When is a Child Ready to Start Grade School?

By Kristine Fiskum, on behalf of the DVWS faculty

To answer this question we must look at a child’s natural, chronological development. Much like a pregnancy, each and every child goes through stages, and at certain points new processes occur. Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf Education, was a pioneer in the area of developmentally based, age-appropriate learning, and many of his insights and practical applications were later borne out by the work of Gesell, Piaget, Gardner, and others. The Waldorf approach recognizes that children younger than seven years learn best when taught concretely through movement and example, whereas school-age children (ages 7–14) learn best when they are engaged imaginatively and artistically. Then, when children reach high school, around age 14, their growing ability to analyze and think abstractly has a rich body of experience on which to draw. ( Rahima Baldwin Dancy, Waldorf educator and author.)  The first stage is the time of adventure, discovery, and mastery of movement. A child under age seven has not yet completed the process of physical and sense maturation, and it is in his best interest to be in a classroom where these aspects are nurtured. This is indeed learning of a very important sort.

Why is it important to let a child who is six complete this stage in the kindergarten?  Children continue to grow physically well into their twenties.

All of a child’s innate activity and focus in the first stage is devoted to optimizing the workings of  the body and discovering the world through the senses. A body that has mastered this stage is coordinated, capable, strong, and willing. His body will continue to grow and his senses sharpen based on the happenings of the first seven years. If a focus toward cognitive abstraction pushes into this stage, the child is prematurely giving his attention to the next stage at the expense of mastering the first.

My child is learning all kinds of things everyday and  is smart. She wants to learn. She recognizes letters, does math, can even read. What do you mean she is not yet ready to learn?

The question to ask is not about  the benefit of early cognitive learning, but about the deficit created by not playing and moving. It is the view in a Waldorf school that a relevant and developmentally appropriate kind of learning is taking place in the kindergarten through play, socialization, and movement. The question for first grade readiness is not proving that a child is academically ready, but asking if s/he is physically and socially ready.

Children are quite able, and even precocious at this age. Some educational models have pushed children and shown that they can become whizzes at mental exercises. Yes, we can ask that of children and some will answer, but they will not do it naturally. We can even make them want to do this because we value their progress and praise them for it. In truth though, they want to play and discover at this age. There is real educational, even academic, value in giving a child time to know their physical body, know the world around them, and develop socially. The words of Rudolf Steiner give us pause to consider the value of this time:  “If a young child has been able in his play … to give up his whole living being to the world around him … he will be able in the serious tasks of later life, to devote himself with confidence and power to the service of the world.” (Caroline von Heydebrand, one of the first Waldorf teachers.)

The child who has completed this stage is able to attend to focused academic learning without physical exhaustion, sensory overload, and the insatiable urge to move. A child who is rushed may struggle unnecessarily and formal learning may be a negative experience. Even the rare geniuses and prodigies will offer the world and themselves more if they are given time to be a child. Capacities that show themselves early in children will not disappear because education does not capitalize on them. Given time they will mature and be at the child’s command. 

The DVWS faculty has set forth guidelines for first grade entry after full consideration of many factors. It recognizes that the decision is inconsistent with many public and private schools. Through direct experience, wisdom shared by expert teachers, authors and researchers, the school bases its decision on what is in the best interest of the child’s development. The Waldorf curriculum is directly related to the chronological age of a child. There are many ways that kindergarten teachers will meet the needs and desires of their oldest students; learning will not be stifled but will blossom with new responsibilities, leadership roles, stories rich in language, problem-solving and memory skills, and new capacities of constructive and  imaginative play.

DVWS Grade School Entry Guidelines

First grade entry for children who turn six between March 31-May 31 will be determined by the Early Childhood teachers. Students turning six after May 31 will not be considered for first grade entry.

New student placement in grades 2-8 will be considered on a case-by-case basis in the best interest of the child.

It’s a question asked by parents of three year olds about this time every year. They’ve been told that it’s time for their child to begin preschool. Maybe they have even been counting the days.  There’s a notion very prevalent in the U.S. that we need to start  educating our children early. President Obama talked about it in the State of the Union address this year, vowing to make “high-quality” preschool available to every child in America.   There is research indicating that early education does help down the road.  But what kind of early education?   What is a “high quality”  preschool?  Does it mean your child will be reading at 4?  That she can read a map, add and subtract, spit back facts about the rainforest?   Or does it mean that she will be developing capacities like physical dexterity, self-regulation, social competence, and rich imagination?

