Featured Article: Eugene Schwartz "Rhythmical Children
in an Arrhythmic World”
11-20-2008
By Susan Simon, Principal
Eugene Schwartz has been a Waldorf school class teacher
and high school teacher as well as a consultant for Waldorf
schools for over 30 years. This was his second visit to
Desert Star. The following is a synopsis of his presentation
to parents and teachers.
He
spoke of the importance of a sense of order and rhythm
of life for the child. Children today are not getting
enough sleep and are coming to school tired, unable to
participate in the rigors of the main lesson. The following
is the amount of sleep recommended for different age children:
Kindergarten 12-14 hours; 1st through 3rd 10 – 12hours,
4th through 5th 9 – 10 hours; 6th grade and up 8
hours. Help your child make the transition to sleep by
using a soft light or candle in the room, story or song.
Create a ritual for your child. “Give our child
enough sleep!” Eugene said, “This is the most
important suggestion you can take from this lecture.”
Waldorf
schools create the seasons in the imagination of the child
even when the four seasons are not so obvious as in Arizona.
For example, the second grade is singing about Jack Frost
and thus creating this imagination. The rhythms of the
day, the week, the month and the year are vital to the
development of the child. The teacher takes into consideration
the season when determining which block to teach. In the
summer one is more expansive and in the winter more contracted
and inward. Winter is a good time to study physics and
algebra in the older grades as one delves inside and is
ready to focus. Form drawing also involves expansion and
contraction and helps develop the concept of boundaries
and space.
The
day begins with a handshake between student and teacher.
In this brief encounter, the teacher begins his/her first
assessment. Is the hand cold, warm, moist? He has a brief
conversation such as what did the child have for breakfast?
Hearing, speech, sight, and touch are all involved. Does
the child have a rhythmical quality to the handshake?
What is the mood of the child? All of this information
is observed by the teacher and taken into consideration
during the day.
Rhythm
is the basis for learning. In math rhythm are displayed
as patterns. For example, write down the 4 times tables
and notice the pattern: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32,
36, 40,44, 48. Notice the pattern in the tens place: 1-1-2-2-2-3-3-4-4-4
The odd numbers are repeated twice and the even numbers
three times. Notice the pattern in the 9 tables as you
write them out. Have different groups clap the 2, 3, and
4 times tables and notice when everyone is clapping together
(12, 24). This is all done in 2nd and 3rd grade and leads
to the study of prime numbers and factors in higher grades.
To
conclude, the message was “Help awaken children
to boundaries.” Do not give the young child many
choices. Most children decide what they are to wear to
school, what they want for breakfast and lunch, what coat
to wear… As parents and teachers, the children look
to us to make those decisions or at least to offer only
two choices instead of six. or seven.. Give your children
rhythm in their day and boundaries. Make sure they have
enough sleep.
Please
visit Eugene Schwartz's website www.millennialchild.com, an outstanding resource for people interested in educating
children in the twenty-first century. This website features
Waldorf information and wisdom for educators and parents
that serves the true needs of the modern child. Here is
a list of Eugene's helpful articles:
