I attended a parent meeting at my daughter's Waldorf school this morning. She excitedly played outside with the rest of the class during a mild-weather spring morning. I thought she might be on the swing set or building in the sandbox or munching on an organic apple by the picnic table. Nope. My three-year-old was making soup. Apparently, the older kids had created an "outdoor kitchen" with some big sticks and furnished it with second-hand enamel pots and cups and wooden spoons. Dirt served as the main pantry staple and she had plenty of mud on her dress to show for her hard work.
I saw why she wouldn't leave her post. Her soup was getting better and better as she added water from the watering can, tiny leaves, and sweetgum balls. She was deep in her play, very preoccupied with this soup coming out perfectly. As I told her we needed to go, she added her finishing touch. Plop went a gaint rock into the pot! Maybe it was for presentation or maybe for flavor. Either way, I couldn't ask for better focus and concentration on a task. This is the work of her age group in a Waldorf setting. Creativity is cultivated to invent and focus is cultivated to see the task come to fruition. The goal is that she'll take this ability to focus and carry it through the rest of her academic life. When other kids are watching video games, eating junk food, and medicated with ADHD drugs, this is a beautiful alternative.
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