Early childhood educators and child development experts on the whole believe that play is the most important work of early childhood, providing the skills and capacities that are essential for later success in school and in life.  Play is also the natural state of childhood.  Just as the baby lion’s pounce on his mother’s tail prepares him for pouncing on prey later on, a young child who figures out how to build a playhouse out of cloths with some friends may be preparing himself for solving complex math problems in high school or for negotiating differences in the board room.  If children are left to their own devices, they will play, just as the baby lion will pounce.  This should tell us that perhaps this is what they need to prepare them for adulthood, just as the young lion’s play prepares him.  There is wisdom in paying attention to what happens naturally when adult agendas are not imposed.

Sadly, the trend in education over the past few decades is to impose a fear-based adult agenda of “start earlier and do more.”  This has resulted in kindergarten being the new first grade, and moving steadily in the direction of preschool being the new first grade.  One reason for the fear is falling test scores.  A good question to ask is, how has “start earlier and do more” affected test scores so far?  A better question is, are standardized test scores the measure we should really be looking at for whether our children are well-prepared for the future in our rapidly changing world?  The truth is, we don’t know that pushing academics down into preschool is going to help at all.  What we do know is that doing so will crowd out the activity that will help the most,  play, and that this can actually harm children.

Diagnoses  like  ADHD, depression, and bipolar disorder continue to become more common in children.  The suicide rate for adolescents has continued to rise, so that suicide is the third leading cause of death for people 10 to 24.  Obesity rates are rising, along with all the accompanying health problems.  Children and adolescents are more stressed than ever, and these are the children who have steadily lost play at the same rate that they have been burdened by more and more homework and academic expectation.  They are the children who have spent their childhood in front of screens  and doing hours of homework instead of making mud pies and exploring the woods.

Young children need to play. They need to spend lots of time outside. They need to learn to wait, to help a friend, to do work that really matters. Children need to make pictures in their imaginations when they hear a story. They need to crawl up on a dead tree across the path on a nature walk and wonder what might live there.  They need to feel what it’s like to move their bodies through mud, through deep snow, across slippery ice.  They need to watch adults doing real things and then try it themselves. They need to become deeply absorbed in something of interest—how the grain turns to flour when you grind it, how tall you can build a tower before it falls over, how the color blue meets the color yellow in their painting. A “high-quality preschool” will provide plenty of time for all of this and more. It will provide children with the raw materials to build worlds from their imaginations. It will provide them with a healthy rhythm that supports their best behavior and their joyful attention. A high-quality preschool will provide plenty of movement and plenty of time outdoors in all seasons. A high quality preschool will respect the natural pace of childhood, and by so doing will encourage  health,  happiness, and a lifelong zest for learning.

 Still more evidence from the scientific community  that the wisdom of Waldorf is right on target. When engaged in what looks like child’s play, preschoolers are actually behaving like scientists, according to a new report in the journal Science: forming hypotheses, running experiments, calculating probabilities and deciphering causal relationships about the world.  Read the full article here.

Thank you for your kind words, hugs, and positive expressions of what our school year together has meant for your child and family. Your gratitude is such a gift for me as is the love I feel from your children. That is my greatest reward for this work I do. Thanks to all who donated to the Faculty Education Fund in honor of Ms. Nicole and me. The teachers in our school work tirelessly and for very modest pay. This fund helps to see that anyone wishing to attend training and professional development workshops has funds available for this. This gift gives right back to our school and children!

Our departing kindergarten students have gifted us with new placemats for the classroom and a new carpet sweeper. Thanks to the Peterson, Stokes, DePue-Renollet, and Howard families for this.

I wish you all a wonderful summer full of much joy and adventure. I’ll do my best to rest and replenish so I can return to your children in the fall with fresh energy and enthusiasm for another year!

In closing, I share the closing words of our morning circle:

“The Earth is firm beneath my feet. The sun shines bright above,
And here I stand so straight and strong. All things to know and love.”

Good-bye.

Blessings,
Donna Brooks

Thank you all for your support this school year. Our kindergarten children have crossed the bridge and are excited about their adventures into first grade for next year. The children staying in our garden are also very full of love and joy right not. I’ve been hugged and kissed so much this past week. It’s like we’re all getting our fill before a summer apart. But rest assured we’ll come together this summer. My hope is to have a forest preserve picnic for our families returning next year and our incoming families and students. I’ll keep you posted as to the date and location of this play, play, play date.

We bid farewell to our students going to first grade, and we also bid farewell to two students who’ve been in our garden the past two years. One student will join her big brother and sister at their charter school at Prairie Crossing. I will miss their family very much. The parents brought their oldest daughter to our school back when I first began teaching here. Fond memories from long ago that lead up to beholding their young daughter’s beautiful smile and singing now. Another family is moving this summer, so today I washed their daughter’s feet for the last time in our lavender bath in Extended Day. My how those feet have grown since she was three! I will miss her very much, but we are promised a visit whenever they return to Illinois! Best wishes to both families. You are in our hearts.

