Here is a thorough investigation of these unusual pedagogical tools used by Waldorf teachers around the world: The Four Temperaments. Both teachers and parents will delight in understanding the different characteristics of each temperament and how these play into the development of every child (and every grownup, too). Used as a tool for understanding rather than for categorizing, the temperaments can be magical in their power to help a child to be seen and understood by the adults who care for them. These may sound a bit archaic, but Helmut Eller, from years of classroom experience in Waldorf teaching in Germany, brings them solidly into the twenty-first century! They are an abandoned ideal that needs re-implementing as they provide a wealth of help in finding a way to the heart and enthusiasm of every youngster. A good read with light-hearted goodwill in it for taking these temperaments as the artistic resources they are.
