The Homeschool Journey

A Wonderful Circle Time Resource

With so many of our young children displaying various sensory, balance, learning and behavioral challenges, many parents need to learn how to work purposefully to help heal and also prevent such problems. Nancy Blanning and Laurie Clark's new book, Movement Journeys and Adventures: Movement Enrichment with a Therapeutic Approach for Early Childhood is a life saver!

 

This wonderful book starts out with a very useful overview of the twelve senses and how one can address these via movement (the twelve senses include the usual five plus sense of life, sense of self movement and so on).The authors then go on to discuss various animal themed movements that one can use imaginatively with young children. They address equipment such as balance beams and ladders.

 

The heart of the book is a series of stories, exercises and songs  divided up by seasonal themes. The stories are lovely and the exercises are warm, colorful and engaging, perfectly marrying the young child's need for movement with his innate sense of imitation. So many parents I have worked with have experienced therapists approaching their little children in an overly intellectual and developmentally inappropriate way or in a coldly clinical fashion, treating the child as a disorder to be dealt with.  I know that this book will be a beacon of warmth and a wonderful reality check to parents who sense what a child really needs but who need a resource to help them work appropriately with their young children. This resource is equally valuable to parents of children who do not display any challenges but who want to nurture and encourage their child's healthy growth.

 

My only words of caution about this book is that it is clearly written for kindergarten teachers and thus parents will need to make some adjustments. The exercises all assume a group - though many can be adapted for one child. There is also an enormous amount of preparation needed if one is to fully utilize this resource - a kindergarten teacher would expect as part of her work to do this, but at home this could be difficult. My strong suggestion is that parents considering buying this book also buy my Joyful Movement (see Nancy Blanning's review here), working back and forth between them. A parent could then use Movement Journeys for themed inspiration and work with many of the ideas and then turn to Joyful Movement for everyday at home ways to also work in a healthy way with the child's developing senses.

 

The Twelve Senses

Last week we began our study of the Twelve Senses on my discussion forum. Thought some of you blog and newsletter readers might be interested in what this is all about so here I offer a very brief description....

 

Conventional science recognizes five senses - touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing. However, therapists in many fields also seek for ways to describe other qualities that the human being has which are connected to how he or she experiences the world - one hears about a "sense for balance", an "awareness of the other" and so on. Anthroposophy can help fill in the gaps and provide an overarching description and explanation of the totality of the senses and their critical role in mediating between the individual, the world and other people.

 

And so we find twelve senses. These are grouped in three groups of four:

 

The Physical Senses which are directed at an experience of one's own body:

Touch

Life Sense

Self-movement Sense

Balance

 

The Soul Senses which have to do with the relationship between the individual and the world:

Smell

Taste

Vision

Warmth

 

The Spiritual or Social Senses which have to do with relating to another human being:

Hearing

Language Sense

Conceptual or Thought Sense

Sense fo "I" or ego sense

 

There is an interwoven relationship between these senses - and what is crucial is that in order for the Higher Senses to develop properly, the lower senses need to have been nurtured and developed. One can immediately see that a healthy, peaceful movement based, hands-on kindergarten experience as opposed to an early intellectual experience, for instance, is far more enriching for the Lower Senses.

 

Our conversation on the Twelve Senses will take us into December.  We have started with a general discussion about how the senses are grouped. We will then look at each sense in turn. Our goal will be to attempt to understand this subject and how it might effect how we parent and educate our indivudual children. Participants are welcome to bring issues about their own children to the discussion and to brainstorm and share with others on what might be going on with him or her and how s/he might be helped. This also, of course, takes us into some of the territory of our regular discussion on the Therapeutic Waldorf sub forum on another part of the forum.

 

We warmly invite you to consider subscribing to our on-line discussion forum and joining us! Go to the Christopherus homepage for more information!

 

And do have a read of my earlier blog entry reviewing Daena Ross' dvd on this fascinating and important subject:

 

A Note on Therapeutic Talk

Last night after I wrote the blog entry which precedes this one, the one which is an introduction to the free talk on the therapeutic benefits of Waldorf education, I realized that I had left a little too much "wriggle room" in terms of being misunderstood. So I want to lay out a few things clearly, right now, right here:

 

1) I do not believe that parents "cause" autism anymore than they "cause" Down's Syndrome.

