The farm trip meets the developing nine-year old in many important ways. For most of my students, this was their first extended time away from their family. The nine-year old is developing an individual interior world; for the first time they realize that they can have thoughts and experiences that are theirs alone.
At Nine Years Old
On a golden, play-filled, end of summer day my daughter turned nine. Packing the picnic things ready for home I became aware of her running at the edge of the park. A game of hide and seek I think, her lengthening shadow flitting between the trees. The still green leaves seem to hold their breath, reminded by early evening's crimson tones that a change of season is at hand. I feel it too.
Swinging for the Outfield: an introduction to the nine year change.
Parents at Waldorf schools hear much about the Nine Year Change, a distinct developmental change characterized by the child’s more realistic or critical outlook as he begins to move away from the dreamy world of early childhood. The growing consciousness of being an individual, present in the world yet separate from it can be unsettling.