| Circle Time in Nursery School by Amy Van Der Wyk, Class of 2002 For my research, I was interested in deepening my own understanding of the festivals celebrated in Waldorf schools, the spiritual significance of the seasons and the annual rhythm. I currently teach at a Waldorf-inspired nursery school in San Francisco. In nursery school, circle time is a prime opportunity for a teacher to give the children an experience of the seasons. Through my project, I was able to simultaneously deepen my understanding of the spirituality of the annual rhythm and strengthen my ability to create and present circles imbued with this deeper understanding. I began my research by reading a number of books which helped me to form pictures of the qualities of the different seasons within the annual rhythm. Additionally I worked daily with The Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner. In working with Steiner's calendar verses, I experienced myself as a conscious human being participating in the spiritual nature of the earth's annual rhythm. This preliminary research laid the groundwork for my practical research. I began my practical research by creating an index in a loose-leaf binder for my collection of books containing poems and songs appropriate for nursery school. I divided this index into categories, then went through each book in my collection and wrote down titles and/or first lines of each song or poem, along with descriptions of mood, length, potential movement to accompany and other helpful notes. This was a laborious but extremely fruitful experience as I discovered treasures I didn't know I had and brushed up on my sight reading of music in the process. All the while, I continued to bring circle to the nursery school children in my care, alternating two week "blocks" with my mentor teacher, Monica Leicht. The weeks when I wasn't bringing circle I observed her beautiful, masterful circle creations, noting with admiration her ability to weave poems and stories together to create a flowing journey for the children. In my final presentation, I created a circle which began in fall, traveled through winter, and ended in early spring. I used some songs and poems from my book collection, sometimes using suggested movements and melodies but often modifying them. At the beginning of my presentation, I spoke briefly about the developmental characteristics of the nursery school child, the role of imitation, play, seasons and the annual rhythm. Then I invited my classmates to join me on stage. I led them through the circle I prepared as though they were my nursery school students. It was my goal that they might experience within themselves the transformation of the annual cycle as nursery schoolers do. |
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