 

2) I do, though believe that there are an enormous number of children who exhibit behaviors which lead to their being either labeled with something like autism-spectrum or ADHD but who do not actually have those challenges on an organic level. Rather, these are the children who, because of environmental factors (incl. possible problems from vaccinations, allergies, environmental toxins etc) seem to be autistic or hyperactive or ARE plagued with sensory integration issues. My point about these children is that, given a new environment, a new way of parenting, a new way of educating, these children's lives can be turned around to an amazing extent. Given the healing rhythms of Waldorf, given a new emphasis on the peaceful well ordered home and a parent who changes her perceptions of her child dramatically - thus no longer listening to what the "norms" are - these children can heal enormously. These are the children I have worked with the most and who I have witnessed dramatic changes in - as well as in their parents.

 

3) By acknowledging the above, I do not seek to "blame" parents. People can only do what they know about - and the gist of most of my parenting work is that our society does not know what a child is and thus has wrong - and harmful - expectations of normality. Parents trying to do the best that they can in such circumstances are to be met with compassion - not castigation. That is what I am trying to do. But it is no use saying all the things I have to say and ignoring the part the parents play - it is they, after all, who may not recognize the enormous need for sleep, for instance, that their children need. Or that it is ok for some children to not cope with pre-school. Parents need to find the strength and the information to turn against many of our society's norms in terms of how to raise children - that is what I am trying to provide, an alternative voice. Through my parenting workshops, this blog, my discussion forum - that is my mission and perhaps the most important part of Christopherus' work.

 

4) And of course there are the children who, despite not being vaccinated, having their senses nurtured and not overstimulated, despite great care in their diets and a simple, well ordered home life, still have autism-spectrum disorders or other challenges. Of course. Of course. And here one can only marvel at the heightened sensitivity of this child and how she meets the world and continue to work to protect and nurture her so that she can develop to her highest potential. Again, Waldorf continues to be extraordinarily helpful on this path, to the child and to the parents.

 

5) I do not think that Waldorf can "cure" all children. Those children who do indeed have autism or such will not be "cured" by a Waldorf home. But they might become a great deal easier to live with and find an enormously increased amount of peacefulness in their everyday lives through elements adapted from Waldorf methods of parenting. I have seen this as well in my work.

 

I think that is all clear now.... I am sure some people will still be upset with me.... But I have said my truth based not on book knowledge and ideas but on the practical everyday application that I have lived and worked with for over 25 years. I offer this to you in good faith and with blessings to you, your family, and your special child.

 

 

Free: Recording on Therapeutic Waldorf

For me the most important aspect of Waldorf education is its potential to heal and to make whole. As a truly holistic form of education, one which has a unique understanding of the journey each human being takes during his or her lifetime, Waldorf is able to penetrate the deepest levels of each child it touches and to offer the potential for each child to develop all aspects of her being. By understanding that each human being is at the same time a unique individual but also is on a path shared by all of humanity, Waldorf has a profound ability to meet the deepest soul questions of each child. While many of those questions may remain unanswered, the power of a curriculum and a pedagogy which seeks to honor those questions has a profound healing effect on children.

 

In today's world we are surrounded by a seemingly limitless number of children characterized as having one - or more - of a range of challenges, from ADD/ADHD to autism-spectrum disorders, from a range of attachment disorders to obsessive compulsive problems and sensory integration issues. Who are these children and what are their questions? Are their questions the same as those of other children or do they seek other paths, ask new questions?

 

My own vast and varied experience working with "children with challenges" has kept me busy and intrigued for over 25 years. What is going on here? Is there a common thread that runs through these problems we are seeing or is it all a random mish-mash of issues plaguing our children and their parents?

 

Over time I have come to a few tentative conclusions. The first is that many, many of the children who are diagnosed with disorders such as autism spectrum and, especially, ADD/ADHD as well as certain SI issues simply do not have organic problems. Rather, the symptom picture which many of these children are manifesting is directly due to the way they have been raised and/or educated. Harsh words if one thinks that by saying them I am blaming parents. I do not blame parents - not in terms of "here are ignorant people who have willfully done this to their children". Not at all. But what I do say categorically is that our societal understanding of what a child is and what her needs are are, for the most part, so far from the reality of a child's experience and needs that it is no wonder that so many children are manifesting such extraordinary difficulties. It is typical and acceptable in our society for 6 week old babies to go to institutional day care. It is typical and acceptable for pre-school children to go to all-day day care. It is typical and acceptable for pre-schoolers to spend all day in pre-school from 7 or 8 am until 4 or 5 in the evening - and sometimes later. It is typical and acceptable for children to have no routine at home; to be viewed as small but illogical adults who need to be reasoned with; to be allowed to watch videos and television and to play with hand held computer games at will.... to go to school where there is no recess (see Susan Ohanian What Happened to Recess and Why Our Children are Struggling in Kindergarten for more) and yet are expected to sit still at desks all day; it is typical and  (almost) acceptable for children to be sent to school ill because parents cannot take off time from work to be at home with their children.... And on and on. Yes, parents make those choices - and their surroundings say those are the choices to make. It can be a bitter circle and of course, people can only do the best they can at any given time. But Waldorf presents an alternative - and part of my mission is to share this with you so you can, if you choose, make other choices.

