[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.So there is a difference between you and the wood.The difference lies in the fact that you are a unit, a `one,' and the wood is not a `one.' You are a unit and I cannot cut you in two, and therefore I call you `one,' a unit.”You can now gradually proceed to show the child a sign for this “one.” You make a stroke: I, so that you show him it is a unit and you make this stroke for it.Now you can leave this comparison between the wood and the child and you can say: “Look, here is your right hand but you have another hand too, your left hand.If you only had this one hand it could certainly move about everywhere as you do, but if your hand were only to follow the movement of your body you could never touch yourself in the way in which your two hands can touch each other.For when this hand moves and the other hand moves too at the same time, then they can take hold of each other, they can come together.That is different from when you simply move alone.In that you walk alone you are a unit.But the one hand can touch the other hand.This is no longer a unit, this is a duality, a `two.' See, you are one, but you have two hands.” This you then show like this: II.In this way you can work out a conception of the “one” and the “two” from the child's own form.Now you call out another child and say: “When you two walk towards each other you can also meet and touch each other; there are two of you, but a third can join you.This is impossible with your hands.” Thus you can proceed to the three: III.In this manner you can derive number out of what man is himself.You can lead over to number from the human being, for man is not an abstraction but a living being.Then you can pass on and say: “Look, you can find the number two somewhere else in yourself.” The child will think finally of his two legs and feet.Now you say: “You have seen your neighbour's dog, haven't you? Does he only go on two feet also?” Then he will come to realise that the four strokes IIII are a picture of the neighbour's dog propped up on four legs, and thus he will gradually learn to build up number out of life.The teacher must have his eyes open wherever he goes and look at everything with understanding.Now we naturally begin to write numbers with the Roman figures, because these of course will be immediately understood by the child, and when you have got to the four you will easily be able, with the hand, to pass over to five — V.You will soon see that if you keep back your thumb you can use this four as the dog does!: I I I I.Now you add the thumb and make five — V.I was once with a teacher who had got up to this point (in explaining the Roman figures) and could not see why it occurred to the Romans not to make five strokes next to one another but to make this sign V for the five.He got on quite well up to I I I I.Then I said: “Now let us do it like this: Let us spread out our fingers and our thumb so that they go in two groups, and there we have it, V.Here we have the whole hand in the Roman five and this is how it actually originated.The whole hand is there within it.”In a short lecture course of this kind it is only possible to explain the general principle, but in this way we can derive the idea of number from real life, and only when number has thus been worked out straight from life should you try to introduce counting by letting the numbers follow each other.But the children should take an active part in it.Before you come to the point of saying: Now tell me the numbers in order, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and so on, you should start with a rhythm; let us say we are going from 1 to 2, then it will be: 1, 2; 1, 2; 1, 2; let the child stamp on 2 and then on to 3 also in rhythm: 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3.In this way we bring rhythm into the series of numbers, and thereby too we foster the child's faculty of comprehending the thing as a whole.This is the natural way of teaching the children numbers, out of the reality of what numbers are.For people generally think that numbers were thought out by adding one to the other.This is quite untrue, for the head does not do the counting at all.In ordinary life people have no idea what a peculiar organ this human head really is, and how useless for our earthly life.It is there for beauty's sake, it is true, because our faces please each other.It has many other virtues too, but as far as spiritual activities are concerned it is really not nearly so much in evidence, for the spiritual qualities of the head always lead back to man's former earth-life
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]