If you know your Waldorf then you know that we are working one year ahead with our curriculum. Short Pants has been doing first grade work instead of kindy. Waldorf kindy is an extension of what we did last year - no formal academics. The Waldorf method believes that children under the age of 7 are "in their body" and are simply not ready for academics. So first grade - with the gentle academic introduction you've seen so far on my blog - is for 7-year-olds.
Short Pants doesn't even turn 6 till October, but we assumed he would be bored with a Waldorf kindy curriculum. Due to his Montessori work he has known his letters for a long time. The kid begged for flashcards this summer and taught himself how to add for pete's sake! The Mister and I were also worried that Short Pants would be "behind" his public-schooled peers if we went with the Waldorf kindy curriculum this year. We felt that the first grade curriculum would be a perfect fit.
We were wrong.
As a wise Waldorf mama pointed out to me, Short Pants *loves* and thrives on the parts of our schooling that are developmentally appropriate - circle time, learning about nature, painting, baking, etc. But bring out a main lesson book and it's a whole different story. He becomes reluctant, unhappy, and makes comments that he doesn't like school. Yesterday it came to a head when he broke down sobbing when it was time to work in the main lesson book. He is just not physically ready for this level of drawing and writing. I KNEW this two weeks ago - I had seen his little hands struggling to make simple shapes and his great unhappiness. I saw his confidance drop as he couldn't get his hands to do what he wanted them to do. I had broached the idea of going back to the kindy curriculum with The Mister, and we both agreed to give it just a bit more time and see.
Time enough has been given. We chose homeschooling so that we could do what's best for him. We have the luxury of going at his pace - not working to someone else's standards. He is just not ready. The Mister and I feel strongly that learning at this age should be joyful - a completely positive experience. 5 is still so very, very small. It is way too small to be living in dread of a main lesson book. The same Waldorf mama I mentioned earlier also pointed out that we've been asking a five-year-old to do the work of a seven-year-old. How true!
I know going back to a non-academic kindy curriculum is going to seem crazy to some of you readers, and to some people in our "real life" circle. The Mister and I are okay with that. We know our son best. We also know that we deliberately chose in Short Pants' infancy to raise our younger children using attachment parenting and Waldorf-inspired methods. That choice has resulted in two bright beautiful boys who love nature and have incredible imaginations.
But what about Montessori? We started using Montessori when Short Pants was 3. He had such an incredible thirst for knowledge, and it felt wrong to deny him learning what he obviously wanted to learn. As I've said before, there is a lot about Waldorf that I don't agree with, so adding Montessori was a great decision. What we've loved about Montessori is that the academics in it are child-led. So last year when Short Pants gave clear signals that he was not ready (or interested yet) in moving beyond knowing his letter sounds to reading it wasn't a big deal. He just chose works in other areas. He did the same with math work and stopped choosing it. But then this summer, at his own pace, he became fascinated with the process of addition and now loves working on math. So we know that writing and reading will happen. It's just going to happen when he's ready. And forcing him to complete a first grade Waldorf curriculum through tears is definately *not* going to make it happen.
We'll continue to do our weekly Montessori work as we have been. As I've done, I'll set out reading/writing works - if he chooses them great - if not that's okay too. (he actually picked up some "at" word family cards the other day that weren't even in the Montessori area and surprised the heck out of himself by being able to read them!) I know many kids are ready to write at this age and if Short Pants went to public school he would be expected to do so. And he'd probably hate it there too. Here at home we have the gift of being able to slow down and go at the pace he needs.
So, we'll move to a Waldorf kindy curriculum. We will tell stories, bake, paint, model with beeswax, and generally have a great time. Maybe at the turn of the year - maybe not till next fall - we'll go back to our first grade curriculum. When he's ready.
