Walking the path of becoming a Waldorf pedagogue involves an ever evolving understanding of oneself as a role model worthy of imitation. For the young child learns so much from observing the people around her. Hence as early childhood educators the critical task is to be worthy of imprinting GOOD and BEAUTY on these new souls arriving to Earth.
Thankfully there are many that has trodden the path before, becoming steeped in the Rudolf Steiner anthroposophy by virtue of living it. Being a Waldorf pedagogue is not a 9-5 job, it is who you are integrated into all aspects of your life. You become known in your community for who you are by shining your light into more areas as you extend your gracious presence into everything you do. Waldorf education is often referred to as a healing experience, due to the depth of what it entails.
In addition to sending our educators to Kenya for their development at the Waldorf East Africa training center, we are fortunate to have an incredible Waldorf mentor to our pedagogues in training. Shannon Honigblum has resumed the calls with our teachers. Currently one of the main topics at our campus is grade school readiness for the children that have been with us for the past two years. A struggle world wide for early childhood educators are to progress the children at a pace that allow them to be well prepared to move up to grade schools and not rush them off before they have the foundational skills ready to build on as classes get more advanced. Parents tend to want the children to move as early as possible with the idea that this will be a positive advancement for the child. Yet it is not serving the child to move up to grade school until the foundation is solid as this will create frustration, insecurities and stress for the young child. Allowing sufficient time to develop is critical, and our last call with Shannon we discussed this in great detail.
We also spoke about how to deal with conflict in the kindergarten. It is important to reinforce good behavior, holding for the child a "golden picture" of the child and describing to the child all of their good behavior. Redirecting challenging behavior with jump roping, games, work and special activities.
The photos are from September 2018 when we had the fantastic privilege to host Shannon for a month. We are talking about the possibility for another visit later this year, as the in person training together with the children is invaluable.
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