The Homeschool Journey

Maturation of Thought

One of the exciting things about teaching at the Waldorf high school here in town is the opportunity to work with mixed age classes and to observe the differences between the students not only as individuals, but as young people at various stages of their development.

 

I teach a variety of classes, the most lively of which is a couple of weekly "Life Skills" sessions where groups of us sit around in the student lounge, "chill" and discuss issues like "what does marijuana really do to you?"; "how can we find balance in a consumerist society?"; "how do I know when I'm ready for sex"? and many other intricate and important matters.

 

Each week I am struck by the difference between the two groups I work with. One group consists mainly of juniors and seniors (some 18 or close to 19 years of age) and the second group is mainly freshmen with a sprinkling of sophomores and one lone senior (the irregularities of the scheduling of language classes determines which group a student is in). Time and time again, the older students want to discuss the philosophical implications of the topics we're examining, the moral how's and why's, the larger issues. And time and time again the younger ones simply want to know the FACTS. How much pot can you smoke before you might get hooked? What does alcohol do to your body? What is HIV and how does a person get it? And even adding the word"might" in the example above regarding marijuana is frustrating for them! They want formulas, they want black and white rules.

 

From an anthroposophical point of view, these are the years when the young person is searching to articulate the question "who am I and what is my life's task?" It is the time when the young person moves from (hopefully) the sphere of sympathy and antipathy ("I love it" "I hate it") into a maturation which allows for the complexities and nuances of life. This is scary. How comforting it can seem to view life as a series of hard and fast certainties - it is far more unsettling and demands greater emotional and intellectual maturity to navigate the reality of life with all its changes and variables.

 

Working out of Waldorf, out of anthroposophy, can help a parent or teacher guide and support a teen as s/he struggles through this phase of life. As the essence of Waldorf education rests on this picture of the changing consciousness of the developing child, we can find    materials and methods which speak to these changes in the life of our children.

 

Many of you will be familiar with at least the basics of these ideas. Below is a schema I have developed upon reflection on my own work with children from babyhood to near adulthood. This encapsulates my interpretation of the maturation of the thought processes of the growing child:

 

Under 7's - the child accepts what is including that which is imaginative

7 to about 12 - the child accepts what is because loved people (parent/teacher/hero) say it is so

Early adolescence - the teen accepts what is through her own search for truth (sympathy/antipathy)

Late adolescence - the teen accepts what is through his own search for truth (contradictions and nuances)

 

By the phrase "what is" I don't necessarily mean the status quo. Teens, especially, are idealistic and look toward the future. By this phrase, I mean "thoughts", "situations", "models", "possibilities:. I mean to express a phrase which reflects how children in these phases of life tend to think about themselves and their surroundings and how their thought processes mature as they grow.

Review: Daena Ross DVD

Some time ago Rahima Baldwin sent me a number of DVD's of talks and workshops from her conferences for me to review.  It has taken me some time to get round to doing this (apologies Rahima if you read this!) but I am delighted to say that I have started to view the DVD's and that I am, so far, very excited about what I have seen.

 

The first DVD I watched was of Daena Ross' keynote speech at the Boulder Informed Family Life Conference last year. I was especially excited to review this talk as I was in the audience at the time (right behind the camera woman actually!) and although last minute fussing about the workshops I was presenting there prevented me from listening as deeply to Daena as I should have, I came away from that talk filled with enormous respect for Daena and a feeling of joy as I finally felt that I understood something of the twelve senses. The twelve senses can be  very esoteric and very involved - Daena does an amazing job of clearly and cleanly navigating this subject.

 

Anthroposophy recognizes and places great importance not only on the usual 5 senses that all of us are familiar with, but with an interrelated picture of twelve senses which enable the human being to come to a place of ease within himself and therefore with his encounters with the world. In Daena's deceptively straightforward and matter-of-fact talk, she lays out an elegantly simple schema of these senses as they are divided into three sets of four. Starting with the lower senses (touch, life sense, self movement sense,balance) and then working through the middle senses (smell, taste, vision, warmth sense), she then shows how the proper nurturing of these lower senses is vital for the right development of the higher senses (hearing, language sense, thought sense, ego sense). It is fascinating to note that these latter higher senses are all social senses - that they are the awareness that one has of the speech, thought and sense of self of another person - not of oneself. Hearing is the bridge between these realms.

