Teaching Language arTs in The WaLdorf schooL

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Language Arts Compendium
impress in the student’s memory only what is demanded by social
life, that there is no purpose in overburdening the student’s memory.
[The Child’s Changing Consciousness and Waldorf Education, pp. 117-118.]
6. The Effects of Early Reading
When reading—well, one just sits, one has already become like a
timid mouse, because only the head has to work. Reading has already
become abstract. It should be evolved by degrees as part of the whole
process.
But if one adopts this method in order to work harmoniously with
human nature, it can become extraordinarily difficult to withstand
modern prejudices. Naturally, pupils will learn to read a little later
than expected today, and if they have to change schools they appear
less capable than the other students in their new class. Yet, is it really
justified that we cater to the views of a materialistic culture with its
demands concerning what an eight-year-old child should know? The
real point is that it may not be beneficial at all for such a child to
learn to read too early. By doing so, something is being blocked for
life. If children learn to read too early, they are led prematurely into
abstractions. If reading were taught a little later, countless potential
sclerotics could lead happier lives. Such hardening of the entire human
organism—to give it a simpler name—manifests in the most
diverse forms of sclerosis later in life, and can be traced back to a
faulty method of introducing reading to a child. Of course, such
symptoms can result from many other causes as well, but the point is
that the effects of soul and spirit on a person’s physical constitution are
enhanced hygienically if the teaching at school is attuned to human
nature. If you know how to form your lessons properly, you will be
able to give your students the best foundation for health. And you
can be sure that, if the methods of modern educational systems were
healthier, far fewer men would be walking around with bald heads!
However, as previously mentioned, it is relatively easy to work
with this compromise during the first three years. Admittedly, if