Grammar Teaching Why, What, When, How by Brien Masters
Grammar Teaching Why, What, When, How by Brien Masters
80 pp.
6" x 8"
Wynstones Press
Paperback
It would be rare for a class teacher in a Waldorf
school to allot a full, twenty-eight-day main lesson rhythm to teaching
grammar in a class in the lower school. The “family” of main lessons
each year—other than grammar of the mother tongue—clamors for the
precious time available and is so colorfully attractive that, by
comparison, it can make grammar appear like a “country cousin” whose
manners are a bit gauche, dress decidedly out of fashion, and the
spectrum of conversation somewhat limited. Seen from Rudolf Steiner's
approach to child development, however, that country cousin has some of
the family's noblest blood to offer the children’s incarnating “I.”
In
this concise book, Dr Brien Masters—with a lifetime of experience as a
teacher and teacher trainer and educator—presents the rationale behind
Waldorf grammar teaching. Along the way, he always includes practical
examples for teachers to follow or use as springboards for their own
creativity.
Impelled by such an approach, and taught in a lively
fashion, the less-than 28-days grammar main lesson (if that’s what it
boils down to) can then make its way through the main lessons and extra
main lessons that make up the enticing constellation of the year. In
addition, it has important implications for teaching foreign languages
and as a secure foundation for promoting literacy in the upper grades.