An Outing with the Rudolf Steiner School

Homeschooling for the first three months that the girls got here certainly had its advantages and disadvantages. But we're all very happy they're in school now, conversing with their new friends completely in Spanish. The school year here in Chile started at the beginning of March, and we found a school that is perfect for us. It's a Waldorf school, and though the girls did not attend a Waldorf school back home, I have always been intrigued by their philosophy of learning and teaching. "When children relate what they learn to their own experience, they are interested and alive, and what they learn becomes their own." http://www.awsna.org/education-intro.html

I like the fact that they use a more developmentally-based approach to presenting material, no academics in kindergarten, and certainly not in preschool like you see in some of those creme de la creme kind of places in the states. At a Waldorf school, kids can be kids without their creativity, imagination and individualism being squelched. Roxy and Sarah were particularly happy to learn they wouldn't have to wear uniforms here as kids do in nearly all the schools in Chile. In fact, there's one student who normally comes to their school wearing a big top hat. There's a strong focus on the arts; music, dance, drawing, painting and sculpture is a big part of the curriculum. In their trabajos manuales classes, Roxy has been making games and toy cars out of wood. Her mini Cooper replica is coming along very nicely. Sarah is rightfully proud of the cross-stitch work that she, herself, designed and has been working very hard on. On a larger scale, Sarah's class has been busy making a two-story playhouse. It wasn't so much Sarah's thing, putting on tall, rubber boots and sloshing around in the mud and adding straw to make the bricks that form one wall of the playhouse. Nonetheless, she does think the adventure of building a house is pretty cool. This type of hands-on work and physical movement is, I think, especially well-suited for students immersed in learning a foreign language. Both girls wish they had started at the school earlier, when they first got here. Of course, they weren't saying that at the time. Live and learn.

Recently, Bill and I had an opportunity to accompany the students, teachers, and some of the parents on a memorable school outing. On a gorgeous fall day, eight buses took us all up into the mountains not far from Santiago. When the buses could go no further, we got out and hiked about an hour up to a big plateau where a large area had been cleared of (most of) the rocks and cow pies, making a huge playing field for the afternoon games. First the students sat in groups with their class and had a morning snack. That is another thing I like about Waldorf: their attempt to encourage healthy eating habits in the children, attempts that go a little further than many public schools with their vending machines full of junk. Bill brought some of his world-renowned hummus which, paired with pita bread or celery and carrot sticks, makes for a snack that is exquisito.

When everyone had had their fill, a whistle called all the children into a huge circle, where they arranged themselves by class. The first graders then presented the loaves of fall bread that they had baked, with help from the freshman class, to all of the other teachers so that it could be shared with their students later in the afternoon. It was a beautiful symbolic gesture of community: sharing a delicious, hearty bread baked in a spirit of cooperation with older students helping younger students. Then the children all joined hands and united their voices in beautiful song. All so very Waldorf.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bdoody61/Singing

I was not emotionally prepared for the afternoon's games, and it's lucky I wasn't invited to join in, because I most certainly am not physically prepared either. The students, from the itsy-bitsy fifth-graders to big and burly seniors in high school, together played a game called bulle. Bulle, apparently, is German for bull, and this game of charging bulls makes Quidditch seem tame! One person is chosen to be the bulle at the beginning of the game. He looked to be one of the biggest and strongest kids in the group. All the other kids are at one end of the field, and the bulle is in the middle, facing them as he calls out, "Ein, schwei, drei, bulle!" (The students are also learning German at the school). At this point all the kids race across the field, trying not to get caught by the bulle. But it's not a simple matter of just getting tagged by him. He must lift you completely off the ground, and then you become a bulle, too. In this manner the number of bulles grows until there are about half bulles and half kids trying not to get caught. That's when things really get crazy. With so many kids of all different sizes running in all directions, I held my breath each time, certain that someone was going to get hurt. Then the game continues until the last person has been captured. Fortunately, no one did get hurt and, in fact, they all had a great time. Click here to see the craziness: http://picasaweb.google.com/bdoody61/RoxyRunning.

Here are more photos of the school and our excursion:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bdoody61/WaldorfSchool