 

So that's Conclusion Number One which I chew on. Conclusion Number Two is really more of an observation than a conclusion - what is the thread that connect these children? Is there something in common here? And what I see are problems with "I/Thou" issues. Who am I and who are you? Where do I begin and end and where do you begin and end?

 

And then a third conclusion I have reached is that Waldorf education is the brightest hope we have to help heal these children and their parents and to help them move into a more comfortable and peaceful life together. I have read more books and articles than I care to think of by more doctors, therapists and experts than I ever thought the world contained, and time and time again I think "yes, yes - this is good - this is right..." and then the writer goes on to suggest some sort of therapy or approach to the child which I know - which I know - is counter to the developmental needs of that child, regardless of whether he has one of these conditions or not. Then I shake my head sadly and relegate that book or article to the Helpful But Limited pile.

 

So for me, Waldorf shines brightly as a guide for so many people. But I don't necessarily mean Waldorf in terms of Waldorf schools.  For many parents of children with challenges who cannot, for a variety of reasons, be accommodated in a Waldorf school, homeschooling is the saving grace. The homeschool environment with its emphasis on the home is, I would say, even more helpful to many children with challenges than even the best of Waldorf schools. The close, nurturing and peaceful home environment can bring more healing than a school situation - even in a Waldorf school - can ever bring for many, many children.

 

Let me take a minute here to make something clear before I continue - I am not saying that parents cause organic autism or similar organic conditions. By organic I mean conditions arising from whatever internal workings it is in the particular child which creates or leads to that problem. This is opposed to non organic conditions, those which arise from environmental or outside causes. Of course, one could argue for quite a while why one child manifests issues in one way and another child in another way.... but that would take us further than I want to go here. My point is that many, many children manifest symptoms which look like autism-spectrum  or ADD/ADHD due to environmental causes - and that these also include, let me hasten to say, problems arising from vaccinations, food allergies and environmental toxins.  I know I risk hurting the feelings of many parents who have carefully nurtured their children's senses and protected them wisely as little children but whose children still have autism or whatever. PLEASE - I am NOT talking about those situations! I am talking specifically about the children who manifest their problems in response to the crazy, stressful upbringings they have and who, critically, shed those symptoms once their environments change. Again - I cannot stress enough that I know there are also those children who - for lack of a better term - have had perfect Waldorf upbringings but still have autism or another condition. Absolutely - no argument there. But it is the ones who manifest symptoms in response to our out-of-control society that I am mainly speaking about. They are a different kettle of fish altogether.

 

So we have two groups of children here - the ones who organically DO have some sort of challenge and those who manifest a challenge but who can shed that challenge. These are two very different groups of children. But.... and here's the beauty of it all... both of these groups of children AND their parents can gain an enormous amount from brining  the healing power of Waldorf education and parenting into their homes.

 

THAT is what is so exciting to me and THAT is what prompted me to make  a free audio download on this topic. BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN IT!!! I HAVE EXPERIENCED THE UNBELIEVABLE JOY THAT HAS COME TO PARENTS WHO ARE WORN TO THE BONE FOR CARING FOR CHALLENGING CHILDREN AND WHO HAVE GOTTEN RELIEF AND INNER JOY FROM WORKING WITH WALDORF EDUCATION.

 

So I want to share this recording with you all. My hope is that people will find it useful and that they will send it to other people, friends and relatives who have a challenging child in their life and who could be helped as well. I know this sounds terribly proselytizing, but I honestly believe that Waldorf is the soundest way to nurture children and to support them throughout their childhoods so that they can be avoid or heal many of the problems that plague vast numbers of children today.

