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The Stelle
Group Board of Education ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE MAY 1969 We are learning, Here we
share with you briefly how some of our theories have worked out in the Much of what we projected in the
brochure we published last spring has been borne out in practice; some of it
was founded on concepts ideated by experimental educators
which still needed to be adapted to daily classroom situations. In
general, we are moving forward as per plan. We have learned much and we are
beginning to see how much more there is to learn. Problems continue to arise
and solving them serves to teach the teachers and the School Board
administrators. Individual differences need
to be addressed. Above all, we have seen
how essential it is to treat each child individually. Rules and formulas do
not serve. What is successful with one child may provoke an opposite reaction
in another. What is right for one may yield poor results for another. For example, the six-year-old frequently responds
to suggestion, while the nine-year-old usually needs firm insistence. The key
to meeting individual differences is intuition and much individual attention.
The learning situation is an appropriate place for giving attention to any
child who needs it. It seems that the more he receives at home, the less he
will need at school. Deeper needs must be met. One thing we do know: a child’s
deeper personality needs must be met if he is to
learn and adapt. Relating to him in his emotional entanglements is the point
at which values are passed from one generation to
another. A young one working through an emotional growth problem has a
critical preoccupation and learning does not take place until he is at peace
with himself and his environment. But even the
public schools know this. With the press of sheer numbers, individual, needs
there cannot be met. Because we have so few pupils
per teacher, we can address each child’s special personal needs as they
arise. One of the Stelle mothers contributes a good deal of time to
counseling the students as occasion arises. The results have been most
encouraging; learning is improved and the children’s ability to verbalize
their inner condition has increased along with it. Largely as
a consequence of more individualized attention, feelings are closer to
the surface and can be worked with more efficiently. Self-direction based on
choice. Bit by bit the Stelle children are learning
self-direction and how to make choices. By allowing them to elect
between alternatives many times daily, they are learning intentionality and
self-responsibility. Many of the choices are insignificant, except that they
are part of a pattern of allowing a child to decide for himself how he will
live his life. And there are
many occasions to hold the children responsible for their choices. If the
three-year-old puts “arithmetic workbook” on her schedule for today at 11:00
and decides later she wants to put the new puzzle together instead, she may
do it. But if her decision against one thing does
not include a choice for another, she must soon select an activity or accept
the one an adult chooses for her, however, even this event is couched in:
choice: if she does not wish to accept the adult’s assignment, she may go and
sit in another room with nothing to do until she regains her equilibrium and
happy frame of mind. In other words, she must use her time to be happy
and productive, and may not be a nuisance to herself or the school
environment. An unsuccessful or unproductive child is a behavior problem. Schedule is key to productivity. As indicated in the, monthly
newsletter which some of you receive, the children make their own plans as to
how they will spend their day. And you remember that
our method is based upon the children choosing what they wish to study. We
found that just letting then cast about until they found something they
wanted to do meant that when they finished with that, they would begin to
cast about to discover something else to do. This period of transition
between activities was when difficulties in behavior occurred or conflicts
between children arose, as did many fantasy games, which turned out to be
blatant time wasters. Now, by taking a few moments at the beginning of the
day, the youngsters make a plan for the whole daily session and go about
expediting it with much greater success than the random-choice pattern was
yielding. They get almost twice as much work done with a schedule as without,
and they exhibit greater personal satisfaction with themselves because they
are accomplishing more. At the outset of the school year,
we saw in the children a certain dissatisfaction
with themselves and what they were accomplishing. They had yet to learn the
pleasure of consistently finishing the things they decided to do. We can now
compare those original feelings with their growing sense of accomplishment
and confidence in what they can do. Doubtless, it will be much greater by
this time next year. Two of the pupils did not believe they could learn
certain subjects when they entered school in the autumn; their avoidance-of-work
attitude began early to demonstrate their self-images as persons who could
not learn. When given the choice of making up their own schedule or accepting
one devised by adults, they accepted the latter and came to discover, with
time and great effort, that they can do math, they can spell, they can learn.
We are convinced that some people’s negative attitudes regarding certain
subject matter occurred largely as a result of not
having had someone who would sit down and work with them until the material
made sense to them. This we can provide. One girl said, ‘Gee, it’s great to
accomplish!” Obviously, many learning blocks stem from the competitive
setting of public school. Since every child in the Need for nucleus of
decisive, intentional children. In its efforts to think out the
optimum treatment of each problem, the School Board has gained valuable
experience in pursuing excellence in education. We are learning what to plan
for and what to expect during the transitional stage as new families come to
Stelle. This past year has shown us that we must develop a core of
self-directed children who can be decisive about how to spend the lifetime which they have incarnated to use. This is a real
skill, and it is learned with tears and effort. As
others come into the group, they will have the example of those who have
developed that ability. Learning
materials and support (moral and financial). Books and
materials continue to come in from readers of The Lemuria Builder and members
of The Stelle Group across the As we deal with commercial
workbooks and materials, we are growing in understanding of what our needs
are in the way of learning materials. In Stelle we will probably be producing
much of our own programmed materials, TV programs, and the like, which will
be designed specifically for our needs and our worldview. We are looking for
persons to design appropriate learning materials which
will reflect an emphasis on learning the physical sciences, psychology,
history, and the practical arts. Learning
the philosophy. The children are absorbing the philosophy as fast as can be
imagined. Situations which provide teaching moments are on every hand — for
instance: A child
who was unkind or hurtful to another experiences some unhappy event in
return—and lo, karma is brought home. A notebook
project on Gizeh. We visit a
museum and see a model of Akhnaton’s residence and estate. Well, who was
Akhnaton? Explaining that brings in the idea of reincarnation. Akhnaton’s
building of a city brings up the idea of Stelle and, later, Pursuit of
excellence. The purpose of Stelle is to serve the Great Program of the Brotherhoods, and the Advantages
of Stelle climate. Those youngsters who will be born in Stelle will have a great
advantage over those who migrate to the city from the outside. They will have been reared in an atmosphere of lifelong
learning, of great expectations regarding their own development and of
enlightened parental help. They come into incarnation with the expectancy of being given every advantage to go as fast as possible. We
must anticipate brighter children in our future. Outstandingly able persons
usually have had a parent behind them to urge their absorption of material
from the day they were born) and Stelle parents All have the leisure time and
the obligation to do the same to foment excellence in their offspring. This is greatly helped by living in a climate where development
of the Optimum Man is the goal. To assist the parents and enlist
their aid in the children’s pursuit of excellence, we have sponsored a
monthly workshop for parents and other interested persons. We think together
on matters relating to the rearing of children, and to instilling in them
attitudes which all serve them well through their
lives. The Stelle parent is thereby further relating the philosophy of the Brotherhoods to his children’s education and the
community at large. The children, in turn, are relating school material to
the philosophy, and the philosophy to their lives. Home, school, and
community are not separate compartments but a unified whole, because the
advancing Ego is an integrated man. The integrative process is a lifelong
one, and education must be the foundation for that process. © 1969 The Stelle
Group Board of Education P.O. BOX
5900 ● |
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