Young children don’t have a sense of time, for them every moment is like an eternity. The sense of time develops after the Nine-Year-Change. Up until then, seasonal rhythm is essential for their healthy development as it nurtures their sense of security, connection to the natural world and inner harmony. The anticipation of the seasons provides a rhythm for children that is beyond the sense of time. Children under the age of seven primarily learn through routine, imitation and sensory experience, not an abstract concepts. Time is considered an abstract concept. Seasonal and weekly or monthly rhythms provide a framework for young students to have structure through routine and rhythm.

Seasonal rhythm provides security and predictability. Young children thrive when their lives follow a gentle predictable pattern. This pattern may be seen as a schedule or a routine, but in the eyes of the children, it is not connected to the abstract concept of time. But for us as adults, we recognize that our lives are dependent on the clock more so today, then in the past when our lives were more dependent on the days and seasons rather than the hour or the minute. The flow of seasons: winters rest, spring revival, summer’s abundance and autumn’s harvest mirrors the rhythms within our own lives. Depending on where you live, your seasons will contain unique qualities. However, when days get shorter, we move inward. And when days get longer, we move outward. We naturally have an inward and outward tendency that we see reflected in our day and night as well. Our night is for coming in and sheltering, and our day is for going out and exploring.

Celebrating the seasons through songs, stories, crafts, and festivals, give children a sense of stability, trust, and anticipation.  Family traditions are especially significant not just for the homeschooling family, but for children in a school setting as well. Family traditions may differ from cultural traditions, and it provides the unique fabric that makes up the family life.

Seasonal rhythm also connects children to nature. Nature science and nature study are quintessential to the life of the child, especially before the age of 10 years old.

In the Waldorf pedagogy, the natural world is a living classroom. It nurture the body and the spirit (soul). Observing and participating in the rhythms of nature: planting seeds in the spring, harvesting and autumn, watching animals prepared for winter, etc. develop reverence and care for life. More importantly, it’s how the children see the adult’s behavior that is more educational than simply being in nature with plants and animals. How are the teachers and adults in the children’s lives behaving is the greater educational experience. 

Seasonal rhythm also supports a healthy inner development. The rhythm is not just external in the seasons, but it’s internal as well. Human beings naturally breathe, sleep and digest in rhythms. These rhythms are mirrored in the seasonal rhythms. While we may not verbally identify the connection, when we experience these seasonal rhythms, it brings harmony to our internal rhythm. We can see how easily our internal rhythm is disrupted when our external rhythm is not honored. Imagine not sleeping for two days, we will see our internal body suffer the consequences of the external rhythm not being honored. In essence, if we do not sleep at night and rise during the day, our internal rhythms will suffer and become disregulated.

For millennia, winter was seen as a quiet inward season. This is for places in the world where winter days are shorter and cooler. Along the equator where days and nights are fairly equal throughout the year, a more subtle rhythm is experienced. When the days become longer and warmer, it naturally supports greater social connection and movement. Our bodies awaken and desire to be outdoors, absorbing the sun and spending time with the community.

Seasonal rhythms we may have abandoned in lieu of a city life are harvest in the autumn, which is a time for gratitude and courage. Darkness in winter with handwork, quiet, crafts, and reflective storytelling used to characterize winter in the past. But today with electric lights, we barely feel the darkness. We don’t even experience the night sky in its full glory. Spring is a time of renewal, planting and joyful songs. This season is still experienced in many ways even in modern times. And Summer, a time for freedom, festivities, festivals and abundant outdoor play is still significant in our current times; however, it’s been reimagined as vacations and travel.

Seasonal rhythm is a wonderful time to foster cultural and spiritual traditions and nourishment. Especially when a family’s traditions or spirituality differs from that of their community or greater culture meaning into your religious traditions, festivals, and rituals provides a sense of belonging for the child and a deep connection to something greater like religion or ancestry.

Seasonal rhythms are a foundation for future learning. By living in the rhythms of the year, children developed a natural sense of time and continuity through their experience rather through the abstract concept of time. This embodied experience lays the groundwork for later academic learning in science, history, and mathematics. But more importantly, the time spent in nature lays the groundwork for a child’s ultimate spiritual development and health in adulthood.