S1 EP3 - Second Grade
On this week’s episode of Anthroposophy Today, Scott and Sarita talk about the Waldorf second grade classroom.
The first, second, and third grades in the Waldorf school are seen as being closely related, and as such these three years of schooling share many of the same guiding principles and have similar focal points. Some of the things we will see throughout these three early years in the grade school, which are also called “lower elementary”, are:
an emphasis on experiential learning through activities which engage the child on a visual, auditory, and kinesthetic level
the use of storytelling to create living images in the children’s minds and bodies
the teacher’s use of the Waldorf rhythms of “in breathing” and “out breathing” to structure the day, maintain order, and keep all of the students engaged in the learning process
the use of movement-based and artistic activities to create rich, living impressions of a concept in the children before the introduction of it on a more intellectual level, which allows them to connect with the subject or idea on a deeper level which is based on personal experience
Many of these principles are used throughout the Waldorf philosophy, including during the high school years. However, in these early years of the grade school, the teacher lays the foundation for future learning, and as such special care is taken in the application of these guiding principles.
Depending on the unique characteristics of the group of children in question, certain subjects and concepts are introduced either earlier or later during these three years. Many times, a teacher will introduce a topic toward the end of first grade (such as beginning to write in cursive) which he or she will then pick up again in the beginning of second grade, building upon the foundations built the in first grade. The teacher has the opportunity of tailoring the curriculum to his or her class and of taking a more long-term view of teaching in this way because of one of the key traditions of the Waldorf philosophy. Namely, the tradition of having one main class teacher for all eight years of the grade school.
WHY ONE TEACHER FOR ALL EIGHT YEARS?
One of the many elements that distinguishes the Waldorf grade school classroom from other modern schools is that in a Waldorf school the children traditionally stay with the same main teacher from first through eight grade.
This teacher—also referred to as the “main lesson teacher”, because they teach the children during the daily two hour period first thing in the morning known as “main lesson”—is not the only teacher the students have during their eight years. As the children get older and progress through the grades, more specialty teachers are included in the curriculum. In the middle school years, in particular, another member of the school faculty will often come as a guest teacher for one block, to teach the class during main lesson on a subject related to their specialty, such as math, english, the sciences, drama, etc.
It is important to note that this tradition is not always followed in all Waldorf schools, for a variety of reasons, and many successful classes have been carried from grade one to grade eight in the arms of more than one main lesson teacher. However, there are many benefits which often result from the growing bond between a teacher and his or her class, as they progress through the years together.
As we have discussed before, change can be very stressful for young children, causing nervousness and anxiety in them which interferes with healthy development and positive learning experiences at school. At this age, children crave simple rhythms and stability. In the same way the child relies upon their family unit, whatever that family may look like for them, so the child relies on the stability of their classroom, the unit made of their peers and, most importantly, their teacher.
Allowing the teacher to continue teaching the same students over the course of several years, especially these early years, creates a sense of calm and stability in the classroom for the children. It becomes like a family, characterized by a long-term commitment to one another. This bond between teacher and students creates a sense of community, and Sarita describes how the class becomes a sort of living organism—some students leave, some new students join the existing group, but the heart of the class beats on.
Another benefit to this tradition is that it allows the teacher to get to know his or her students on a deeper level, to observe their soul development not just over the course of a year, but over the course of eight years. This gives the teacher a unique perspective on each child which he or she would not have after just one year of teaching them, and offers the teacher many opportunities to learn how best to reach the child and engage them in the learning process.
THE ART OF TEACHING
One common response to this idea of the children having the same teacher throughout all eight years of the grade school is: how can one teacher do all these things that you’re telling us? How is it possible that one teacher be the master of all these subjects across all these years of schooling?
Scott and Sarita offer a different perspective on this, which places the emphasis not on technical mastery of the individual subject, but in mastering the art of teaching itself—the art of drawing the student out and guiding them to connect with the material.
Human beings are not computers, consequently, we should not think in terms of “input and output”. As an alternative to this, Sarita offers the image of the relationship between teacher and student as forming a sort of figure eight in the space between them. There is a sense of sharing energy and communication between the two parties which is palpable, she says, when you observe a classroom in any of the grades.
This kind of relationship between a great teacher and his or her students is not only found in Waldorf, although in Waldorf there is a special emphasis put on this quality as something which we constantly strive for in the classroom. Sarita, paraphrasing Rudolf Steiner, says that “what matters is who you are as a teacher, and who you are as a person”, and stresses that what counts, ultimately, is how you make the students feel, rather than every little thing that you do in the classroom.
