Understanding the 4 temperaments (part 8) ~an extract from :”How to help your growing child through understanding the four temperaments in childhood”, by Ursula Grahl, based on the Education of Dr. Rudolf Steiner CONSIDER EACH CHILD INDIVIDUALLY To be ” fair” to children does not mean to give them all an equal share of everything. What is good for one child may be quite harmful for another. For instance, it is downright bad for an over-sanguine child to have too much sugar. When dealing with children it naturally requires great tact on the part of the grown-ups to see that each has what he needs and what is good for him, yet without creating envy or ill-feeling among them. It can be done however, and we should make the effort to consider each child individually. We shall never persuade a melancholic child to forget his troubles by trying to amuse him. We have to take into account the fact that he really loves to be sad. Such children go out of their way to look for trouble, and it is our task to transform their fundamental sadness into a positive strength. THE EFFECTS OF RIGHT AND WRONG HANDLING Rudolf Steiner has often drawn attention to the fact that we can help a child only if we work with the qualities which he actually possesses. We do great harm to him if we merely try to eradicate his faults, and we harm him equally much if we try to inject qualities into him which we ourselves might wish him to possess, but which are alien to his nature. We should always accept a child as he is, with all his individual qualities, and then for his sake try to direct them into the right channels. Without the proper guidance during childhood a sanguine person can lose all stability in life and live perpetually in golden dreams of the future which he will not have the strength to achieve. Phlegmatic and choleric people live, both of them, wrongly in the present; the one tending towards a dullness of mind which will make him content to leave things for ever as they are, the other tending towards a fanaticism which will be wanting to change the world continually, whether for good or ill. Lastly, the melancholic will live for ever in the past, never being able to leave it behind. IN CONCLUSION If guided rightly however, a sanguine person can bring such freshness and buoyancy to life that he can inspire others with ever new ideas and in any desperate situation he will be able to find a golden ray of hope which can lead him further. A person who has been helped in childhood to overcome the dangers of his phlegma will be the most reliable friend, who will never fail in his duty and will be a calm and faithful stand-by in stormy weather. A choleric who has learned to tame his fanatic impulses will be able to lend every ounce of his tremendous energy and strength of will to a good cause and help it through to success. A melancholic child may grow up to become an excellent doctor or nurse, or to work in some other capacity where he can give comfort and relief to others. Just because he has had to battle with his own melancholic temperament, such a person will be able to bring to the tasks of life a specially deep understanding and compassion for the destiny of others. Thus a knowledge of the Four Temperaments can be an enormous help to all of us who want to guide the children who are in our care along the right way in life. ———————————————————— Abonează-te la https://facebook/CopiiiSoarelui, o pagină realizată din iubire pentru pedagogia Waldorf
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 12:00:00 +0000