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From the Director
Dear Madrone Family,
Oh my… the nine-year change! What an interesting time of life!
I taught 5th grade for several years back in the day. It always made me smile when I surveyed my class on the first day of school. All of those eager eyes staring back at me, dressed in their new clothes, wondering if I was mean, or comical. I used a lot of humor in my teaching, and initially only about a third of the class would get my jokes. Throughout the course of the year, they all fell in line and were able to follow the punchlines. Basically, they were all at different stages of the nine-year change.
According to Waldorf author Thomas Poplawski, child development specialists have long recognized that between age nine and ten children undergo a marked change. Some experts describe this transition as the crossing of the dividing line between early childhood and full childhood, while others speak in more romantic terms of a “fall from grace.” So what is it that is going on?
Almost a century ago, Rudolf Steiner studied the developmental stages of childhood. He identified three seven-year stages in the child’s passage from birth to adulthood. At birth the child emerges as an independent physical being in the world. But according to Steiner, the unique individuality or ego of the child incarnates or takes hold of this body only gradually. In each of the seven year stages, the ego manifests itself more fully.
The first glimmer of this individuality occurs when the child turns two. Taking place part of the way through the first seven-year period (birth to age seven), this stage of development is commonly known as “the terrible twos!" What makes this time terrible is that the child is making their first concerted effort to be recognized as a separate person. An important milestone in this process occurs when, usually around the third birthday, the child begins to use the word “I” and to really understand what the word means.
The second seven-year period (age seven through fourteen) is also marked by a significant watershed after the second year. This is “the nine-year change” or “nine-year crisis.” It is a confusing transition for the child and parents that may involve moments of crisis that are a preview of things to come during adolescence.
Prior to age seven or eight, most children are sunny, smiling, exuberant, joyful beings—little angels, for the most part. Around the ninth birthday, however, a tinge of melancholy and self-consciousness begins to creep in. Up to this time, the child has lived and learned through imitation, taking in the world around and echoing its moods and its patterns. Now, though, the harmonious resonance between child and world quickly fades. The child begins to separate from the world and find them self standing apart and alone.
This shift in the experience of self and world is, of course, difficult for the child. In developing Waldorf education, Steiner tried to help children deal with this experience. Thus in the third grade, Waldorf children learn the story of Adam and Eve and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The story of Adam and Eve is meaningful for nine-year-olds because they are going through their own inner expulsion from Paradise.
As I interact with the children at the start of this year, the nine-year change is manifesting itself in spades! Our third grade is much more energetic, the fourth grade has become more solid, and the fifth grade… well, they are just plain loud! I mean, the volume went from 4 to 10 over the summer! But that is to be expected. These children SHOULD be different from year to year. They should push the boundaries. They should strive for individuality and independence. I get after the fifth grade for being loud, but only because the kindergarten class is across the hall, but in reality, they are a fantastic bunch and it’s fun to watch them grow!
The changes that children undergo between ages nine and ten can be confusing and challenging for parents and teachers as well as for the children themselves. We adults need to be aware that these changes represent a necessary stage in the development of the child and that they do not go on forever (Thank goodness!). Also, we need to provide love, support, and guidance to our children during this transitional time of inwardness and loneliness. And we need to be ready to let go of our “little angels” and accept them as unfolding young men and women in the making. In the end, this stage will lead to a new self-assurance and sense of independence and identity in the child.
Have a wonderful weekend,
~Kendall Roberts
Director
kendall.roberts@madronetrail.org
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