Looking Forward

by Molly Van Heider

Published 12 March 2001

This volume contains a range of games, rhymes, songs and exercises for children aged three- to eleven-years-old, presented in an accessible form for teachers. It aims to help teachers with activities that should both benefit children in the early years, and lay the foundations for sound learning later on. Building on traditional singing games, songs and verses, Molly von Heider shows how important these are for healthy child development. These activities can also be used to create new kinds of movement exercises out of old games and "nonsense" rhymes. "Gardening with children", the second part of the book looks at how gardening can help co-ordinate movement. A practical approach to teaching gardening throughout the school is offered, an approach which covers basic principles and practical projects. The author, building on her lifelong work as a teacher in Rudolf Steiner schools, shows how such exercises can help children's development. By "looking forward", teachers can thus take preventative action before learning problems arise.