Eurythmy
Eurythmy
is an art form that uses the whole body to express speech and
tone visually. It improves coordination, listening, expression,
and powers of observation. When performed in groups, Eurythmy
develops understanding and cooperation among the participants.
Handwork
Hands need to become skilful, sensitive, and strong so they can
accomplish many wonderful deeds. Through knitting, cross-stitch,
crochet, weaving, sewing, and embroidery the children become aware
of their hand and the great gifts they can create. Through beauty,
colour and form the activity of the fingers stirs the senses that
connect the child to the world. Her whole world of thought begins
to move. Handwork is imaginatively and artistically taught, encouraging
original designs in cotton, wool, and silk.
Music
As you may already know, music carries a highly important and
daily role in the Steiner curriculum. The reasons are manifold.
Through studying and making music, we learn about the world and
ourselves. The elements of music teach us about time, space, order
and sequence. The words and sounds help us to experience our feelings
and thoughts in deeper ways. When we work together to create music,
we are challenged to learn the social graces of expressing ourselves
thoughtfully, sensitively and with the right timing. The practice
of music may not always bring instant inspiration, but music can
take us beyond ourselves, enriching the soul and rekindling the
spirit.
In
a Steiner School , children are involved in music every day. Class
teachers start the day with singing and recorder playing, bringing
the children together in a focused activity that requires all
to listen and tune into themselves and the group. Music also plays
a central role in many of the class plays and school assemblies.
Classes often work to master something they will share as a performance.
Gardening
Through gardening the children learn to see the human being having
a true relationship with the earth. In our gardening curriculum
the students learn the importance of working in harmony with nature
and their environment.
In
the art of the gardener it is the human being who gives every
plant “its place” and who is dependent at the same time on all
the enlivening forces of nature.
The
pupils are made familiar with the school garden at first through
simple tasks:: “Our flower bed, our compost heap…” No act is without
its effect in the garden, but also no omission is without its
consequence. In the sequence of seed-sprouting-growth-cultivation-harvest
there are causes and effects for the children to experience and
to understand. Proper handling of tools is practiced from the
very beginning. Unlike other activities, it is not only the fingers
that are active, but rather all the limbs.
Foreign
Languages
“What
is more quickening than light?
A
conversation
-an
encounter through words.”
-Goethe
The
purpose of the study of languages is to develop the ability to
communicate. Through the art of communication, we confront the
essence of the other person. This process raises one's social
conscience and fosters an important objective of Steiner education:
to cultivate an interest in others, which will inspire students
to share their knowledge, abilities, and experiences. Those who
are touched by such an interest will contribute to global understanding
and to the progress of humanity.
Studying
languages is a window into the soul of a culture, into its genius,
individuality, and musicality. The manner in which we think is
expressed through the language that we speak, and it is well known
that learning another language expands one's thoughts and ability
to penetrate the feelings and the soul of the other culture. In
capturing the spirit of the language that molds human beings,
one begins not only to understand other cultures, but also to
change one's way of thinking, feeling, and acting.
Although
language expresses the thinking of an individual or a culture,
it arises from the life of feeling. The language is internalized
in the child's feelings, a realm of interplay between sympathy
and antipathy, and this process works on the growth of imaginative
thinking and the development of the human being.
Each
language, with its particular music and rhythm of intonation and
articulation, and the structure of its parts, offers a special
experience to the child. It is up to each school to determine,
in accordance with local circumstances and needs, the languages
that are taught.
"Through
the inner flexibility of their speech organ, the children find
their way to a flexibility of soul and an openness that has an
effect on their entire later life and especially on their social
abilities. The foreign language lesson is suited like practically
no other lesson to encourage openness and awaken interest for
what is foreign to oneself-and in our time of widespread racism
and social conflict on both a small and large scale this is a
pedagogical mission of the first order.”
.
From
the workbook Forming the Lessons of Grades One through Eight,
written for the Pedagogical Section, and published by the Rudolph
Steiner College |
