Early Childhood

By Cynthia Shore One of the unique aspects of the Waldorf early childhood curriculum is the concept of meaningful work.

According to Jill McCormick, beloved kindergarten teacher who taught at SFWS for 24 years, the heart of this idea is to help children know where they are in the world. "One of the most important things in kindergarten is to learn that things have a place. Children are finding out, ‘Where do I belong? Where is my place?’ So they learn where to put their chair and to sit on their chair at a particular time," she says.

The teacher’s role is to give verbal cues or sing songs when certain actions are needed, always standing in the same place in the classroom. As a result, "time and space come together to a certain point, which is really important as a beginning foundation for the academic grades later on," she says, adding that what early childhood instructors teach, "is not just one dimensional, that this goes here and this goes there, but that there's a time to do it, too." The sensory element of a task such as washing the dishes adds yet another dimension—feeling the water, suds and dishes—giving children "an all-around experience in their body of place, time and sense."

Add to that the importance of adult role-modeling. "It is so important for a child to be able to learn from imitation. It is a gift when they can see adults working at something with their full attention, love, and purpose," McCormick adds.

This may seem simple, but she notes that children in the early childhood years are still coming into their bodies, not yet fully aware of where they are in relation to objects around them or other people. "You have children who are the bumpers and crashers, and they're just a little unaware of what's happening around them. And so notoriously they'll bump into the child who's super sensitive and then you have a real dynamic!" she says.

As children grow into their bodies, they develop a sense of "Hey, I can do this!" With that confidence comes self-esteem, a sense of belonging, and satisfaction in contributing to the well-being of the classroom. "They're proud of themselves when they've accomplished something new," notes McCormick. "Other children can admire them; ‘Oh, golly, you're able to pick up the heaviest box of blocks,’ or who's the biggest or, ‘Oh, you really set the table so beautifully and make it look so nice for everyone,’" she adds.

How does this differ from other forms of early childhood education? The Waldorf focus at this age does not yet center on academics. Young children are certainly able to learn facts and basic academic skills, but it is considered better for a child’s overall development to keep the focus on the physical, on play and simple tasks. "That's why it is said that in early childhood play is our work," McCormick says.

Sometimes the environment outside of school can promote a child to develop beyond their years. "Younger children do seem to learn [academic] things earlier because they learn things from siblings," McCormick notes. However, she adds, "it's really important for children to have opportunities to discover [their physical senses] on their own at the right time. So I see Waldorf kindergarten as a place for children to have chances to learn and discover on their own or as a group….There's a lot to be said even in just learning how to listen and how to breathe."

The core of this approach comes from Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner’s view of the spiritual nature of human development in which we grow in seven-year cycles. "The first seven years is very much the time for the physical body to complete development," McCormick says. Between the ages of 7 to 14, children’s abilities in imagination and feeling grow, and from 14 to 21, their intellectual capacities increase.

She adds, "Children are in kind of a dreamlike consciousness, and so bringing them to a point of focus where they're doing something with their hands and there is a purpose is very satisfying, and they can learn a lot from what they're doing. However, it isn't primarily academic. It's all hands on. It's sensory, it's