 

As the anthroposophical view of challenges such as autism has to do with the organization of the child's sense of self especially in relation to another person, a conscious working with the twelve senses is of vital importance to any parent or educator striving to work with such children. All parents who are interested in the therapeutic value of Waldorf education should get a copy of this DVD as a gentle, friendly and incredibly helpful introduction to this topic.

 

And all other parents should get it too! The nurturing of the senses is of grave importance for all our children, whether a child displays challenges or not. Daena gives humorous and playful examples of practical ways to work with the twelve senses that all parents can use in their homes. This DVD is available from www.informedfamilylife.org

Review: Autism: A Holistic Approach

Life works in mysterious ways. Life takes circles and weaves spirals  - it goes one direction and then doubles back on itself. This is how I am feeling these days as I contemplate the work that I do via Christopherus and as a Waldorf teacher and as I work with my homeschooled son.

 

To be more specific, I am amazed at the way I seem to have long episodes in my life when "children with challenges" come to the fore. Sometimes gently, sometimes more assertively, they call my attention to the fact that my heart's work is involved with the healing of "children with challenges" and that their stories are the ones that speak the most deeply to me - and to which I feel humbly honored to be able to offer some assistance.

 

Who are these children? Who were those children who tried to burn down their apartments (flats) back in London when I first started on this journey? Who were those grown children - those adults with special needs - that I lived with in Camphill? Who was that special family who I lived with in another Camphill-inspired community? Who are these children whose parents phone me for consultations? These troubled or problematic teens at the high school where I teach? All children are special - but it is the stories of these children and the special challenges that they carry that speak most poignantly to me. And is it coincidence that both of my sons have displayed challenges (not severe, but enough to take note of) at different times of their lives?

 

Recently I have had a small flood of calls from parents with such children - a wake up call to me, for me to further clarify and hone the path of my work. One small attempt I made recently in this direction was to read the book,  Autism: A Holistic Approach by Bob Woodward and Marga Hogenbloom. I was flooded with fond memories of being in a Camphill Community when I read this as it is based on the therapeutic work that Bob Woodward participates in daily as he lives and works in such a community in England.

 

In recommending this book to homeschoolers I am taking a great risk - this book is about children at the far end of the spectrum of need in terms of challenges such as autism - the children who live in Camphill communities are not those who can live easily at home - though some, in time, might certainly be able to return to more independent lives. As such, this book is about the absolute importance of the therapeutic community. So a homeschooling parent who has a child with challenges but who wants - and can - keep him or her home might find herself dismayed or even disheartened by some of what this book says.

 

So I urge people to read this - as I think it is extremely valuable and has much to offer parents of children with a range of challenges within the autism/Asperger's spectrum - but with caution. Take what is useful. Live into the case histories and the details of the therapies used and imagine how you could bring some of the elements used in Camphill to your child. Work with the anthroposopophical ideas around what autism is, how it effects the human being. And glory in the uplifting message of this book - that human beings come to the earth with a purpose and with karma - and that each of us works on our path in a different way. Autism then can be seen not so much as a problem to be fixed, but as a path that a child walks - a path needing our love, support and encouragement - but not our ability to fix or to mend.

 

Which isn't to say that diagnoses of autism and Asperger's cannot be modified - even abandoned completely - over time. This isn't to say that healing and development aren't possible - are very possible! - within those terms.  It isn't to say that many of the diagnosed come to be "normal" once a healing path is undertaken - and that the diagnosis can be regarded as a label which has expired.  But rather that we as parents and teachers and those who care for children with challenges (and many others aside from autism and Asperger's) do not need to burden ourselves with the load of guilt which one could carry if one sets out to "fix" the problem.

 

Much of this book is about cultivating a kind of openness and basic respect for the child with challenges, understanding that his or her behaviors, though they might seem irrational to us, have to do with her need to understand and experience her world - but in her own way which feels safe to her. To get anywhere with such a child requires real self knowledge on the part of the parent/teacher/therapist. Rudolf Steiner "repeatedly emphasized the moral tenor which should underlie any interventional methods, and educators were called upon to have respect and reverence for the child's real being above all else. In a sense, the child's own being could tell them what needed to be done, in each individual case, but this required educators to consciously develop their powers of empathy." (page 181).

 

Lastly, I recommend this book to anyone who seeks to understand the therapeutic relevance of the anthroposophical view of the development of the human being, especially the enormous importance of the twelve senses. Please see my review of Daena Ross' dvd on this topic for further information.

