📝 Reading to Learn in Seventh Grade

Why you need to be intentional about teaching this skill

We Waldorf teachers are pretty darn good at artistically conveying information to our students with words. And unlike many students these days, Waldorf students are really good at listening to our stories and creating images in their minds to go along with them.

This is fantastic. And given that true listening seems to be a dying art these days, we’re doing our students a service by cultivating that skill.

BUT (you knew there had to be a “but” right?), we need to be careful that all of that wonderful auditory processing doesn’t come at the cost of other ways of processing information. Our students’ public school peers just get much more practice at learning something by reading about it.

So, starting in 6th grade or so, I would look for opportunities to let them learn about something simply by reading about it. And then give them a chance to tell you what they learned.

But what kind of content should you use for this kind of practice? Well, you don’t want to use the best stories. Save those for a good, juicy oral retelling. And don’t use it for content that will really meaningfully connect the dots in something you’re learning. After all, this is practice and some students will have a hard time processing the content in this way.

So, what you’re really looking for is some kind of supplemental bonus content that will make the thing you’re learning about more interesting, but it won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t go in really well. Check out the links below for an example I used in 7th grade.