Waldorf and Learning to Read
by Barbara Dewey, Waldorf without Walls
Reading is not required in Waldorf schools until the end of grade 3. The Waldorf curriculum is based on the developmental interests of children, rather than skill levels, and does not require reading in the early grades. Material is presented by the teacher in dramatic, interesting ways and the children make use of the material in their play and hands-on dramatic and artistic activities.
These activities are enjoyable learning experiences that allow the child to learn many other things while she is maturing and naturally developing the capacities that will lead to reading, whenever it occurs.
Steiner believed that the child recapitulates human cultural evolution in his development. At age 6-7 he is living through the period when human beings developed a written, pictorial alphabet, so it makes sense to develop the alphabet using pictures. The child is still interested in fantasy and fairy tale, so we develop a picture alphabet using fairy tale stories.
English is a very difficult language to learn. The phonetic and spelling rules are only correct 50% of the time! That means 50% of the words have to be memorized. So how can one learn to read by phonics alone?!
Children learn to read in the same way they learn to potty train or talk. Children learn these things when they are ready and the age of success varies greatly with the child. To me, a child is not really potty trained until she has the skills necessary to take herself into the bathroom, pull down her pants, do it, and re-fasten her clothes. A child learns to talk by listening to others speak and gradually learns by imitation, attaining a huge vocabulary somewhere between ages 1 ½ and 3. The same process occurs when learning to read.
We are fooling ourselves when we think we are teaching a child to read. The child cracks the code, and does a lot of memory work, just as he did when he was learning to speak. If you watch a child who is at the stage where he is ready and wants to learn to read, you will see him repeating words and sounds to himself, memorizing books that are read to him, and suddenly he goes from memorizing to really reading, seemingly overnight! Then he can read everything, including newspapers, and big chapter books. All this will not happen until the child is ready, and forcing it may make him avoid reading for life. What often happens is that the child learns to read the words aloud to please the adults, but never learns to comprehend what he has read. To me, a child is not really a reader until he can voluntarily pick up any piece of written material and read it.
Reading for Waldorf Homeschoolers: This very practical publication explores the theory behind Waldorf reading philosophies and provides the stories and pictures that might be used to develop the alphabet. Also included are enjoyable word and sound games, verses, and tongue twisters. Many color illustrations. To order, http://www.waldorfwithoutwalls.com/books/reading/
