When it came to choosing a school for my daughter, I was focused on finding a well-known school, one that was of fine academic record and, for practical reasons, close to home.
At that time, the girls’ school beside my sons’ school seemed the best choice. We enrolled her in kindergarten, and all went well. There was no problem waking up and going to school every day on time for the entire school year. From kindergarten, she was accepted and moved to Grade 1. She was all excited when we bought all the school supplies and books to be placed in a big bag.
After one week of going to Grade 1, she announced to us, "I do not want to go to school anymore." Of course, I didn’t take her seriously and simply told her that she had to go to school. Aside from expressing her sentiments verbally, she started to act up in the mornings.
I found myself having to hold her in the car while my husband drove us to school. We brought her to the guidance counselor, who tried to understand where her resistance was coming from. It was difficult extracting reasons from our young six-year-old. She simply said her teacher kept telling her she needed to know how to read since some of her classmates were already good readers. The counselor and the teacher tried to reason with her, but to no avail. This went on every day for the next seven days, getting worse each morning. She started to complain of stomach pains, which were diagnosed by her pediatrician as hyperacidity. Clearly, it was child stress.
As a family counselor by profession, I have met many young boys and girls who expressed negative feelings about school, but most were in their high school and college years. For many, the cases were simply that of feeling burned-out; for young students, it was a simple case of losing interest in school.
My situation was different. My daughter was only in the first grade, and she was obviously crying out to us. As parents, my husband and I had a serious dilemma, and found ourselves discussing possible solutions to our daughter’s problem. Neither did I want the experience to be traumatic for my daughter nor to be told in the future that she is sick and tired of school, and we would force her to remain in it. For me, it was important that at this early age, she loves school. I knew the importance of beginning things properly, to ensure that the right foundation would be in place.
Eventually, I listened to my daughter’s cry. I told her I was going to show her other schools. I brought her to the Waldorf School, which was located in the backyard and garage of one of the teachers. I knew one of the teachers there and I shared with her my crisis. The Grade 1 teacher invited us to observe her class. At the end of the class, she talked to my daughter and asked her if she would like to be interviewed the next day. My daughter said yes.
In her interview, she was asked to do various physical exercises and drawings. I could see the glow in her face as she did what she was asked. After the interview was done, she was told that she passed the test for school readiness and was invited to join the Grade 1 class for the day.
I waited anxiously outside the classroom. During recess, she came out with a big smile and told me, "Mommy, this is my school, you can go home now." I cannot forget what her teacher told me, "Your daughter simply knows what she likes and does not like."
What is it that she liked about this school? What are some of the unique features of the school? What do kids know that sometimes adults fail to see? What makes a school child-centered, committed not only to the development of the child’s intellect but also his physical, psycho-emotional, and spiritual health? Is there a school that still provides children with an honest-to-goodness childhood while at the same time teaches them developmental and age-appropriate knowledge, skills and values?
The Waldorf School was founded by an Austrian philosopher by the name of Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s. Steiner believed that the child had to be taught according to the capacity that was natural and inherent at certain stages of development.
The life forces of children below seven years old are geared towards the development of the physical body. They are made to explore the natural environment through their bodies. Learning happens both outdoors and indoors. The child develops natural confidence as he/she becomes more adept at physical capacities, such as climbing, running, painting, playing a musical instrument and doing all kinds of movements using his/her hands, feet and entire body. Children love to play, and it is in their play that they learn the most. At this stage, children are very curious and are like sponges absorbing everything they see. They are learning through imitation; therefore, it is very important that parents and teachers serve as loving models and authorities to the children.
In Waldorf education, heavy intellectual and academic work begins only after age seven. The preschool and kindergarten years are very crucial in laying a good foundation for the development of a love of learning. When children are forced into academic work when they are not yet ready, this may lead to loss of interest and enthusiasm for learning. After the age of seven, there is a natural readiness for academic learning. A natural "declaration of independence" happens. The main subjects are now introduced and learning is facilitated through the feeling, thinking and willing capacities of the child.
In this school, the teachers are trained to teach with various creative activities and modalities other than plain lectures. Creative teaching does not cater only to the thinking mind, it also awakens the feeling mind and the willing mind. Rudolf Steiner was the first to point out that teachers can help the children experience freedom in their first arithmetic class. Numbers have to be first introduced in a living, concrete way and not in an abstract way. I remember my daughter playing the jumping rope while reciting the multiplication table.
As a parent who was educated in the traditional school system, I can see the big difference in how subjects are taught. I am very enthusiastic at the new learning that I gain through my children’s education. In fact, at the Waldorf School, a good number of parents are taking up courses in Waldorf education through formal and informal study groups to better understand the principles and philosophy behind the education of their children. More than that, we have become enamored with the rich and comprehensive source of knowledge about life in general in Steiner’s philosophy of education.
My daughter is now in her sixth grade and her younger brother is in second grade at the Manila Waldorf School. They both love their school and I should admit that I love it, too, not just as their school but as my own school as well. Many have asked me, what do I really like about the school? The simple answer that comes from the deepest recesses of my heart is this: If I had a chance to be a child all over, I would choose to go to a Waldorf school just as my daughter has.