Active Arithmetic

by Henning Andersen

Focuses on the parts of arithmetic that can be taught to young children through movement, music and drawing as taught in the Waldorf schools.

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend of mine had told me about the Waldorf system, and I was intrigued, so I decided to read about it, and this was the first book I found on it. It was a good introduction from the perspective of one teaching arithmetic and it gives a good indication of what the system's about as a whole. It was a good read, simple, interesting, and informative. What the book had to say about essence numbers (basically what makes each number special in a qualitative essence, prime numbers for instance) and child development at the elementary level (going into kinesthetic memory and the importance of rhythmic processes) was very interesting too. Also could probably be helpful to anyone trying to teach music to young children, in particular children who struggle with rhythm.