“Each person needs a field of activity for his inner life, for his willing, feeling, and finally for his thinking soul. The child needs this field of activity for the strength of his soul as does each adult. If I do not present the child with the images of the language of the fairy tales, then the contents of his soul will be supplied by the idle talk of the alley. Car makes and money concerns; trivial, unimaginative bits of everyday conversation will rule the field of his soul, resulting in a field filled with weeds.” ~ Helmut von Kugelgen
Inner Life of a Child
To the child, fairy tales have an enormous effect on the inner life. They help them work out and face problems that will arise in life. A fairy tale given at just the right time, can educate, support and liberate the emotions of a child.
It is plainly obvious that my children do not experience the world the way I do. They think it would take a long time to walk to the sun. I do not wish to hurriedly bring them up to my, often dulled, adult way of thinking. I am interested in keeping the imaginative magic of their childhood alive. Albert Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited but imagination encircles the world.
Waldorf Homeschool: First Grade Fairy Tales
In First Grade, children learn the letters of the alphabet in an artistic way. Teaching the alphabet in art form, allows the letters to live imaginatively inside the child forever. Waldorf schools use this form of teaching the alphabet. It's modeled after Rudolf Steiner's lecture. After all, drawing pictures on cave walls is how we have communicated since the beginning.With each consonant, a fairy tale is told and an anchor image arises from the story. That image is artistically rendered. The vowels are taught differently. I'll save that for a post by itself. On the day the story is told the children arrive to an illustration of the anchor word drawn on our chalkboard. There is a "rest" period for the story, which is usually one day, before the letter is rendered into their Main Lesson Book. Here is an example of our letter 'K' chalk drawing and Main Lesson Book work.
Most of the stories I have chosen are Brother Grimm's Fairy Tales. Some parents have concerns about the sometimes violent or gruesome content of these tales. We can even see water downed versions told. This results in a depravation of the senses, kind of like a the effects of pain killers. In Brother's Grimm's tales humans undergo trials and suffering. The deeds of a person earns them rewards, such as the hand of the princes. Children do not experience the greed of the witch the way adults do. The story will only be as scary as the imagination of the child.
Spinning the Tale
It's best to dedicate a space for storytelling. To create an atmosphere of reverence, a candle can be lit and extinguished each time. The children connect with the storyteller if they are told the story rather than read the story. I know that is a lot of memorizing, but worth the effort. I draw short pictured story lines for myself as a cheat sheet.
A Waldorf Journey Through the Alphabet Curriculum
We offer a complete Waldorf Alphabet Homeschool Curiculum for First Grade.
Everything you need to teach the alphabet in a fun, imaginative way!
Grab your digital copy here:
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