Student Wins National Contest Second Year In A Row

Christina Jenkins, a fifth grader at the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, was awarded first prize in a national poster contest conducted by the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG). The contest theme was “Discover German!”

It is no surprise that students of the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School would excel in the poster contest. The venue supports the pedagogy of every Waldorf school, as applied art is used in every academic subject to support the process of learning. From a child development perspective, most children learn first, and best, by “doing.” In all classes, students are actively engaged in the subject matter.

At the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, the only nursery through eighth grade Waldorf School in Connecticut, students are introduced to foreign languages beginning in first grade. They take two languages: German and Spanish. First graders begin with songs, poems, and rhythmic games — a purely oral approach. Through these, they begin to develop a sense of language based on feeling rather than on intellect. The child becomes accustomed to the sound of the language without a literal understanding. It is not until the fourth grade, when grammar is introduced, that the students are expected to learn to read and write in the foreign language. It is then that the language enters the mind on a much more conscious level. They begin to see reality from a different point of view, and this gives them mobility and flexibility in their thinking as well as an awareness and respect for different cultural perspectives.

For more information about the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, visit the website at waldorfct.org, or call the office at 364-1113.