Handbook
Bridges Between Home & School
Each day, the Faculty works to create lessons that include artistic and physical activities and that serve the physical, emotional and spiritual development of students. They do this in the following ways:
• Creating active, hands-on, direct learning opportunities.
• Using movement to complement and enhance lessons in all subjects and at all levels.
• Providing access to the out-of doors.
• Working to keep the classroom free of unnecessary noise, toxins, media imagery and corporate logos.
• Fostering a healthy group consciousness.
• Considering safety when designing lessons.
• Building healthy images of humanity through stories, biographies and healthy body image.
• Protecting the growing systems of the human being with warmth.
• Placing the work, the development of each child and the progress of the class at the center, with all decisions stemming from these as priorities.
Children experience the world differently than adults. The child is not a miniature adult who grows bigger as the years go by. Children also experience the world differently depending on their stages of development. In the early years (0-7) children primarily learn about the world through movement and their senses. As the child matures (7-14) his feelings emerge in combination with strong memory. The emphasis in the middle years (grades 1-8) of the Waldorf curriculum is appropriately the feeling-filled experience of knowledge. Finally, with adolescence (14-21) comes the world of ideas, thoughts and concepts through logical insight. The three-fold concept of the human being as a whole person, fully developed in willing (doing), feeling, and thinking is maintained throughout the curriculum of Waldorf education where everything is done ‘from truth, through beauty, for the good.’
Early Childhood
Young children are deeply immersed in their immediate surroundings. Rhythms and routines are of great importance in establishing a sense of security and trust. These include sleeping and waking routines as well as regular meal times. Parents are encouraged to make a conscious effort to wake children gently with a regular morning song or verse, provide breakfast before coming to school, and give a bedtime story and verse in the evening. This rhythm in a young child’s life supports the work of the teacher. It provides a nurturing environment during the day and builds the foundations for future learning capacities.
The Early Childhood classroom environment is one of warmth and beauty. In the classroom, children develop social skills through creative play, their imaginations through artistic activities and storytelling, and their motor skills through games, singing and movement. The Early Childhood curriculum encourages the child’s natural creativity and imagination through activities. These activities can occur at home, too.
Children’s social interactions continue outside the school through play dates, birthday parties and family gatherings. The Chicago Waldorf School is not a neighborhood school in a geographical sense. Nurturing friendships among schoolmates and their parents can encourage networking and help to create a strong sense of community, which supports the teachers work in the classroom and the parents work at home. Home visits by teachers can also be helpful for parents and children in creating bridges between home and school. Parents are welcome to invite teachers to their homes.
Early Childhood teachers strive to nourish the developing senses of the young child. With this is mind, the Chicago Waldorf School stands firmly against young children’s exposure to television and other electronic media. The noticeable effects of television and video games – shortened attention span, reduced perseverance and inability to concentrate and play – weaken the child’s capacity to learn and can also disrupt the social life of the group. The young child is vulnerable to his/her surroundings and does not have the ability to judge the reality of images presented on television or in computer games.
Grade School
Structure and rhythm continue to be very important for the Grade School student. To support the classroom work, parents should help their children develop a healthy habit life with regular routines for waking and sleeping, mealtimes, play and, for the older child, music practice and homework.
The adverse effects of television, movies, video games and computers on the child’s ability to learn are well documented. Parents need to provide healthy alternative activities throughout the grade school years. The school strongly recommends that children not be allowed to view movies or television or to play with video or computer games on school nights. Class evenings give parents and teachers an opportunity to discuss this important topic.
Getting together with classmates for play and shared outings fosters children’s social development. As the children become older and more independent, parent-to-parent communication helps articulate social norms and expectations and give children guidelines that will support them as they enter adolescence.
The Grade School curriculum develops the fundamental capacities of a child through a balance of subjects, taught in developmentally appropriate ways.
High School
High School students move from subject to subject and from class to class and do not relate to a single teacher in the se way that younger students do. The Faculty does, however, believe that it is important to provide continuity for our older students. To that end, each High School class has two Class Advisors who take a primary role with the class. (See High School Handbook for more information.)