Learning your letters, Waldorf style

In Germany, where the Waldorf concept was first 'invented' by Rudolf Steiner, there are quite a few Waldorf schools--and even though you can find them all over the world, the highest concentration is found here.

And just as there is a higher concentration of Waldorf schools, there are also several common prejudices here (such as being able to dance your name..but that is a topic for another day :) ). Another characteristic of Waldorf schools is the different approach for--well, almost everything :).

For example, they have a different approach for teaching reading and writing--and that starts with the alphabet, the letters.

If you think about it, the letters we use are quite abstract. There is nothing about the two sticks with a crossbar that make the form we call an H that are inherently connected to the sound hhhhhh. Neither do we still have an alphabet like the Chinese alphabets that are more pictorial albeit stylized.

In Waldorf schools, we teach the letters, one at a time and with one or more stories, so that there is an emotional/narrative connection to the sound and symbol. Another important aspect of Waldorf pedagogy is having an inner representation/picture (using your own imagination)--and not having everything immediately given to you in external pictures.

For example, during the story telling portion of the main lesson, I began a story about a princess who had not strayed out of her castle in years. Instead she just stayed in her tower and stitched what she imagined or saw outside. She dreamed of having adventures, but she dared not go outside.

One day she saw an orange cat outside, playing so gleefully. The cat began to make its way into her stitching and one day she was so drawn by curiosity, that she ventured outside with a bowl of milk. All the castle attendants and her parents were astonished to see her going outside, but she had one goal--to meet the cat. She called her Miaulinda (miau is the German way of saying/spelling meow..the sound a cat makes). Soon the princess went out every day to play with Miaulinda.

The next day this picture was on the board and the shape of the M was found in Miaulinda's ears as she lapped milk from the bowl.

The students drew the picture in their notebooks and we talked about all of the things in the picture (or words that we know) that have an mmmm sound. Miaulinda, milk, Mama, etc.

That day in the story portion, I told how Princess Carlotta invited Miaulinda inside, how the cook asked them to go down to the cellar to do some mousing and how, while looking for mice, they found a strange upside-down Flasche (bottle) on the floor. They could neither knock it over, nor pick it up--but when they pushed on it, the stone beneath it moved and revealed a hidden passageway.

The next day we wrote some of the words that we had talked about with M (MAMA, MAUS=mouse) and the story portion told how at the end of the secret tunnels, they found a Fenster (window). When looking through this window they saw another world, with strange puffy trees, a purple sky and two suns.

The picture of the Fenster greeted them the next day (after they had had a chance to imagine it themselves on the previous day) and they drew it in their notebooks. Then we extracted the letter F from the frame of the window. In that other world there was a Fuchs (fox), a Frosch (frog) and Fische (fish) in the pond.

They eventually figured out how to get into that other world on the other side of the window. They had many adventures and the letters continued to come. We got the B from the body of Bauer Bär (Farmer Bear) leaning up against his barn who also had a nice berry garden.

And the Tor (gate) and the Turm (tower) of an abandoned castle gave us the T. They discovered it wasn't quite abandoned--a boy, Tom, lived there with his chickens.

One day they met a Drache (dragon)--but he turned out to be a friend of Tom's and was quite nice. His tail curving up and around gave us the D.

They heard there was going to be a Krönung (crowning ceremony) of a prince by a König (king) and so they flew there with the dragon. The stately king held out the Krone (crown) and placed it on his son's head. His stately posture formed the K.

The board is quite full! The spirals were from painting snails in Watercolors, the spider web from English where we sang Eensy, Weensy Spider and the Gs are from beginner violin lessons taught by one of the mothers in my class.

Adventures continued as the ground began to shake one day and giant feet approached them. It was in fact a Riese (giant) carrying a giant sack on his back. Luckily he was friendly too and brought them to see his mill with the giant Wasserrad (water wheel). Both the giant with the sack and the Rad (wheel) with its supports showed us an R.

Having become friends with the giant it was an easier thing to travel to the seashore, being able to travel on his shoulders. There they found a Netz (net) hanging to dry. Feeling hungry they wondered if they could borrow the net. Nearby they found a hut in which a fisher lived. It was his net, and unfortunately he was ill, but he allowed them to borrow it. The giant of course had a giant appetite, so he went in for several (7!) nets-full. The fish were enjoyed over a bonfire.

The adventures of the other world continue in their strangeness. One time, in a pouring rain, Miaulinda and Carlotta sought shelter under a giant Pilz (mushroom) growing on a tree. Drawing closer to the tree, they suddenly fell down a hole and discovered a burrow. After napping they were awakened by an inquisitive Pinguin (penguin)!, whose home it was.

All in all, it was wonderful fun--I got to make things up day after day! It was like bedtime stories for 20 kids! They weren't always universally attentive, but most days there was such a hushed stillness as they all listened eagerly for what came next. Again, the power of a story!