Budding New Life

The major term assignment for my current Waldorf Curriculum Preparation Course is the creation of a representative main lesson book on a single block topic, accompanied by a teaching plan. In Waldorf education, the main lesson book is a work of art, a record of learning, and the nearest thing to a textbook that is allowed into the classroom. I chose Grade 5 Botany--what could be more wonderful to draw than plants and flowers? For my own preparation, to enter into the world of plants in a living way, I have embarked upon a photographic study of a tree twig, here in the yard of my house in Keene. I will photograph it at intervals while it swells and develops and produces a bud, over the course of the next several weeks. So far, I have been unable to identify it by its bark, so it remains a mystery tree for the moment.


GESTATION
Eleven weeks until I return home, but (as I always ask) who's counting? I calculated that my weeks in New Hampshire, including the two July stints, will total exactly forty--a pregnancy, and something new is quickening within me, as a result of my studies and experiences here. My yearning to be home is always present--a persistent, gentle wistfulness.

GRADE SIX ACOUSTICS
Here's something worth trying at home--trust me, you'll be amazed! Cut two lengths of ordinary string, each about half a metre long. Tie one end of each string to a large fork or spoon from your cutlery drawer. Tie a small loop in the other end of each string. Play around with these for awhile--be creative--and look and listen for the effects of your experimentation. Now carefully place one of the small loops over your right index fingertip, and the other over your left, and insert your fingertips, with string, quite far into your ears. With or without help, contrive to get the two implements to tap together. What do you experience now? Aren't you glad you tried it?

REVERENCE IS A FORCE
Reverence is much more than a 'nice' way to approach the world and each other; much more than an attitude that motivates us to care for and protect people, creatures, and things. Waldorf students who are led, through reverence, into a living relationship with nature and the phenomena of the world, are developing a sixth sense with which to perceive and connect with the universe, and penetrate into the mysteries of existence. The habit of reverence leads us beyond Bloom's taxonomy to even higher-order thinking skills of imagination, intuition and inspiration. It is also referred to as heart-thinking. Goethe entered into a kind of thought-conversation with his subjects of study, and today's cutting-edge research scientists enter into a similar kind of dialogue with whatever they are observing, through which they are able to open up to and receive information from their subject of scientific study--a plant; a colour; a particle; a wave. Adopting an attitude of reverent curiosity; honouring the wisdom of the world, is in itself a way to grow and learn.

AFRICAN INITIATION POETRY
There was an African tribe that gave a certain task to all the children at age thirteen, when they were going through an initiation and passing through the outer gate of childhood. They were to create poems in this specific style. They were given the first line and asked to add five more lines based on some examples. My fellow students and I were given this task to do in class on Friday. Here is my poem, dedicated to the three most wonderful young women I know,
Rose, Laura and Christina!

Young woman you are:
the aurora dancing across the sky
the crocus blooming in the snow
the songbird's joyful melody
the rain upon parched, cracked clay
the azure butterfly in the forest.

ERNEST L. BOYER, SR.
I was thrilled to be selected from among my classmates to receive the 2009 Boyer teacher scholarship, which provides for an education student with the potential to develop characteristics that Dr. Boyer believed essential for good teaching. I am ever so grateful!

CALENDARS
According to the French Republican Calendar yesterday's tool of the day was the spade, and today's plant is the narcissus. This past week I bought three paperwhite bulbs, on sale in a shop on Main Street. They are fat and bursting with joy-of-growth! I have them in a clear glass vase in my north bedroom window, and I'm looking forward to the day when their strong perfume will scent the indoor atmosphere.
Welcome, month of March!
Spring will reach its zenith this month--are you ready to enjoy it?

Within the light that out of world-wide heights
Would stream with power toward the soul,
May certainty of cosmic thinking
Arise to solve the soul's enigmas--
And focusing its mighty rays,
Awaken love in human hearts.