Music Lessons

 

One thing that it is of paramount importance when considering music lessons for a young child is not to bring under 7's prematurely into their heads, into intellectual experiences. Little ones have a natural feel for rhythm - and rhythm, whether that which orders ones' day or that which moves through music, has health enhancing benefits. And, further, little ones learn best by imitation - nothing is easier than teaching a young child a song or any movement based on a melodious, rhythmic form.  Another point is that the young child has a different consciousness from us adults and is best approached via pictorial, imaginative language. (By the way, parents might consider how much easier it is to "sing" their children into doing what needs to be done rather than constantly talking to them and asking them things - I assure you all - it works  like a dream!).

 

Anyway....bearing all this in mind, if a music program uses imitation - the teacher simply sings or plays an instrument and the children follow, if it is based on healthy rhythmic participation (no lessons on notation or such) and if it's done imaginatively (no technical explanations) then perhaps a parent might want to enroll their child in such lessons - though I honestly can see no compelling reasons for starting formal lessons (however relaxed) before a child's 6th or 7th birthday - and in Waldorf schools individual music lessons on instruments such as the violin or piano are not recommended before the child is around 9 years of age.

 

Speaking of pianos, one of the reasons piano lessons are - well, sort of "frowned on" for young children - in Waldorf circles is that it IS a very "intellectual" and mechanical instrument. The recorder is favored because by playing it, the child herself becomes an instrument - the music arises from within and passes through her and out the recorder (or pentatonic flute). It is also a very therapeutic instrument because by using the breathing, the child can strengthen and bring harmony to her heart/lung area - and with so much asthma these days, this is very important. Also, the heart/lung area is the seat of the rhythmic area.  In playing recorder one is also working with a group - harmonizing, blending in, hearing one's way into communication with others  which is, of course,  an extremely important life lesson for every child. At home, it might just be the parent and the child playing recorder together - but they can still play together. The piano is, for the most part, a solitary instrument and does not require cooperation with another  person.

 

For all you parents of piano playing children who are reading this, if piano is what your child plays, well, there you go! I would definitely recommend you look also into the recorder, though, for the above reasons. And why don't YOU learn it and teach your child! You don't have to be a musical genius to play simple songs on the recorder! (go to the kindergarten page on the Christopherus website to hear and see music for songs suitable to sing with little ones and play on the recorder with slightly older ones).

 

I should say in general one wouldn't want to start any sort of musical instrument with a child before she is 7 (or 6 1/2), before first grade. Any activity which requires close attention and needs a measure of accuracy is a waking up activity - and one wants to preserve the dreaminess of the young child for as long as possible. Singing and musical games do not have this "waking up" effect - indeed, if done in the "mood of the fifth" as recommended by Waldorf early years teachers, it will help preserve this state of consciousness until the child herself matures enough to move on.

 

Back to choosing a music program or teacher, some Suzuki teachers are excellent as the method usually begins by training the ear before progressing onto reading music (again, this is absolutely fundamental to a Waldorf approach - body first - always!! and always work via the senses when you can!). However, some seem to be very driven and perfectionist in their way of teaching - I'd find out as much as possible about the particular teacher first.

 

One last note....many of us pursue activities - whether it is dance, soccer, bassoon or tae kwan do - with our children at a very young age because we are worried that if we don't "get in there early" then we will miss the boat and our child's opportunities for pleasures and experiences we ourselves missed, are over. This simply is not true! Yes, children learn the most and the easiest when they are very small - but the question we must always ask ourselves is what SHOULD they be learning during those tender years? I would say their most important lessons have to do with learning to be human, learning compassion and a sense of awe and rightness in the world. Gentle non directed experiences, surrounded by Mama singing songs, time in nature and plenty of time - unhurried time - to play and BE - those are the vital experiences for little ones. In this way they make strong foundations for future learning - learning which continues to come easily because so many of the stresses which play havoc on their behavior and health simply are not issues because their early years have been so slow, so BORING by our standards! A love of music is the birthright of all human beings - it will not go away if unattended in the early years (by which I mean formal lessons). Think for a moment of tribal peoples - tiny children do not receive formal instruction in music - but they are surrounded by it, live with it, play with it - and the ones who have a gift later become musicians and the ones who don't participate and enjoy as they are able. There is no fear of missing out!