I feel overwhelmed by my four-year-old’s emotions, and I’m realizing she is overwhelmed, too. She recently started a weekly acrobatics class, and she has also had some long days and late nights. Fireworks after dark. Acrobatics class at dinner time. An evening at church. Eight and a half hours away from home for a family event. New places. New people. New activities. Complete overwhelm.
On our hour-long drive home from the family event, I mentioned to my husband that the central point of Waldorf education, the linchpin, is the loving relationship between the teacher and the students. You can have all the Waldorf materials and strategies, but if the education of a child is not centered around that loving relationship, it isn’t Waldorf.
This relationship prompts a child to use their will to imitate the teacher and learn. It calls a child to embrace their humanity by loving another person. And it centers and grounds a child when their world seems to be spinning.
Our schedule this week is lean, and I want to spend extra time on my relationship with my daughter to hopefully reduce the overwhelm in her, and concurrently in me.
The first words of the Bible also center on relationship by making a connection between God and His creation.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
Imagine a straight, vertical line drawn from God down to us. This form is the first form children learn in first grade, and the teacher can use any story to give meaning to the form. I think the creation story in the Bible inspires this first form very well as it implies a connection between God and us.
This week, I hope you enjoy your relationship with God and your relationship with your child(ren). Let Him ground you when your world is spinning.
Don’t miss out on 22 other forms inspired by the story of creation in our first grade form drawing unit!
