Tracking The Hour Hand: A Measure of Waldorf Education
It happens every year, and every year it comes as a surprise.
Maybe it’s because it never shows up in quite the same way.
Major growth presents itself.
It’s as if my son truly embodies the grade he is completing.
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
After all, what exactly makes a 1st grader, or a 5th grader or a 10th grader? When do they “become” that? When did you become a parent? During pregnancy, on adoption day, your wedding day, at the moment of your child’s birth? Or was it some other time, when you found yourself able to meet a critical need, like feeding, or providing emotional nurturing when it was called for?
Becoming, or in psychological terms ‘development’, is a mysterious process.
““Each child in every age brings something new into the world from divine regions.””
Little by little, a child is always growing.
A pattern has emerged in our particular family, as I can look back to the end of 4th grade and see that something similar happened. My son starts a school year with an invisible (to him) set of expectations laid out before him like an obstacle course. It is in many ways the job of teachers (including this homeschooling parent) to keep him on track, focused, able to clear fences and maintain a relatively consistent pace. The school year is long, and by February my philosophy about education, especially home education, can be summed up as follows:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yet we continue to meet in the homeschool room week after week, on some afternoons studying world history and exploring ways to use a scientific calculator, on others drawing complex geometric figures and discussing the characters and themes in books we have read. Many nights we build a fire in our backyard, set up a telescope, and look at the moon. Every morning we ride our horses and listen to music. Instruments are practiced (almost) daily.
A new phase is always around the corner.
By the middle of May we spend more time outside. Our school days get a little shorter. We start looking back at the terrain we have traveled, and what remains to be studied.
This is when the magic happens.
“In his book, The Education of the Child, Rudolf Steiner states that an individual’s personal development often takes place on two levels. He notes that there is the change that occurs on the surface, quick change, like the movement of a minute hand on a clock...but more significant changes, changes in habit, temperament, and character, in short, changes in human nature, occur like the movement of the hour hand.” -- Jack Petrash, Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching From The Inside Out
I ask my son to complete an assignment. What at the beginning of the year took 3 separate class sessions, now takes one sitting. Unable to believe that this is happening, I ask for a little extra. The work is completed. I ask for just a little more, perhaps a simple illustration, or further explanation. It is done without comment.
A sample of student work as they discover the life-cycle and ancestry of bees.
And I say to myself, he has crossed the finish line.
For now.
The hope is that he never sees a finish line, forever finding new ways to challenge himself, and grow.
It is a privilege to be part of the process.
About the Author
Cristina Havel lives in Southern California where she and her husband have worked together for nearly 2 decades. They homeschool their son using the Waldorf pedagogy as a guide and believe in the transformative powers of art and nature.
