In Praise of Slowness

Dear Members of The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara Community,

Canadian journalist Carl Honore in his book In Praise of Slowness explores our "increasingly breathless relationship with time"; how "living on the edge of exhaustion, we are constantly reminded by our bodies and minds that the pace of life is spinning out of control." But hope is possible, Honore argues. As evidence of this hope, Honore invokes Waldorf education, specifically the pace of learning in its schools.

In a time where "children of all ages are growing up faster" and "childhood itself seems to be getting shorter," Honore extols Steiner’s vision, which is the "polar opposite" to "fast-tracking" and the "roadrunner approach." "Steiner believed," Honore writes, "that children should never be rushed into studying things before they are ready." Honore elaborates:

When it comes to learning, putting children on the fast track often does more harm than good. A growing body of evidence suggests that children learn better when they learn at a slower pace. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, professor of child psychology at Temple University…recently tested 120 American preschool kids. Half went to nursery schools that stressed social interaction and a playful approach to learning; the rest attended nursery schools that rushed them towards academic achievement, using what experts call the "drill and kill" style of teaching. Hirsh-Pasek found that children from the more relaxed, slower environment turned out less anxious, more eager to learn, and better able to think independently.

In general, Honore knows that the frenzied clip of modern life exacts fearsome costs on our children. "Kids as young as five now suffer upset stomachs, headaches, insomnia, depression and eating disorders brought on by stress." He argues that we need to rescue the next generation from the "cult of speed," revising "our whole philosophy of childhood much as the Romantics did two centuries ago."

Here at WSSB we revise the current philosophy of childhood by providing a "developmentally appropriate" (words from our mission statement) curriculum unbombarded by electronic technology. We expose our children to what nourishes and stretches them, not what frays, burdens, and shuts them down. We make of this place and our time here together a sanctuary, an antidote to unchecked stimulation and speed. "There is more to life than increasing its speed," Gandhi said. Amen.

In gratitude,
The WSSB Admin Team

PS The sentence of the day is by Thich Nhat Hanh:

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently as if it is the axis in which the world revolves."

PPS The poem of the day is by WSSB Early Childhood teacher, Angela Mietzke:

Early Childhood

I want to explain this to you,
I don’t expect you to understand,
Just listen.
I color out of the lines because
I must.
I am called to do just that.
And guess what?
I have a classroom full of friends
Who need to go even
Beyond the boundaries of the paper!
Who need to paint and color and see the world anew,
Not through constructs
But through the heart,
Through connection.
There will come a time
For us to learn the skills you offer,
But it is not now.
Now
We need to climb trees and hang by one arm from a branch.
We need to follow the line of ants through the grass
And taste wild fennel
On our lips.
We do not need to be categorized,
We are ultimate potential,
Unique,
Quirky and perfect.
If we are the future,
We need to know this world,
Move in it untethered,
Unlock its mysteries through exploration,
Drinking it in.
We need to be held
With love and firmness
And with abundant joy.
Give us more time
To bake
In the earth oven,
So we can become
Food for this world.

Alexis Schoppe