Sep 06, 2025 | by Claudio Salusso

Physics and the Growing Child

"Simply to accept the creations and inventions of the human mind without at least understanding them in a general sense is the beginning of unsocial life.” 

-Rudolf Steiner

From 5th grade onward, students at the New Village School begin the study of physics. Our approach follows Rudolf Steiner’s insights into child development and emphasizes the phenomenological method - learning through direct experience.

This means students carefully observe the world around them, free of theoretical prejudice. They test and question, discovering the essentials of phenomena before drawing their own conclusions. These conclusions are not fixed but continue to grow and change as the students themselves grow.

Learning Through Experience

In class, much time is devoted to hands-on exploration. Students learn that human theories and models are not ultimate truths but stepping stones that evolve over time. What we truly value is the process of inquiry - the rigor, the curiosity, and the love of discovery.

At the same time, middle schoolers are introduced to the more formal methods of scientific inquiry. They come to see that consensus on what is true and good is essential for humans to work together. Developing a critical yet flexible mind gives them both agency and responsibility - to work with others, to serve, and to contribute to healing the world.

Developmental Readiness

At age nine, children experience a new sense of self and separation. By age twelve, they gain the ability to perceive others and the world with greater objectivity. Physics, introduced at this stage, meets them with the right challenge: a new way of thinking that is practical, logical, and deeply connected to their development.

We invite students into real physical questions that spark their curiosity:

• How can I reduce friction?
• How can I increase tension?
• How can I strengthen a beam?
• Why is this structure falling apart?

Because these questions come from their own experiences, they carry real value. Rather than handing them abstract concepts, we guide students to form their own, always evolving, understandings.

This is the road to freedom: a living education that grows with the child. 

~Señor

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