Developing rather testing intelligence

We went to Tin’s godparents for Christmas dinner and afterwards, while Tin and Evan noodled around on the piano, we talked about the different forms of intelligence. A friend was talking about how intelligence arrives in myriad ways and there really is no test per se to quantify it. There is aesthetic intelligence as well as musical intelligence as well as … .

If you gaged the people in New Orleans solely on their musical intelligence, you would find that we are a city of geniuses. That our ability to transcend the superficial level of our reality is cloaked in magic and wonder.

Just watching Tin’s intelligence manifest through rhythm is like watching a cat focusing on a bird on the ground. Every part of his core is engaged in that moment, that expression.

I sometimes wonder if paying for school is the best idea for him and for the community at large and then I see what Waldorf is offering him – the chance to grow into him – rather than a cog in this vast machine – this makes me grateful to Rudolph Steiner and his disciples to offer my son the chance to develop his intelligence rather than acquire someone else’s.

2 Responses to “Developing rather testing intelligence”

  1. Amy M. Says:

    It’s hard to explain Waldorf succinctly, but I agree that it ultimately offers free thinkers and problems solvers. If that speaks to you, it’s hard to find in education at large.

  2. Rachel Says:

    Amy – you’re right, it has to speak to you. But just think if public education was Waldorf Education – now that would be a revolution.

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