 

Once you have seen a 3 year old contentedly playing with just a pot and a wooden spoon, you know how peaceful a young child can be. Once you have been to a household where the children sit quietly at the dinner table, contributing to the conversation but also mainly listening to what is going on around them, you know how peaceful family life can be. Once you ride in a car with a family where the children amuse themselves by talking to their dollies or sing with the family during the journey, you realize that children can be pleasant to be with. The images on television and the movies do not have to be true. The scenarios in woman's magazines, the shrug of the shoulders from the doctor as she reaches to prescribe Ritalin is not the only way. There would be no call for Nanny 911 programs on television if people knew what children are and if our society honored their needs. The goal posts for what is normal and acceptable would be moved and thus the diagnostic pictures which fill the medical books used by doctors and therapists would shrink way down to include only those children who truly do have problems which need medical intervention. And that would be a fraction of what we see today.

 

And of course Waldorf is not the be all, end all - there are many, many other paths to wellness and healing. But..... there is no other way that I have found of understanding and nurturing the child as a whole - as a spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual being - that is as profoundly healing as Waldorf. There is no other understanding of child development which is as holistic and therefore as healing as Waldorf - and that is what makes it so powerful.

 

So have a listen to my talk and see what you think. And if it resonates with you and makes sense, then I invite you to join us... on my discussion forum, in other Waldorf lists and yahoo groups... in Waldorf schools and in Waldorf homeschooling groups... working together with other people determined to understand and nurture their children in the way that children need.

 

Please go to the audio downloads section of the Christopherus website to find this recording  www.christopherushomeschool.org

 

 

 

 

Form Drawing

(the following are two posts from our yahoo group, Waldorf At Home on the topic of form drawing).

 

How to explain..... form drawing is like water, it is like the movement of plants as they grow, it is like the forms snowflakes make.... Form drawing is about a moment of movement caught on a page. It is about concentration , perseverance, control of the will, grace and purposefulness.

 

Form drawing is a therapeutic art practiced in all Waldorf schools usually from first through 4th grade (after that geometric drawing somewhat takes its place).  It is not worked with in kindergaten because it is too "waking up" - it calls for a mindfulness that kindergarteners, who are still in the state of consciousness that keeps them "at one" with the world should not be asked to have. In first grade it usually precedes writing (which precedes reading) not so much because it improves handwriting (which is a nice by-product and not the aim of form drawing) but because it calls up the inner discipline the child needs to work beautifully and skilfully within the confines of a page. It helps a child learn about boundaries - and about many other things as well.

 

When one does form drawing one needs to be aware of one's surroundings, think ahead where one is going with a form, control what one's crayon or pencil is doing, and relax into the movement of the form. It is a profoundly healing art. Anyone can do form drawing and  one should start at the beginning. So an older child or an adult should really start  with the first forms and progress through them. I explain all this in my form drawing book and lay out many guidelines, tips and ideas for how to proceed. Please go to the Bookstore page of the Christopherus web site to look at my book to get an idea of what's in there. On the "Homeschooler's Work" page on my web site there are also several lovely examples of form drawings done by homeschooled children.

 

(In another post, a list member asked about doing form drawing with her third grader, who was resistent to the idea of form drawing).

 

In my work I often suggest to people that they work "homeopathically" with children, starting with what is present and trying to ennoble it - not opposing it with something different.So why don't you and your daughter spend some time watching water move or leaves fall - and draw what you and she see. Let her experiment with  how nature does form drawing - currents, ripples, streams etc. Do non directed form drawing for a while, that which is called for by nature. Let the power of your child's observation - and her desire to do what is true and beautiful, find expression in a way that takes it out of the potential head-to-head conflict with you. Work sideways (there's mantra number three for Christopherus, closely following "not school at home" and "homeschooling is about family"!). Don't get into her stuff or into an unnecessary conflict.

Then let form drawing rest for a while. Do none for a time. When you judge the time is right,  spend some time talking about the forms in nature that you two drew and then perhaps let her look through your form drawing book for a for a form that reminds her of the water (or leaves). Let her copy it - and if she's still being a tricky customer, let her copy it directly out of the book - otherwise, I'd suggest you do it in the usual way with you drawing it large on the board and then her copying. Maybe recite a verse about water or leaves while she works - (though some children would prefer not to have a verse, would prefer to remain in the memory of what they experienced in nature) let her work with it in her own way. This might just help break any stalemate that could be forming over this issue between you two. And, assuming all goes well (??!!!) you can see what to do next - "Here's a more complicated form - let's try this".

 

Speaking and Reading to Little Ones

(Here's another reworked post of mine from my yahoo group, Waldorf_At_Home)

In this thread I have not been saying that we shouldn't talk to our children!! What I am saying is that there is balance needed - that parents who are completely focused on their children (child centered) instead of having a child inclusive approach (ie doing what they need to do and welcoming the children into that space and possibly including them) can tip the balance into a head-centered nervous approach with their children which can escalate into an unhealthy situation. Of course one talks to the children - as is clear in my kindergarten book - though I do believe many of us need to make room for more silence in our lives.

