Language Arts
The Waldorf approach to reading stands in contrast to most other schools and is the number one question asked about our language arts curriculum. We start this article with a brief discussion of how other schools arrived at their reading-first curriculum, and why Waldorf schools take a different path. Adults generally communicate most efficiently through reading and writing, and modern education is approached through that same lens - expecting children to gather most of their instruction through reading. If your primary tool for instruction is assigned reading, it makes sense that you would need to teach even the youngest of children to read before they could begin to learn other things. However, studies consistently show that by the time they reach 10 or 11 years old, children who have attended schools that prioritize early reading have lower comprehension and less interest in reading than those whose schools delay the instruction of reading until age 7. Fortunately, Waldorf teachers have a variety of tools for instruction, and none of them rely on the young child reading.
From their first days at Swallowtail, our children engage in literature through story. The stories increase steadily in length and complexity - building imagination, vocabulary, sequencing, attention span, awareness of sounds in words, and initial understandings of grammar and syntax. Once these processes are well established, we introduce the written alphabet, encouraging children first to communicate their own thoughts through writing and then moving on to reading someone else’s thoughts. It is interesting to note that a child’s development of literacy naturally follows the same path that human language and communication followed historically - from oral traditions and stories, to picture representations and symbols, to communicating with letters and words, and finally to reading other people’s writings. We are able to be more successful, and more joyful, in the creation of readers when we work with this natural progression rather than against it.
In an attempt to engage the many learning styles of children, we teach language arts through physical representations as well as written and oral work. In the early grades, this means puppet shows, telling stories orally, acting them out, and drawing, painting, or sculpting the story. As children get older, it means that their reports include research and writing, an oral presentation in front of the class, and a physical component like an animal mask. Even seemingly small decisions, like the fact that we ask students to write their work rather than type it, are based on an understanding of how children learn best. Information written long hand is retained much better than typed work, and this is because learning is more deeply ingrained when it is connected to a physical process.
The curriculum around language arts has a particular ability to nourish a child’s soul, leading them on a path of self-discovery and awakening their consciousness in a way that other subjects don’t. The stories that are chosen each year fit a theme that is specifically designed to match the child’s inner development at that time of their life and also to pair to a curriculum goal. Folktales in 1st grade show goodness and beauty vanquishing evil, and also introduce letters and sounds. In 3rd grade, the stories of the Israelites parallel the children searching for their place in the greater world and are used to teach parts of speech. Within this framework, there is great freedom to choose the stories that speak to the individual children in a particular class. Just as the curriculum expands and builds on itself year after year, so do the expectations of student work. By the end of the 8th grade year, students at Swallowtail have a richer and uniquely broad understanding of the world, its history, and their place in it.
In this age of information and technology, “language arts” has often been reduced to basic reading and writing, with the only goal of absorbing as much information as quickly as possible. Human expression is about so much more than a quick accumulation of facts - and language arts ought to be a journey with opportunities for creativity and beauty around every corner. At Swallowtail we keep that focus. We continue to incorporate many traditional forms of expression that have been left behind in other schools - like drama, poetry, creative writing, art, and music. When we see this approach yield competent readers who still enjoy reading, who view themselves as global citizens and passionately pursue their own learning, we know that it works.
