The World of Books
An introduction to Anthroposophy (A modern day educational & spiritual pathway)
4 weekly meetings
Starting on Thursday 14th August
6.30 pm – 9.00 pm
for parents, staff and friends of CBSS
and......Full Story>>
ANDREW HILL, Master Teacher at Glenaeon, conducts PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASS WORKSHOPS at Freshwater Creek
Steiner Workshops : Find out how the Steiner curriculum can enliven your classroom! Prep - - Class 6 August 15th, 16th &......Full Story>>
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR required at NOOSA PENGARI STEINER SCHOOL
Noosa Pengari Steiner School is a flourishing school on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. Read here about a......Full Story>>
UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN``S DRAWINGS is at last here!!!
This wonderful classic, by Michaela Strauss, has at last been reprinted. It is in Australia in limited quantities......Full Story>>
ATTENTION UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN BOOK-SELLERS
We are delighted to advise that ASSOCIATION OF WALDORF SCHOOLS OF NORTH AMERICA have agreed to represent us as......Full Story>>
DRAWING AND CLAY SUPPLIES AVAILABLE IN MURWILLUMBAH
We have for a long while been unable to get a regular supply of DRAWING MATERIALS and MODELLING CLAY here in the......Full Story>>
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Thumping the Tub Archives |
3-Apr-2000 - Old Stuff |
One of the
special features of Steiner education is that,
when the
new Class 1 is formed,
the
teacher commits him or herself to
the care of those children for 7,
or even 8,
years.
The benefits of this commitment become obvious as the
relationship between the
teacher,
the
children and
their families grows.
The teacher and
the children set out on the
educational journey together,
and
the teacher is as involved in the
creative learning process as the
children.
In essence,
the
Steiner system teaches children that to
love is good,
whereas the
mainstream system teaches that the
child dare not trust too much.
A central part of this teacher?s task is to
intimately understand the
needs of each child,
and
to nurture the
development of a real spirit of sharing and
community within the
class.
In a loving,
structured environment,
with the
encouragement of their classmates and
teachers,
the
children develop and
appreciate their strengths and
work at their difficulties.
The social and
moral learning that takes place in childhood is as important as the
academic.
In the
younger grades,
all subjects are introduced through artistic mediums.
This promotes abilities such as creative and
flexible thinking,
imagining ideas and
problems from different perspectives and
layering one thought upon another as part of a process of problem solving.
Children can attain greater levels of achievement in all subjects through this method,
than from dry lecturing and
rote learning.
Mastery of oral communication is integral to
all learning.
Hearing,
re-telling,
acting and
illustrating stories enriches the
child?s imaginative life and
grasp of language.
The ability to
generate ideas,
communicate them and
bring them to
fruition is essential to
future success in adult life.
Reading and
writing are taught from class 1.
The child first learns to
write using the
shape of the
letters to
suggest meaning,
ie.
M for mountain,
V for valley,
W for waves.
In addition,
they may walk the
shape on the
floor in the
classroom and
draw pictures that include the
shape.
This allows a deeper connection with,
and
an understanding of the
letters,
rather than just memorising the
abstract shapes.
The children write words and
read their own writing before working with printed literature.
An understanding of numbers is built on the
basis of concrete,
real-life tasks - such as dividing a cake to
share,
estimating,
measuring and
through counting aloud,
chanting of tables,
musical rhythms and
skipping games.
These learning experiences are real and
meaningful.
The children may also learn games such as chess,
which enhance thinking and
mathematical ability.
We aim throughout the
classes to
share the
finest literature with the
students,
which is appropriate to
their age.
The stories told by the
teacher change as the
child develops,
correlating the
era of human history with the
developmental stages of the
child.
For 6-7 year olds the
teacher may draw mainly on folk and
fairy tales,
moving on at age 8 to
fables and
legends,
to
Old Testament stories at age 8-9.
Norse stories and
sagas are presented at age 10,
Greek myths and
legends at age 11 and
the Roman period at age 12.
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