The Gentle Unfolding

One thing I love about Steiner education is the gentle unfolding of the curriculum.

We are in the midst of a science block, focusing on the head.

Starting in grade one,  stories are brought to children to paint a picture of the archetypal human being. These stories continue through the elementary years, but deeper looks at humanity start in grade four with the man and animal block.  Here, children are introduced (through feeling, not through intellect!) to the threefold nature of the human by illuminating connections we have with animals and their characteristics. As the years go on children are repeatedly introduced to similarities between themselves and nature through botany, geology and finally human physiology.  Everything done so that they are not only looking at themselves, but at nature and how everything is connected.

Finally, in high school, we begin to build an appreciation for our own specialties by looking at the inner workings of the human systems more closely.  The goal is not to name each function and faculty of every system in the very materialistic/machinist way modern science looks at the body, but to continue to create a sense of awe over our own make up and see how theories surrounding our human body have evolved.  This is accomplished through hypothesizing, testing, and coming to their own conclusion based on the results.

I will continue to work through the threefold human across the coming years and help them connect to the body and human form in a holistic way that continually connects to the natural world from which we come and the emerging faculties of consciousness and thinking that are growing within.  

I have joined this wonderful group of women on Instagram who over the last few years have brought #wednesdaywaldorfwisdom to your feed.  If you use that particular social media platform, I invite you to follow the hashtag and tap through the different accounts to follow along as we all share our experiences with the Waldorf pedagogy. 

Until next time,
Marina