Children will be taking home bags with all their school belongings on Thursday and Friday. Be sure to pick these up this week and check our lost and found for any other items to go home.

Additionally, I will have some tending, cleaning and ironing projects for any motivated summer workers!! Come pick up a bag to tend, wash, and/or iron and return some time during June and July. I’ll be giving away bags tomorrow and on Friday after the picnic. Oh yeh!!! Deep cleaning will happen in August, so let me know if you’re inspired for this when the time comes. All this is our effort to create and keep a clean, beautiful, safe space for these children. This is our home away from home.
Please extend a thank you to Kristin DePue, who served as our Room Parent this year. She has been a great support to the teachers and to our program, and I appreciate all her efforts. Anyone interested in taking on this PTO function for next year, please let me know.

Have a wonderful summer vacation! Breathe out!!

Warmly,
Donna Brooks

(click on image to view larger)

Today the Sunflower Garden Early Childhood class celebrated the students who will be going to the First Grade in the fall.  Each child holds a puppet that they sewed for the puppet show they performed for their classmates and parents as part of the festivities.  These students will share a classroom with the current first grade students who were also in attendance for the celebration.  The students stand with their teacher, Donna Brooks (left) and her assistant, Nicole Griffith (right).

Next week concludes our time together. Please make sure to double check your child’s bag and belongings going home. If you can send in a paper shopping bag on Monday or Tuesday, that will help us with our packing. There will be laundry needs and ironing projects sent home for summer cleaning. Let me know if you’ll take a bundle! Thanks!

A special visitor came to our room on Wednesday to observe the work we do. Pat Grosso, a certified HANDLE practitioner and occupational therapist, visited our class to reconnect with Waldorf education and our school. Her now grown children attended school at Four Winds Waldorf School. She was very pleased with her visit and reaffirmed the good work we are doing…how good it is for children’s healthy development. She also reiterated the value of children spending time and growing up in the early childhood program. Like Pia Antonetti, who works with children from our school, Pat Grosso is an excellent resource for children needing extra support (especially before going into the grades) with attention, sensory processing, coordination/balance, and other work needed for children who may have neurodevelopmental differences. If you have any questions about this, feel welcomed to speak with me more.

Next week we’ll have our own classroom ceremony to bid farewell to our friends “crossing the bridge” and going on to first grade next year. This journey is never to be rushed, for if one is not fully ready now, it will often show more and more with progression through the grades. Though a child is “of age,” this does not always mean ready. With this I am grateful for the one family’s decision, in concert with me, to keep their child in our garden for another year. This student just came to us in January, and we considered this carefully, as I will with any child. We do what we should always do ~ that which is best for the child. So our ceremony on Wednesday will be a send off to five children leaving the garden. This ceremony is for parents and grandparents of these children only, along with our children who attend class on Wednesday. In the fall, they’ll be welcomed in a Rose Ceremony into the grades.

Next Week:

Kindergarten Ceremony ~ Wednesday, June 3, 11:30 a.m.

Where Do the Children Play? ~ Movie screening and panel discussion Thursday, June 4, 7:00 p.m.

Friday, June 5, School Picnic ~ Pizza and potluck, 12:30.

I’m actually enjoying working with the energy of these children during these final days of school. It is a lesson in adaptation and flexibility! We have to meet them where they are!

Warmly,
Donna Brooks

Miss Nicole and I are continuing the marionette puppet show of “Queen Bee” we shared at the May Faire. If you missed it that day, know that your child will have several opportunities to receive this story. I know some were unable to enter once the story was begun at the faire, and this may have felt hurtful or frustrating. These puppet shows require a good deal of focus on the part of the teachers, and the children are “dreaming into it.” If we have people entering late or disruptions, it interrupts this flow and can distract the focus and dreamy quality of the experience. Whenever story time or circle time has begun, the ideal would be to not interrupt. I appreciate your timeliness and consideration of this. Thanks for understanding.

Our kindergarten children have been having some adventures. They’ve finished the basic form of their puppets and next week we’ll embellish them with capes, crowns, and whatever else is desired. Then they’ll get a chance to play with their creations. From that comes a story. The six year olds also visited Mrs. Bowmen’s classroom twice this week for a first grade experience. We in turn invited the first grade class to come see our “Queen Bee” puppet show.

Home visits: Families of six year old/turning six next year children…please contact me about a time in the coming weeks and into summer when I might visit your home. I’d like to visit the homes of all my incoming kindergarten children within the next month. Thanks.

Last call for letters of interest, resumes, and applications for candidates interested in our assistant positions. We are setting up times for applicants to visit the classrooms/observe and interview in the next two weeks. Any questions? Just call my cell phone number (listed in the Handbook).

Enjoy the long weekend!

Warmly,
Donna Brooks