PRERANA Waldorf Inspired School News Letter April 2006

I tried to teach my child from books,
He gave me only puzzled looks
I tried to teach my child with words
They passed him by, oft unheard
Despairingly I turned aside.
“How shall I teach this child” I cried
Into my hand he put the key
“Come” he said, “play with me.”

We are nearing the end of the school year and now children walk into the classroom with an air of confidence and uprightness. With a bright smile that lights up their faces, they now gladly participate in the morning circle time, singing, pasting, beading and painting. The imaginative life that they thrive on during free play, is a joy watching. They glide into different roles everyday which comes most naturally to them. Each child is unique in her/his own way. During the harvest rhythm, the children imagine to be sowing, threshing, winnowing as they sang “the farmer sows the seed” –with glee. During the harvest season it is a tradition that people fly colourful kites. As the song, “kite flying high in the blue of the sky” was sung, children were instantly transported into an imaginary world .With the nesting season around, their favorite song was –“ Little bird above my window” Holi, the festival of colours saw the children reveling in the songs of colours, culminating in the celebration of Holi by splashing water on each other and sprinkling rose petals. At this time all the four classes came together, heard the story of Holika told by the 3 class teacher Neeta and thoroughly enjoyed the elaborate spread of sweets sent by the parents. Indian festivals are all about rejoicing, eating sweets and wearing colourful clothes. On looking back, it has been a memorable year – as they unfurl into adorable children .In my class, children speak 7 different languages like –Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Telugu and English, it is likely that they pick up words from different languages. These children came into this world and enrich our lives. All their learning is through imitation and it is our responsibility as teachers and parents to be worthy of that imitation in words and actions – to be real people.    
Nasreen
Nursery

CLASS I

The end of the year always leaves one in a retrospective mood often with mixed feelings – One might say, “apprehensive cheerfulness”. Apprehensiveness whether all my children have had a joyful year of learning and cheerfulness that they were entering the next grade with enthusiasm. An eventful year by gone… Though, it is the end of year, I'm beginning to know different aspects, shades of my children. A little more than just their names, and features and temperaments. I'll be moving on with my children into the next grade. We both look at it from different angles and both are thrilled about the coming year.      

We started our 3rd number block with the introduction of the 4 processes, which were introduced at the same time. The children were able to understand the relationship that existed between them. We did the Tables of 2,3,5,10 with the bean bags and the children throughly revelled in it, though sometimes it got chaotic with some of them having 2 eanbags. During the Harvest rhythm the children lived in the song- “the farmer sows his seed.” They effortlessly identified themselves as the farmer while singing this song-from sowing the seeds to cutting the crop. In January we had a distinguished Eurythmist from Australia – Jan Baker Finch, since we don't have a school Eurythmist, the children gave her an Angelical name and enjoyed doing the verses of Shoemaker, Tip Tap rack a rack. We did the word formation and sentence construction in the form of a story. The story helped them to understand that the language has a purpose to communicate meaning and that it is not presented in fragmented parts but in cohesion in the form of a story. As a art of this exercise the children came up with a list of things they saw in the classroom and around them.  

Prerana had many esteemed guests in January. Mr. Christoph Wiechart the Head of Pedeagogic section Goetheanum, Roland Steinemann both from Switzerland , Rose Mary Glasby from Australia and Gail Lesher from USA . Children gladly welcomed all our guests into their classrooms and proudly shared their experiences in school. We thank all our guests for sharing their time and experiences with us. It has surely enriched us and gave us the impetus to carry on with our work.. Together our journey through Class I has been a great learning experience. It was truly gratifying to see the children's eyes shining, engulfed in wonder.  

Aelia
Class I

CLASS II  

From the stillness of the cold winter to the freshness of spring, the III term made its journey smoothly, with a lot of learning and activities. First Sankranthi, the harvest songs and dances and the slow change in colour of the leaves to golden. The wind blowing softly, with it bringing down the little golden leaves that made a thick carpet all around bringing to the eyes sometimes the wind blew some leaves through our classroom window which the children joyfully collected. They would come after their free play with handful of the leaves and revelled in showing them to me. This brought in the Early Spring bringing, back the colours and with it the rising heat. One day during Sankranthi festival when we were singing a song on kites, one of the student Zoha was so engrossed in tugging at his imaginary kite, that the whole class gazed at the ceiling, as if there was an imaginary kite up there.  

In the 3rd term class-2 finished 3 blocks. In January we completed our 3rd Number block. Children learnt 6 and 7 tables through stamping and clapping and beanbag activities. We did subtraction sums with borrowing. We exercised 6 and 7 tables in multiplication and in sharing that is division process. February saw us doing St. Francis of Assisi in our saint block the story of the most blessed Father St. Francis was told. Then children re-told the story in their own words, and then the text was written on the board, which was test was beautifully copied into their main lesson books with drawings. First we wrote about his early years, then his sickness and vision.    

