.

We had even created a box full of soft foliage for it to lay in, but it hopped right out. I held it in my hand, felt its steady heartbeat, felt its chest move when it chirped, looked into its big, inky eyes. It almost fell asleep in the warmness of my hand.

Adult birds would chirp around us and the nestling would respond. Perhaps it did not need us after all. I set it down near where we had first encountered it, into the ivy and lemon balm. Soon thereafter, I caught a glimpse of the adult bird hop over to it, then it began to hop away, with the baby bird following along right behind the adult bird!

I will miss baby bird, I think it liked our family, but its spirit would soar higher with its fellow birds, and I am happy for that.

hopi prophecy

courage to create a new world

You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered. . . .

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?

Know your garden.
It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for your leader.

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the one wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

wood wisdom

the emergence of will through woodworking

A sturdy gentleman of German descent, Bodo Langen, guided our small class of five students through a memorable journey into woodworking that lead ultimately into the shaping of our creative souls. A dedicated Waldorf educator, he gave us insights into the pedagogy of this ancient art while facilitating our hands on experience in cutting, gouging, and carving wood. Often, over the sound of mallets tap-tap-tapping on gouges, he would speak in his resonant voice and say things like, "The inner part of the vessel is your soul life, as you shape the wood, you shape your Self."

In the two week course, in a workshop dedicated to woodworking and metalworking, with heavy wooden work tables set firmly in the middle of the room, shelves lined with gouges, planers, mallets, and cabinet scrapers, and several pieces of wood that would become bowls and lyres stacked on shelves against the walls, my project took shape, and I deepened an understanding of my own will force.

I was no stranger to the species of wood I worked with: poplar. A wonderful, tight grain with sweeping lines of beige and gray green, soft enough to carve, hard enough to retain its strength and form. Interestingly, I had originally picked out a board of alder, as I had not used it before. Perhaps intuitively, Bodo suggested I try the poplar. He did not know I use poplar in the wood puzzles and sprites I create through Syrendell. Somehow, I must be connected to the poplar so I gladly accepted Bodo's recommendation. Woodworking is all about the process. The end product, while satisfying to reach, is secondary to the woodworker's meditative and highly focused process of bringing the beauty out of the wood.

The journey began with a stroll through the olive orchard at Rudolf Steiner College, searching for the felled branches with the right amount of moisture to use: too wet and green, and the wood will shift in its form over time, too dry, and the wood is brittle and cracked. We returned to the wood shop, and one of the class used an olive branch for her project, the rest of us used wood of different species, some already cut into lumber. After cutting the wood to an approximate desired size, gouging begins.

The gouge is a sharp-tipped, curved metal blade with a wood handle. It can be struck with a mallet to remove larger pieces from the project. For more precise work, the handle is held in one hand, palm up, providing the forward motion, and the other hand is positioned on the metal blade to guide the sharp tip. Using the gouge represents the will force. The active pushing of the gouge, an extension of one's arm and physical being, symbolizes the force exerted to meet the need for the human being to shape the physical world. Concurrently, the other hand, as it guides the tip, acts as the will's thinking partner. The will is balanced in this elegant metaphor. Power and strength, tempered by conscious restraint and judgment.

The interior aspect of my bowl symbolizes my inner soul. The exterior aspect of the bowl symbolizes the outer world. The outer surface can also be regarded as the interface of the human with the environment. We had started working on our projects by first removing wood to shape the interior space, then moving on to work on the outside surface. Perhaps this represents the way the human should meet the world: consciously working on the inner life will reflect outwards to shape the outer life.

Translating all this wood wisdom to the Waldorf classroom, the young student at 12 to 14 years old has entered a developmental phase where he or she, in awakening to the separation of self and environment, must be active in the world to remain connected to it and to make a difference in it. Woodworking clearly is a way to experience the process of shaping the world. The exertion of the child's feeling, thinking, and willing Self, through the wood, has a lasting impression on the soul life of the child.

For those of you interested in incorporting the arts into your classroom or homeschool experience, check out Educating through Arts and Crafts, edited by Michael Martin. It is a compilation by craft artists and teachers of the pedagogy and techniques of working with wood through the middle school and high school years.

king quercus

a nature story

Once there was a beautiful kingdom ruled by a mighty and wise king named King Quercus. King Quercus wore a golden green crown, and was loved throughout the land, for he ruled with goodness in his heart. His kingdom had magnificent rolling hills with wildflowers, camellia shrubs, and many streams, but there were no trees.