 

It's the difference between "Ok honey, what do you want to do today? I think we'll go to the park - but first let's clean up the living room and - oh dear - you don't want to do that? Ok - I'll clean up the living room and you put your dollies back - sweetie, don't scream like that - it hurts Mommy's ears - oh dear -- I 'm not sure we'll be able to go to the park now if you are still screaming...." As opposed to a mother who says (yes, speaks!) "Park day today! Here's the duster - dust, dust, dust! Can you do that? MY, you are a good duster - here's a spot you missed.....and sing sing sing as we work....la de dah de dah singing a work song or some other song" (ok - so that was pretty feeble - I wish you could see me act out the difference!). It's that the former is focused on the words - and the latter is focused on the doing - and of course there are words in the latter situation, but they are just jolly words that sweep the child along instead of putting the focus on the IDEAS of whether something is going to happen or not. So there's an issue here also about getting children to join in - give them something to imitate and nine times out of ten an under 7 will join in - give them a mouthful of words and you might just get a mouthful back!!

 

Of course verbal language is enormously important - that is why I emphasize in ALL my books the need to read, read, read some more to one's children - to sing and recite poetry and verses - and that this should come primarily via another living breathing human being and not a tv or tape.  Facial gesture, the human warmth - this is vital for the young child.

 

Further point - and when the child is very little, under 6 or so, I'd say that there should be far more DOING accompanied by warm speech than READING. The child needs to experience things first and foremost - to get things into his or her body and to use that body and its senses as the primary vehicle for learning. If we read too much to the little child, the information and images go in via the head - and do not get a chance to be soaked up, as it were, by the physical body. This, I would say, is  a huge reason for the vast amount of children we see in our society with various kinds of nervous disorders, whether they are seated primarily in the child's inability to concentrate or sit still, or to use his body in the way it's meant to be used. (obviously, it is not just the fault of reading too much to a child! But if there is a picture of a child who sits more than he is active, who receives via the mind and eye more than via the other senses and his physical body - then I would say balance has been lost and the scale is dangerously tipped toward an unhealthy situation).

 

So again - use language when you are around your young child! Absolutely! But carry it mainly via song and verse, and accompany it as far as possible with doing, with useful work that the child can imitate.

To Correct or Not to Correct

This is a post I wrote on my yahoo discussion group, Waldorf_At_Home in response to a question a list member had about how to get her reluctant and somewhat perfectionist daughter to do form drawing. She also was interested in the question regarding whether to correct a form or not...

 

Here's a major controversy in the form drawing field - to correct or not to correct. This is one of the gray areas I mention in my form drawing book, a topic which has fierce advocates on either side of the fence. And (as I point out in my book) as form drawing is both an art form and a therapeutic discipline, there is bound to be a variety of ways to work with it and many, many good reasons for people doing it in their different ways. My opinion tends to be that one should NOT correct - neither should a form be drawn, say, in yellow  first. This is because, for me, form drawing is akin to eurythmy - and eurythmy is about movement and gesture, neither of which can be "corrected" but rather need to be worked with.  Eurythmy, unlike some forms of martial art or forms of dance, is not about "getting the position right" - it lives in the dynamic flow of movement. And for me, form drawing can be understood as a moment of eurythmy come to rest on a page. So the point would be to try and try again until one gets satisfactory results - which may sometimes mean leaving go of a form completely for a while, going back to a simpler one and then revisiting the difficult one at a later time.

 

Again, I see eurythmy as a human expression of organic forms found in nature - an example I sometimes give people is of water. If you watch the way water moves (or a leaf gently falls) there is no correction, no sense of a correct form which must be followed. It is as it is. But.... one has to work with the child where she is. So if, as you say, your daughter is being critical, is displaying a streak of perfectionism, is doing her 9 year change thing, then one wants to see how one can work with this (I always suggest to people that they work homeopathically with children, starting with what present and trying to ennoble it - not opposing it with something different).

 

So why don't you and your daughter spend some time watching water move or leaves fall - and draw what you and she see. Let her experiment with  how nature does form drawing - currents, ripples, streams etc. Do non directed form drawing for a while, that which is called for by nature. Let the power of your child's observation - and her desire to do what is true and beautiful, find expression in a way that takes it out of the potential head-to-head conflict with you. Work sideways (there's mantra number three for Christopherus, closely following "not school at home" and "homeschooling is about family"!). Don't get into her stuff or into an unnecessary conflict.