SYMPATHY AND ANTIPATHY FROM AN ANTHROPOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE
Scott and Sarita discuss the concepts of “sympathy” and “antipathy” from an Anthroposophical perspective. From the words themselves, many people will have already guessed that sympathy and antipathy can also be understood as instinctive feelings of like and dislike, respectively. If sympathy may be thought of as being drawn toward something or someone, then antipathy is the opposite, an impulse to push away from it.
Sarita and Scott talk about ways the teacher and homeschool parent can work with sympathy and antipathy as indicators and guides in his or her relationship with children. The goal, of course, is to narrow the distance between the two extremes, coming to a middle ground. This middle ground might be called “neutral”, but due to the negative connotation which is sometimes assigned to this word (i.e., that of ambivalence, or of not caring one way or the other), we prefer to use the analogy of a pendulum.
A pendulum swings wide from one direction to another, before coming to rest at a midpoint. However, upon closer examination, one will find that there is still gentle motion present at this midpoint, that the pendulum has not come to rest at a dead stop. The movement continues, but it is no longer extreme. This image of the pendulum reaching its midpoint captures the essence of the kind of harmony—rather than balance—for which we strive in the Waldorf philosophy. “Harmony” implies movement and slight variance, whereas “balance” carries the connotation of something static, lacking in movement and life, which is not conducive for creation.
An interesting side note relating to this analogy of the pendulum, is that when we begin teaching the fundamentals of physics in the grade school, we do experiments and different exercises which provide physical examples of these very concepts of harmony versus balance, sympathy and antipathy. By doing activities and experiments involving things like a pendulum, we allow the children to feel sympathy and antipathy in their own body, and observe its physical manifestation in the world around them.
Later on, when they are introduced to these ideas in a more intellectual, conceptual way, they have an existing sense of it living in them already.
In this way, the children are actually able to describe the characteristics of a concept like sympathy and antipathy based on their own physical and emotional experiences of it. The opposite of this would be to reverse the process, giving the children not a living example from which to build their own framework, but thrusting upon them a lifeless definition of a concept, and then sending them out into the world expecting them to recognize it.
Before one learns to draw and paint well, one must learn to see. Before one can be expected to grasp a concept, one must be able to feel it and experience it. This is the basis for the Waldorf philosophy of providing the children with living experiences first, and then introducing them to the concepts which they are invited to explore on an intellectual level.
FABLES AND LEGENDS: THE GUIDING FORCE FOR SECOND GRADE
In our previous two episodes, we have discussed the importance of stories and storytelling in the Waldorf philosophy. As the children grow, we introduce them to new stories which are connected to the unique stage of human development at which they find themselves.
Each grade may be said to have its own “umbrella”, which takes the form of a certain kind of story with certain themes which are particularly relevant to the child in this year of his or her life. In our previous discussion, we spoke of the significance of fairy tales for the first grader. In second grade, the “umbrella” story is made up of fables, legends, and the stories of saints. A strong, recurring theme is that of compassion toward animals, such as in the stories of St. Francis and St. Jerome. The reason for this, Sarita says, is to satisfy the child’s need for and growing interest in the animal kingdom.
Where fairy tales are often very long, fables are always quite short. Think of Aesop’s fables, many of which are little more than five or six simple lines.
When we tell the fable, we never explain the moral lesson to the child. This kind of explanation, Sarita says, robs the fable of its power. It is crucial to let the fable speak for itself. Another important aspect of the telling of the fable is for the teacher to memorize the fable, and resist the temptation to embellish or embroider it in any way. The power of the fable lies in its brevity, and drawing it out would only dilute its potency.
Sarita describes how we don’t tell two or three fables at once, rather, we pick one fable and tell it several times over the course of a week, as we did with fairy tales in first grade.
The class teacher will often act out the fables or legends as they tell them, creating movement activities where the children can embody whatever it is that’s being told in the story. Verses and poetry also form an important part of the storytelling element, and all the grades use a variety of different poems and songs. Sarita remarks that the children have incredible memories, often better than that of their teachers and parents, and throughout their years in the grade school they will learn an impressive number of verses, poems, and songs by heart.
Here is an example of a verse one might use with a second grade class:
OUT OF THE SURGING SEA
Out of the surging sea,
Slinky and slimy,
Creepy and crawling,
Raging and roaring—
The dragon is here.
