FIRST GRADE IN A WALDORF SCHOOL
What are the tasks of the first class? How is the training organized? Where can difficulties arise? Nadiya Vyhivska, the main teacher of the Svitovid Waldorf School, shares her experience:
"The first grade in a Waldorf school is the first step, the first year in the child's second seven years. Playful activities are replaced by educational ones, but to make this transition easy and not traumatic, in the first grade children still have enough time for outdoor games, rhythmic exercises are filled with every lesson, and free play is mandatory.
At this age, children are dominated by imaginative thinking and perception, so all educational material is presented through stories, stories that bring to life the images of certain phenomena and concepts (letters, numbers, mathematical operations, etc.) in children's imaginations. At the age of seven, fairy tales are still important for a child, the moral of which is hidden, but everyone can feel its healing effect on themselves.
The leitmotif of the first class is to create an atmosphere of unity in the team, to create a circle of like-minded people and friends, this is not an easy task, and to achieve the result we worked together, all together, in slow, small steps. And we succeeded.
This is how our first year at the school has passed, and there is still a long way to go, filled with interesting discoveries, unpredictable experiences, creative inspiration, and unquenchable energy. And all this side by side with my beloved students.
I went into my classroom as an experienced teacher, but a newcomer to the Waldorf space. I learned together with my students and it was an invaluable experience. Understanding that what was difficult for me would be no less difficult for the children allowed me to go to class with more support and enthusiasm.
So we grew up together, learning and creating shapes, learning the images of letters, discovering the beauty and grandeur of mathematics. Together we sang songs, danced, and created beauty from wool and wax. Every day we truly lived and filled the entire space with this life.
And then there were the HIKES! Together, we added obstacles and kilometers of roads, made our way through forest thickets, paved new forest trails, made campfires, shared a sandwich and the last drop of water. We explored different areas, met incredible birds, saw reptiles, fed squirrels and caught fish. The moments of unity with nature united us more and more, united us, taught us respect and tolerance, which is rare in the stone jungle of our time.
The school year is over, we have grown older and wiser, which means that we will enter the next year with new strength and inspiration."
And we can add that Ms. Nadiia is a truly sensitive and experienced guide on the path of knowledge. And she is happily preparing to meet with her second class.
Address: 08160, Kyiv, Kyiv region,
Fastiv district, Hatne village,
12, Abrikosova str. 45
Phone: +38 067 676 3836
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