Throughout the block the children were told about the miracles of St. Francis, his love for all creations of God and preachings to people and animals. Children loved this block and were eager to listen to more stories from the life of this saint. They specially loved stories about, the brother wolf, Peppino and violetta the donkey, and St. Francis preaching the birds. Finally in March we did a Number block in which we worked with 8 and 9 tables, as well as revised tables from 2-10 and all the four processes. While it is important to encourage the child's learning abilities, we must also take care not to expect unreasonable achievements that do not tally with his/her age. Accordingly Grade-2 glided through the academic year, learning imaginatively and artistically through various fun filled activities. In Grade-2 the children were 1st introduced to running form drawings, then slowly practising Cursive writing. In the next language blocks that followed, children started reading the text and their handwriting become more clear and neat. We also worked on the spellings of Word families and vowel teams. They became more confident in recalling the events in a story scene by scene. Their vocabulary and diction improved day by day. They are able to comprehand a small story in their own words.  

In Maths class-2 did numbers up to 1000 in figures. Place value up to 100 was introduced and we continued working with the four processes. We worked out simple additions as well as additions with carrying, subtraction with borrowing up to 100. Simple multiplications and divisions were done. Tables 2 to 10 were practiced extensively both forward and backwards. Tables were also practiced through, stamping and clapping, beanbag activities, wooden boards, and various Number games. Everyday Mental arithmetics was practised in the morning circle. Skipping numbers in 5's, 10's and 100's, lesser than, greater than numbers were also done upto 1000. Nature studies blended into the curriculum and the children experienced this subject throughout the year. Stories and verses of plants, animals and Nature, the four seasons brought awareness in children for nature, a sense of responsibility for it. Class – 2 children are good in drawing and have wonderful imagination. They love painting and are eagerly waiting for the Painting day. They are equally good in craft. Throughout the year class-2 children would keep an eye on the activities of class-3. Carefully observing class-3 children doing, planting, building, weights and Bazaar etc. They are all very exited and eagerly awaiting their next class. In January for the first time ‘Kolisko' conference was held in Hyderabad. It was a 5 day conference where head of Pedagogic Section Mr. Christof Wiechert and head of Medical section Dr. Michaela Glockler and many more experienced teachers and Medical Practioners met under one roof. The theme of the conference was learning and health. It was an enriching experience for teachers as we got to attend Various workshops, related to education and healing. I would like to end by sharing an Incident. One day after their play children came back to class. Their cheeks were red and they were glowing with exitement from play. Pointing towards them I said “My garden is blooming with roses.” Immediately a reply comes from the class “And Teacher you are our Sun.” The Love and admiration children place in their teachers makes our work more satisfying.  

Neela
CLASS II          

CLASS III  

The onset of summer brings us to the end of the academic year 2005-2006. It has been an eventful year, especially for class 3. Farming, House-Building, Measurements, Cooking, Celebrations, Field Trips, Sports and Craft Activities without drifting from academics,   kept them busy through the year. Learning has been very intense. In language, their main lesson books were beautifully done with texts and illustrations from the Bible stories, Ramayana and Koranic stories. A detailed account on their experiences with Farming and House Building were also written and illustrated in their Main Lesson Books. Grammar was introduced this year. The children enjoyed learning grammar through verses and drama. Measurements in Length, Distance, Weight, Volume and Time were taught to them. The children did face struggle in understanding conversions. But their persistence and the practicality of the Waldorf curiculum helped them to overcome their difficulties. The clarity of thought and their faculty of comprehending are commendable. Mental Maths was given a lot of emphasis throughout the year. A bazaar was set up by Class 3 in February to internalize their lessons on Money. Children came prepared with eatables, stationery and home linen. It was interesting to see the finesse with which they decorated their stalls and displayed their articles. The efficiency with which the children served and also managed to keep account of the money was impeccable. It was entirely their show and as a teacher, I got to observe their strengths, weaknesses and virtues. Their creative skills helped them not only to put up a good show but it also made good economic sense., the benefits of which they benevolently shared for the welfare of our school helpers. These moments are unforgettable. It gives me great satisfaction to say that every child in my class, has progressed well. I am thankful to your parents for your wonderful support. Growth of a child is like the budding of a rose. Just as a rose requires both sunshine and water, a child needs support from his immediate environment. Thus, lets join together and strive for a better future for the children.

Neeta
Class III  

EDUCATION FOR TOMORROW  

We live in an astonishing world. Scientists have launched men across a quarter million miles of space to the sterile deserts of the moon. Technology is inventing Computers to read, write, listen, speak, remember, draw, recognise faces and eventually do much of the world's work. A day's flight can take you anywhere in the world and television brings instantaneous global news. In a single generation our lives and our world have changed beyond understanding. What we do want for our children? How do we educate them in a way to face a better tomorrow? Science has made stupendous advances in our age. Our aim should be to achieve As much as in every other field of human endeavor. The ideals of education should be – “to ennoble the mind, fire the imagination, to fortify the will and to quicken the initiative for life.” The list can on. An experienced Waldorf teacher said – “The task of the teacher is not to mould the mind but to enable it to grow to new dimensions- dimensions beyond his own reach. The teacher serves the present for the future.” It is worth going back some years, to look at the steady growth of Waldorf Schools in 1919. Europe lay exhausted from the First World War. In the chaotic aftermath of those war years, there was no secure foundation to rebuild on. Among the many who searched for solutions to the social chaos was Emil Molt of the Waldorf-Astoria factory in Stuttgart Germany. He came to believe that the reconstruction of a shattered society must begin at school and that only education could develop a new understanding and human values appropriate for the times.