If you’ve been to our home you may have seen the following words from Goethe:
“Love does not dominate, it cultivates”
A while ago, that saying struck me as rich with meaning and opportunity for consideration. Looking back, I probably framed it because I didn’t really know what it meant and yet it seemed like the sort of idea that was good to keep in mind when tending to a relationship. So it’s been in our bedroom ever since. And as time goes on, I do indeed think about what Goethe was getting at.
Most recently, I’m thinking of those words in terms of being a mom and my role as cultivator of Liam’s intellect and imagination. Given my early and brief exposure to the Waldorf philosophy and my lifelong interest in education, I’m thoroughly enjoying reading various books on the topic and seeing various threads of ideas and insights come together in the form of a plan (oh how I love to have a plan), here are some examples of the little ways that everything is coming together.
Goethe is often referenced in Rudolf Steiner’s writings and so I’m learning more about the philosophy behind the quotation that I chose to focus on so long ago.
In 1999 I attended the Urban Bush Women summer institute and met many lovely and brilliant people. It was the sort of experience that has provided me with ideas and memories to stimulate my thoughts for all these years hence, a true gift that I will always cherish. One of the dancers that I met had two small sons and she told me about their life. She was a talented dancer and her husband was a talented drummer. Their boys didn’t have toys in home, they had instruments. During the week dedicated to our performance, one of her sons choreographed a dance with another member of the company. It was one of my favorite pieces. I remember thinking that he was a very lucky boy. This was the first time that I remember considering the quantity and type of playthings given to children.
Fast forward to David and I having many conversations on the topic of toys for our kids. Until I read “Toymaking with Children” by Freya Jaffke, I knew that I shared David’s preference for few and carefully selected toys, but I didn’t know why or how this could really work. Mostly, I think that we need to be guided by our children on this topic and since I’m preparing for the future, I don’t have Liam’s guidance. But Jaffke’s book was a tremendous help to me. She gives the reasons for few and simple toys. She explains how to set up an environment that cultivates imaginative play. From my previous investigations, I know how important imagination is, but she gave me a real sense of it. In her descriptions she brought the theory to life and made a compelling case for the type of toys that I knew I wanted in our home, even if I wasn’t quite sure why.
When we have time, we sneak in TED talks and of course, my current favorites have to do with kids and education. The one that I’m thinking of currently has to do with what is going on in the brain of a typical baby. Here’s the link: http://www.ted.com/talks/alison_gopnik_what_do_babies_think.html. The upshot is that there’s a ton going on inside kids’ heads. As adults, compared to kids, our heads are vacuous caverns of boredom. So, our challenge is to get out of their way and let them do their kid thing, to not impose our adult intellect on their view of the world. If we can let kids exercise their minds to the fullest extent of what is possible, we give them the surest chance of discovering their passions in life and in turn having the wherewithal to turn those passions into meaningful work and a lifetime of fulfilling days.
With that bit of background information, and my ever-active, always-laying-plans mind I want to put my current ideas into writing. That seems important, if only because my thoughts on the topic tend to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning and keep me awake. Perhaps if I formulate them into proper sentences and hit “publish” I can get some more sleep. Sleep is very important. Which leads to the perfect leading question: what is important knowledge for a human being to have in order to enjoy a “good” life? Since I can remember, I have held the opinion that parenting and teaching are the two most important jobs in human society. And now I am employed as both. So it would seem that given the high esteem in which I hold my two professions of choice, I’d best give it my all. Hence, the insomnia over “big ideas,” hence this introductory treatise on the education of children.
So back to the question, important areas of knowledge. Here is my current list: the natural world, the human body, language, the skills of creation. And why? Firstly, we have the universality of each (except in the most extreme instances, of course): every human lives on the earth, every human has a body, every human uses language as a means of communication, every human has the power to create and, I believe, finds satisfaction in doing so. It all comes back to that so it would seem that I’ve just written myself out of a few paragraphs with that last sentence. However, I do have one more point to make on these important areas, that they each encompass all sorts of skill sets, techniques, approaches, philosophies, etc. We’ll begin where it seems the most sensible and accessible and we’ll expand from there as development, resources, and interests allow and dictate. I’m so excited! So much to learn and experience! I feel like a kid in a candy shop, but better since there’s less risk of a sore tummy and diabetes as a result of gorging myself.
And now, the means by. Well, we’ve got a brilliant young companion to work with here in young Liam. As I’ve already pointed out, he isn’t like us in that he’s an infant and looking forward, will pass through a few more stages before he’s got our kind of mind. I think that it’s incredibly important to honor these developmental stages. Along with informing myself and paying close attention, I have the idea that supporting imaginative play is the overarching means by which I can honor Liam’s childhood. Imagination is such an important aspect of our human minds and one that is generally underdeveloped and consequently under- appreciated.
And now it would seem that I’ve come full circle in my essay. I am grateful that I was exposed to Waldorf education as a young girl because good beginnings may forever be our first point of reference. So it has been for me in the topic of education which really is so much more than “education.” It is so big, so all encompassing, that I don’t really know how to describe it other than to reiterate my previous point about the two most important jobs in society. All this to say that when it comes to play and the related materials, we will be following something like the Waldorf approach. We welcome and would appreciate your contribution. This would not follow the usual format of buying toys at a big store teeming with plastic goodies. It’s more about your time and your innate ability to create. If you would like to know more, please contact me and join the fun! If you know me, you know how I love to keep in touch. And if you’re getting to know Liam as David and I are, you already know that he’s quite the social guy and loves the company of good friends.