The people of the kingdom had no shade in hot summers, no place for children to climb and play, and no place for birds to build nests.

This made King Quercus sad, so one evening he decided to ask the royal wizard to cast a spell on him.

In the morning, when the kingdom had awaken, King Quercus was nowhere to be found. But in the castle courtyard, there stood a mighty tree. The people gathered around the tree and began to sing and dance. The children laughed and played. The birds built their nests among its branches, and even squirrels started to collect the acorns.

A child pointed to the highest branch of the mighty tree, and there, glistening in the sun, was the golden green crown of King Quercus.

laphh often

mindfulness of our blessings

love

abundance

peace

health

happiness

a

sunday rhythm

maintaining equilibrium

Everyday, we try to maintain a dynamic equilibrium. We follow the natural law of earth's ecosystems. Life moves forward, it evolves, we change, and along the way, we strive for balance in our daily living.

My studies with Waldorf education and anthroposophy, now entering the fourth week, has been about transformation, about learning new processes and ways of thinking, movement into higher planes of awareness - the dynamic forces currently in my life.

So to balance that, for me to maintain equilibrium, a centering of my own spirit, the grounding force, is my children.

first grade math

an overview

The first grader is introduced to arithmetic in a multisensory approach, bringing math to life, or life to math! A Waldorf teacher or inspired homeschooling parent will show the child that math is everywhere around us. Why should introduction to counting happen on a piece of paper, why not through observing caterpillars on a bush? One can tell stories of knights and golden apples, or Little Red Riding Hood delivering chocolate chip cookies to grandma and the animals of the forest! How many eggs did the three hens lay? Sing and stomp and clap on every other foot for even or odd numbers. Use math gnomes to show the operations (the ones pictured above were a family project as a gift for Wilson, our youngest).

I thought of using the scenario of pizza delivery math gnomes to teach the operations:

1. Have a mini pizza box for each child.

2. You or the child can make 12 slices of pizza, any toppings!

3. Then wait for someone to call your pizza delivery store.

Brrrng, brrrng!

(Singing with your hand like a phone to your ear):

Thank you for calling the math pizza gnomes,

We will bring pizza right to your home,

So tell me please, what kind would you like to buy,

Plus, minus, divide, or multiply?

Plus pizza, please.

One plus pizza, coming right up!

All right children, let's bake five slices of pizza. Now put those slices in the box. Now let's bake three more, and put those in the box. Close your box, and let's deliver the pizza!

(The kids then skip or walk around the room and stop - at the person's house who ordered the pizza.)

All right, pizza gnomes, open your box and tell me, how many slices of pizza do you have?

8!

You have so much creative freedom to really make math fun for the first grader. Here is a list of general math objectives for the first grader (this list is followed at Sacramento Waldorf, other schools may vary to some degree):

1. Concept of whole numbers, 1-12.

2. Counting forwards and backwards in a variety of ways.

3. The writing and reading of Roman and Arabic numerals.

4. The four mathematical operations.

5. Understanding of numerical magnitude.

6. Rhythmic counting by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10.

7. Mental and written math with the four operations.

8. Concept of whole which can be divided.

9. Odd and even numbers.

10. Number rhymes and patterns.

And if someone asks what is the most important number? You say one. One world. One body. One sun. And in the oneness, exists the many parts.

Happy counting!

really knowing you

inner work leads to outward consciousness

An integral component of the teacher training program at Steiner College is inner work. To be an excellent teacher, one must cultivate the sense-ability to really know the student. As is true of all aspects of one's life, developing the heightened awareness of another individual's true self creates immensely positive results.

Our course on inner work, lead by the Academic Dean of Steiner College, Patrick Wakeford-Evans, is valuable in the process of becoming Waldorf educators. The required text for the class is called "How to Know Higher Worlds," by Rudolf Steiner. It contains insights and practical exercises in developing heightened sensitivity.

Today, a fine way to end the week, Patrick gave us a juicy morsel of wisdom. (While the book is a good resource, it does not compare to the vitality of the spoken word, especially through Patrick, who is good at clarifying many of Steiner's concepts.) In my own words:

How can you really know another individual?

See the physical being. Now peel away that layer.

See the person's abilities and talents. Peel away that layer.

See the person's desires and motivations. Peel away that layer.

