Rubicon

Developmental Steps Ages 7-10
Selections from the works of Rudolf Steiner
Compiled by Mona Ruef  with some texts newly translated from the German by Nina Kuettel
Rubicon is a new translation of a book, Rubikon, published by the Medical Section of the Goetheanum in Dornach Switzerland.

This  book offers considerable help to both teachers and parents in  supporting children at crisis moments in their development. Clues as to  what is appropriate as the child wrestles with leaps in growth and  consciousness that are demanding and exhilarating. Monica Ruef has  compiled a comprehensive collection of what Rudolf Steiner has said and  written about the nine year change and the three important ages of  childhood: age 7, age 9, and age 12. Rudolf Steiner (1861 to 1925,  Austrian) introduced and explained a unique and effective way to view  child development, in seven-year cycles. Within the second seven years,  ages 7 to 14, three significant "Rubicons" must be crossed: age 7, when a  child loses milk teeth and grows adult teeth, with a first change of  consciousness; age 9, when many children learn that there is no Santa  Claus nor tooth fairy, and begin to feel their own competence and  aloneness; and age 12 when puberty begins and the capacity for judgement  and clear thinking are born. These "Rubicons" children must cross for  healthful growth and maximization of capacities require from parents and  teachers alike a gentle attentiveness to be handled well. Each child is  different but the symptoms tend to be the same at each important  threshold the child faces at these ages. This view of these significant  changes in children is helpful and supportive for each child to feel  increasing independence, social skill, and a sense of responsibility to  others. To ignore these important steps and "crises" in consciousness  each child must take is to risk incomplete development with lifelong  issues of dependence. Freedom is the goal of every youngster: an ability  to understand strengths and weaknesses and the gifts of every human  being give each individual tools necessary for a happy, clear-thinking,  and purposeful life.

This book will illuminate in a new way,  support and structure at critical points in a child's growing up. For  every parent, guardian, or teacher responsible for children, this is a  book that will carry rich rewards for new ideas in correct relationships  from adults as important architectural supports for a growing child.It  is a fine resource for both teachers and parents.

It is being  published as part of the study material being made available for an  upcoming international conference at the Goetheanum in March entitled,  “Transitions.” The IASWECE inaugurated the conference and requested the  publishing of the book in English.
Waldorf Publications
ISBN 978-1-936367-67-2
6" x 9" Softbound
188 Pages