See how it opens its yawning jaws,
See how it scrapes its scaly claws…
This kind of verse would then be made into a movement activity. For example, the children could hold onto each others shoulders and create a big “dragon snake” together. The children, in this grade around seven to eight years old, relish acting out the dragon, gnashing their jaws and so on. This is another example of an “out breathing” type exercise, which Sarita laughingly suggests should preferably be followed up with an activity with which the teacher can rein in the class a little—or else the second graders can get a little wild.
Sarita lovingly terms second grade “the age of mischief”. Whereas the first graders are dreamier, more in the world of fairy tales, more pure and impressionable, the second grade class is more challenging, as this is when the naughtiness and mischievous energy springs forth. Much depends on the temperaments of the individual children, but this is typically the age when the mischief really rears its head. These movement-based activities involving fables and legends help to channel the mischievous energy in a positive direction.
The fables satisfy the children’s interest in the animal kingdom. In contrast to this, tales about the deeds of saints from around the world offer the children images of lofty striving and puts a light on the noblest human qualities. These are presented as polarities—the animal and the human. In this way, you can help the child through stories and images, without lecturing them or preaching morality.
A typical legend we might tell might be connected to a saint, but is not necessarily religious. The important part of these kinds of tales is that they allow the child to see an ordinary human, not a spiritual being, who goes through many trials and tribulations and who overcomes some great obstacle, transforming into a higher version of themselves.
An example Sarita offers is St. Martin, the Roman solider who returned from battle to find himself locked out by the great city’s gates, which closed at sundown. St. Martin spent the night outside the gates, wrapped in his cloak. When he awoke, he saw a beggar, cold and thing, without a covering. St. Martin felt a warmth grow within him, as though the rays of the early morning sun had penetrated his heart and were warming him from within. He took up his sword, cut his cloak in two, and gave have to the beggar man before going on his way.
Sarita describes this as a story about a soldier—who has made his living by being calculating and strategic, weighing the odds carefully before acting—moved to a compassionate act without knowing anything about the beggar, merely because of the warmth he felt in his heart which moved him to perform the charitable act. This kind of tale makes a very strong impression upon the second graders.
LIVING GRAMMAR: MORE THAN JUST “RULES”
Grammar is very important in second grade. Sarita references the work of Marjorie Spock in describing the way that grammar is approach in the Waldorf philosophy.
Spock said that verbs are like the arms and legs of sentences, they put everything into motion. They are the will of the sentences. She spoke about how the verbs teach the child about his or her human freedom, relating the child to the world.
Adjectives are the movers of feelings, and speak to the heart.
Nouns have no motion—we look at them, they stand apart from us, and we name them. Nouns are “thought words”. They are the head of a sentence. Nouns, through the act of naming, separate the child from the world. In this separation, the child can come to see how much the world gives him or her.
Sarita explains that you don’t explain these concepts to the children, but by being aware of the concepts yourself, you are able to build the learning experience to reflect this form of “living grammar”, and in so doing allow the children to relate to the concepts more profoundly.
MENTAL MATH AND THE FOUNDATIONS FOR ALGEBRA
In our previous discussion concerning first grade, we spoke about how the jump rope game is used to lay the foundation for math, especially in learning the multiplication tables. Throughout these early years of grade school, math has a special connection with movement, which helps the children internalize concepts like the times tables, which makes for a quicker and smoother transition to performing mental math.
In first grade, the children use counting beads, or little stones or shells, to introduce them to the four processes of math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In second grade, the children shed these beads and other “counting helpers”, and move on to mental math. A variety of different exercises and activities are used to learn the multiplication tables, which is an important foundational step, as we have described before.
The children are also shown the way that basic principles of arithmetic can be found in geometric shapes and patterns around them. They are introduced in an experiential way to principles that will later be used in pre-algebra and algebra in middle school and high school.
In the Waldorf philosophy, math and numbers are introduced as a world full of discovery, surprises, and patterns which the children are encouraged to find and point out for themselves. In this way, the foundation is laid for a joyful experience of numbers and math, rather than the lifeless, learn-by-rote drudgery which many people remember as being their experience of math in school.
The way math is taught in Waldorf schools also places special emphasis on the idea that, while there is one definite, correct answer, there are many paths available to get there. Seeing and respecting the many different ways of arriving at the same answers, Sarita says, teaches us how that we all think differently, and opens our minds to new possibilities and new ways of thinking. This teaches the child not just important principles of mathematics, but also teaches them indirectly about living and working with other humans.
Thank you for listening, and we will see you next week for our discussion of the third grade!