 

Then let form drawing rest for a while. Do none for a time. When you judge the time is right,  spend some time talking about the forms in nature that you two drew and then perhaps let her look through your form drawing book for a for a form that reminds her of the water (or leaves). Let her copy it - and if she's still being a tricky customer, let her copy it directly out of the book - otherwise, I'd suggest you do it in the usual way with you drawing it large on the board and then her copying. Maybe recite a verse about water or leaves while she works - (though some children would prefer not to have a verse, would prefer to remain in the memory of what they experienced in nature) let her work with it in her own way. This might just help break any stalemate that could be forming over this issue between you two. And, assuming all goes well (??!!!) you can see what to do next - "Here's a more complicated form - let's try this".

 

By the way, while usually I recommend that form drawing be done only with first graders and up present, that littlies can destroy the meditative mood so important for form drawing to work deeply on the child doing it, there is no reason why your little guys can't join in with "nature form drawing", drawing, coloring, tracing in sand or just playing about while his sister does her nature drawings. Somehow the mood of being outdoors seems, to me, to make this ok and beneficial for all.

 

Form Drawing with Older Children

Form drawing is a therapeutic art unique to Waldorf education. Often misunderstood to be solely to do with improving or preparing for handwriting, its use goes much deeper. It is a way for the child to orientate himself in space, on a piece of paper, and calls for perseverance, nimbleness in thought and fingers, ability to concentrate and acute observation. It works with a child's innate sense of harmony and balance and by working consistently and patiently with form drawing over a number of years, imbalances and weaknesses can be addressed   and corrected in a relatively painless way. All children can benefit from this art - but those with any sort of midline, visual or dexterity issues will especially benefit.

 

Form drawing is introduced in the very beginning of first grade in a Waldorf school - this is why it is so often associated with learning to write. And, of course, it is true that by carefully working with form drawing a child will have less difficulties when learning to form her letters. However, it is not merely the cosmetic results that are sought - the reasons why a child's writing slopes, is cramped or misformed, or is reversed can tell us a lot about what's going on inside of her. And form drawing is a gentle and enjoyable way to bring balance to the child so that her handwriting becomes a reflection of her own inner harmony.

 

I am often asked if parents should start form drawing with their kindergarten age children. My answer is emphatically "no!" One of the things characteristic about form drawing is how it helps "wake up" a child and helps him become aware in a new way to who he is, something that the first grader  naturally experiencing.  Kindergarten is a time of dreamy oneness - one shouldn't rush a child out of this very important developmental stage by "waking him up" prematurely. So do wait until you start first grade as close to your child's seventh birthday as possible to introduce form drawing.

 

One thing that I'm rarely asked is whether parents should do form drawing with older children. This is a pity and I assume either that parents of older ones already know how great form drawing is (!!) or else they haven't thought of it. So let's get the word out - form drawing is wonderful for older children! In Waldorf schools its practice usually ends in about 4th grade - after that, freehand geometric drawing usually takes its place. But many older children would benefit from continuing form drawing for a few more years. And if you are new to Waldorf and have never done any form drawing with your child, I certainly recommend you start! My younger son, who is almost 13, is a sixth grader and we did some form drawing this year. He struggles mightily with making forms - we didn't even get to the Celtic knots! But no matter - I can see so quickly how a few sessions of form drawing so obviously calms and centers him. Though he complains strenuously about doing it, once he's gotten over his angst and is immersed in what he's doing, he really enjoys it. He's also old enough now to recognize that it is beneficial to him though usually he expresses this in terms of improving his handwriting! 

 

I have found that doing form drawing 3 or 4 times a week for two or three weeks works best for us. With an older child, one might also just like to slip it in here and there - especially with some of the more beautiful forms which can be used to decorate greeting cards or main lessons books after being carefully practised several times.

 

Adults can also get an awful lot from practicing form drawing. A major part of really penetrating Waldorf education has to do with one's own inner work - and form drawing is an enormously helpful tool for this! A major part of a Waldorf teacher's training is in art and in working with their own inner "stuff" - by working with different arts like form drawing, watercolor painting and modeling, one has a wonderful opportunity to tap into areas of one's being which might otherwise slip past conscious thought.

 

Please go to our bookshop to view our form drawing book. You can look at sample pages and see what form drawing is if this is completely new to you. My next blog entry is a reworked post from my yahoo discussion group which is also about form drawing.

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.