Feeling the Passing of Time

The changing of seasons is subtle. Birds flying south, leaves slowly changing, mushrooms growing, squirrels scurrying, Michalemas daisies blooming, that first hint of crisp morning air, pumpkin patches bursting.

A recent post about “calendar time” and preschoolers by Kristen Peterson from Play Based Learning had me chuckling. The post highlighted the struggles teachers have in getting preschoolers to participate in this circle time activity and the post essentially said the activity is over preschoolers heads and they are bored. It isn’t a developmentally appropriate activity. I think this is something that is more understood than we think it is, but calendar time has become so ingrained in the preschool experience that I feel it will take a lot for Early Childhood Educators to let it go.

According to Steiner’s indications on child development, children before age seven don’t have the memory capacity for days of the weeks and months of the year to mean anything to them. They are physical beings; everything they learn is tied to their senses. They are sense beings. They need to DO and BE and FEEL.

The focus on nature and the passing of the seasons, as well as the celebration of festivals, are a large focus in Waldorf education. And this focus serves a purpose. When we attend and marvel at what is happening in nature, when we create traditions around yearly festival celebrations, we also begin to plant the seeds of feeling the passing of time.

When my daughter was young, she would see Michalemas daisies and automatically ask if the pumpkins were ready to be picked, because over the years, her experiences at the pumpkin patch filled with daisies created a very concrete connection of time and place. We all marvel at the sight and sounds of the hundreds of geese flying south this time of year, and we know the cooler shorter days are coming. These are physical and sensual ways of experiencing and feeling time.

Children don’t need calendars with numbers and days of the week. They need to be in nature where they can FEEL time passing. They need traditions through the year so they can place events in order and connect them with the seasons. They need to move and taste and smell and touch and collect and become ONE with the passing of time to understand it.

The best part is, we as adults don’t need to prompt or teach. We can experience the wonder and awe right beside them. When we sink fully into experiencing the world around us, children follow suit.

Until next time,
Marina