These lectures were given by Eugene Schwartz at Essential Conferences in Kimberton, PA. They are addressed, first and foremost, to Waldorf teachers about to embark on teaching this grade, but they have been applied to home schooling situations with equal success. Although each lecture is meant to be of immediate practical help to teachers in real-life classrooms, they also emphasize the importance of permeating lessons with a firm anthroposophical foundation. The motto of the Essential Conferences is "Know What. Know How. Know Why" and we believe that these three imperatives live in these lectures.
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We strongly recommend that you also order CD # 310 "The Elements of Grade One," to view examples of student work from Grade One.
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240: The Four Temperaments$18.50An understanding of the Four Temperaments, according to Eugene Schwartz, is one of Steiner's great gifts to Waldorf teachers -- but one that is misunderstood and poorly utilized. In this fresh look at the fourfold nature of the seven to nine year-old, Eugene gives practical advice about working with the temperaments, and a preview of what lies beyond them.
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245: How Children Learn: The Four Temperaments in Action$18.50Although the Temperaments are often discussed in Waldorf gatherings, Eugene contends that they are hardly ever applied in the classroom. The Temperaments are meant to be utilized in virtually every aspect of the first two grades, yet many teachers struggle to simply determine which temperament fits most of the children in their classroom. Helpful advice will be found in this important lecture.
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243: The Waldorf Method and The Waldorf Classroom$18.50Just what are the "Waldorf" classroom and the Waldorf "method"? Eugene goes back to the basics, revealing just how much that is thought to have been indicated by Rudolf Steiner actually was co-opted from traditional Central European education or simply added by teachers long after Steiner's death. Many of the non-Steiner "traditions," however, are attributed to Steiner and take on a dogmatic quality. In this lecture, Eugene makes the case for an educational method that is modern and meets the needs of today's child -- a method that is constantly renewed by the spiritual striving of its practitioners. (Be sure to look at #247 below.)
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244: The Structure of the Main Lesson$18.50Given the ever-shorter attention spans of today's children and the preponderance of distracted, hyper-active, or even defiant behaviors among first graders, the structure of the Main Lesson is being questioned. This lecture examines the ways in which thinking, feeling, and wiling can be stimulated and harmonized by a healthy main lesson. He gives the teacher advice on "strategizing" the morning to come, and encourages flexibility in navigating the sometimes treacherous shoals of the morning lesson.
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241: Writing and Reading in Grade One, Part 1$18.50The slow and artistic approach to literacy is one of the best-known features of Waldorf education. Eugene Schwartz explores the reasons that Rudolf Steiner insisted on this method, and provides abundant evidence of its efficacy.
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242: Writing and Reading in Grade One, Part 2$18.50Going further into the way in which the teacher introduces letters and sounds and leads the children to their mastery, Eugene presents a practical approach to this important first step in the primary grades
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246: Working With Parents, Organizing Your Time$18.50Waldorf parents, Eugene states, are not just as important as their children -- for the first three grades, the teacher's relationship with parents is more important than her relationship to their children. Eugene gives helpful advice on organizing one's time so that there can be constant communication with the parent body, without sacrificing the time and energy needed for the classroom. This is a provocative lecture, but it is basic for today's teacher.
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247: The Inner Path of the First Grade Teacher$18.50Eugene points to particular exercises given by Rudolf Steiner to strengthen the feeling and will life of the First Grade teacher.
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