What is left do you see?

The striving of the individual. The striving...

Deeper than your genetic material, the skills you may possess, or the desires that move you, the authentic you is on a lifelong path of transformation. To recognize it in oneself is part of inner work. To be able to see it in others, to be attuned to the vibe of another individual's soul, then you have raised your conscious awareness to make a difference in the lives of others.

writing verses

creativity from the heart

In the Waldorf classroom, verses are an important part of the rhythms of the day. During circle time for the lower grades, the teacher directs the students through verses that are accompanied by movements. In this way, the children are involved in a multisensory experience that speaks to their hearts and souls. The verses may be poems, songs, ballads, or reflective prose. Steiner himself had written many verses used in the Waldorf classroom and in anthroposophical circles. Often, the words from these verses give thanks to the wonders of the world around us.

The Waldorf teacher can pull from a vast resource of poems, nursery rhymes, and songs to use in his or her classroom, or the teacher may even compose one. Thoughtfully designed with movements, the verse adds a practical, yet spiritual, touch to the Waldorf classroom. Here is one I wrote for the first grade circle time (you can create your own movements):

Good day to you and you my friends,
Together we stand as one,
A circle formed in loving light,
Sparkly sprinkles of morning sun.

Good day, big blue sky.
Good day, turquoise sea.
Good day, great green earth.
Good day, mighty tall tree.

And look
Into our circle a caterpillar crawls,
She says,
"Good day my friends, one and all."

journey unfolds

curriculum for the first grader

First grade is an exciting time for the young child, and for the teacher as well! The child is transitioning out of the first seven year cycle (toddler and kindergarten years), and is at the threshhold of developing his or her awareness of the Self and of the World.

In this blog post, I wanted to outline the curriculum of the first grader, and briefly touch on the reasoning behind it. For the formal classroom teacher or the homeschooling parent of a 7 to 8 year old child, this is information that will align you to current Waldorf pedagogy. Please remember to treat the information as guidelines - each Waldorf school has their own culture and requirements, and each homeschooling parent has the benefit of the parent-child relationship to know what is truly right for the child.

This post is organized as follows:

Key Developmental Features of the First Grader

Beginning the Day

The Block Rotations: A Year's Curriculum

A Weekly Schedule

Art of the Main Lesson

Key Developmental Features of the First Grader

The first grade child is about 7 years of age. He is transitioning out of the otherworldly plane of early chidlhood where the Spirit Self has not yet completely touched down onto the earthly plane of their own physical body. (Picture our toddlers as angels sent down from heaven, and as they turn about seven years of age, their senses come into more focus that they are a physical entity with the wonders of the world about to unfold before their eyes!) As a first grader, the child has the sense of connectedness to the world around them. Oneness with their peers and their environment is a major part of their being. They think in terms of "we" instead of "I." The imagination is strong, their physical development is crucial.

Beginning the Day

In the classroom or the homeschool, create a setting, a mood, that exudes welcome and warmth. Because the child's spirit is so connected to the environment, the spaces where the learning is happening needs to be positive and welcoming. The teacher can make a physical connection with the students through a firm handshake, and emotionally create the caring bond through genuine eyes and a joyful smile. Receive the child, and become attuned to his or her vibe. Harmonize the entire class through a routine morning program of a simple song, or a verse, and always with body movement, preparing the teacher and the class for the lessons and adventures of the day.

The Block Rotations: A Year's Curriculum

In the Waldorf classroom, the subjects are blocked together. These blocks comprise what is called the Main Lesson (more on that later). Here is the first grade curriculum:

Month and Subject

September: Form Drawing

October: Introduction to Vowels

Oct/Nov: Numbers (Times Tables)

Nov/Dec: Intro to Consonants and Crafts

December: Winter break

January: Form Drawing

Jan/Feb: Numbers (Add and Subtract)

February: Consonants

Mar/Apr: Numbers (Division)

May: Letters/Phonics/Reading

June: Numbers (Multiply)

A Weekly Schedule

The first grade schedule is not a full day, as it recognizes that the child's stamina for the structured learning environment, no matter how loving and wonderful, needs time to develop. The day appears to be less than four hours total.

Typically, from 8:30 t0 10:30, MTWRF, the main lesson is given. From about 10:40 to 11:15, the foreign languages are taught, alternating between Spanish and German, MTWR. On Friday, this same time may be occupied by handwork. The last period of the day may go something like this: Monday, handwork; Tuesday, games and beeswax; Wednesday, eurythmy; Thursday, music; and Friday, painting.

