Is My Child Ready? Understanding Grade One Readiness in Waldorf Education

WECAN Family & Caregiver Event with Nancy Blanning

Rising from kindergarten into the grade school years is a big developmental step. How and when this takes place has outcomes and effects that will impact the child’s next twelve years and beyond. Families and teachers want this step to be steady and confident, and not a leap forward to uncertainty, or a tippery landing. Waldorf education sees readiness as the culmination of a developmental process. Along with age, physical maturation, social and emotional development, we also consider language skills, gross and fine motor movement, and memory. The child’s state of readiness arises from a collective picture of these various factors. Educators look at the whole picture to ensure that the children will thrive in the coming grade school years. Each human being is always developing and becoming. Waldorf educators look to see where the child is in this developmental adventure. The child’s present and future welfare is always held at the center. This webinar will describe how and why the observations are carried out in a warm and benevolent way.