The Wisdom of Waldorf

We will be sending our youngest child to a Waldorf pre-school beginning in August. About Waldorf, Wikipedia states,

Waldorf education (also called Steiner education) is a worldwide movement based on an educational philosophy first formulated by Austrian Rudolf Steiner and which grew out of his spiritual science, Anthroposophy. Waldorf education aims to educate the "whole child" by maintaining a balance between creativity and academic work. Its curriculum focuses on arts, social skills, spiritual values as well as practical and integrated learning.

Waldorf Education makes certain assumptions about young children. Some of these are:

¨ Children love the world and all people in it.

¨ Children are good.

¨ Children need to mature slowly.

¨ Children are usually not conscious of how their actions affect others.

¨ Children are rarely able to describe their feelings.

¨ Children have vivid memories of and contact with the spiritual world.

¨ Children imitate the mood and intention of adults around them.

Remembering these assumptions as I interact with my children has begun to help me respond in more appropriate ways to difficult situations I have found myself in with them.

What I want to do is expand these assumptions to include all people:

¨ We all love the world and all people in it.

¨ We are all good.

¨ We all need to mature slowly.

¨ We are usually not conscious of how our actions affect others.

¨ We are rarely able to describe our feelings.

¨ We all have vivid memories of and contact with the spiritual world.

¨ We all imitate the mood and intention of people around us.

If we entered every relationship (including our relationship with ourselves) with these assumptions, then when we were challenged by a behavior or response (within or outside of ourselves), we could have a greater knowing that we are not our behaviors, our emotions, or our responses and reactions – in short, we are not our egos. We are all something much, much greater.