Art of the Main Lesson

The main lesson is the bread and butter of Waldorf education. Here, the teacher is also a performance artist, a visual artist, musician, and storyteller all rolled into one joyful, clever, and impossibly creative educator!

The two hour block is comprised of four half hour segments. The first half hour is circle time, designed to bring the students into a collective spirit with movements and singing. This first hald hour focuses on the students' feeling life, and brings the heart's rhythms into synchronicity with the environment, invigorating their imaginations and their bodies.

The second half hour focuses on their thinking life, as this is the time for recall and review of previous material, plus the introduction of new material. Their intellectual selves are challenged, their brains are exercised, and their minds become expanded.

The third half hour is work in the main lesson book (this needs its own space to describe). Briefly, the MLB is this da Vincian-like journal that mixes art and the intellect to show off the progression of their daily learning. Here, their willing lives are practiced, as the learning is translated to their hands.

And finally, in the final half hour, a story is told, often drawn from the Grimm's fairy tales, and the child's experience combines the feeling, thinking, and willing self.

Through the entire main lesson, the teacher weaves the learning material into all the aspects of the lesson. In this way, learning is experiential and multisensory, anchoring the material, whether it be math, or the langauge arts, or science, into the being of the child.

philosophy of freedom

a study group's thirst for knowledge

As if it wasn't enough that I am in the middle of my foundation studies in the intense five week Summer Teacher Education program at Rudolf Steiner College, I am also in a study group discussing the fundamental points of Philosophy of Freedom. My thirst for knowledge clearly outweighs my desire for sleep!

In the second chapter titled The Fundamental Desire for Knowledge, Rudolf Steiner poses that we "seem born to be dissatisfied." He quotes from Goethe's Faust:

Two souls reside, alas, within my breast,

And each one from the other would be parted.

The one holds fast, in sturdy lust for love,

With clutching organs clinging to the world;

The other strongly rises from the gloom

To lofty fields of ancient heritage.

Steiner agrees that within man resides a natural human characteristic: our thirst for knowledge. From this universal quest arises the distinction of I and World. (In a previous blog, Clash of Spirits, I posed that the thirst for knowledge does not necessarily have the same quality among cultures, resulting in the fall of the native american culture.)

Our awareness that we are separate from the World, yet are united with the World, creates the "spiritual striving of mankind." (Steiner, POF) We continually seek to understand our place in the universe. During Steiner's time, two prevailing theories existed, of which both were inadequate to fully elucidate the relationship of the I and the World.

The two theories are dualism and monism. Monism is further subdivided into materialism, spiritualism, and - this is just my term for it - atomism.

Dualism acknowledges that the I and the World exist as two entities, but does not reconcile the connection between the two. For dualists, the I exists purely in the spiritual realm, and the human body and the world are of the physical realm, of matter, of the senses.

Monism is concerned only with the unity of the I and the World. Materialistic monism swings heavily towards physical processes as explaining the origin of thoughts, that the phenomenon of thinking really is the result only of the brain, rooted firmly in matter. Spiritual monism is on the other side of the coin, that we are a product only of the spirit world. The third version takes the atom and within it resides the unity of the physical and the spiritual worlds. According to Steiner, all are inadequate in giving us a more accurate working framework with which we can study our Selves and our place in the World.

In this second chapter of Philosophy of Freedom, Steiner does not reveal the answers, he merely presents us with the positions of his contemporaries, and examines the inadequacies.

Through my first two weeks of studying Steiner and theosophy, I believe Steiner reconciles the duality of the human condition through his delineation of the soul aspects of the human being. Basically, at the intersection of the physical world and the spiritual world, the human being's I, or Ego, resides, taking on the qualities of both the physical realm - the senses, and the spiritual realm - the origin of thoughts and intuition. The sentient soul, the intellectual soul, and the consciousness soul work in concert to maintain the separation of the I from the World, yet allows for the transformative processes of the human will in striving for unity with the World.

In another previous blog post, Thought Exercise, I gave a reflective exercise drawn from my theosophy class that takes one through the process of honing the soul's spiritual striving. The sentient soul receives the image as feelings, the intellectual soul as thinking, and the consciousness soul as meaning and willing.

The thirst for knowledge, ultimately, is quenched with meaningful action.