Hee Haw, Woof Woof, Cock-a-Doodle-doo

For example, the dates of life (355-326 BC), the character (wild!) and the name (Bucephalus) of Alexander the Great's favorite horse have been handed down. And the Prussian King Frederick II – like many of us animal lovers today – also had his greyhounds sleep in his bed. They were called Amourette or Pax, among others – their names can be found on noble gravestones next to the terrace of Sanssouci Palace.

People find many things good about animals. For example: «No one loves me as unconditionally and faithfully as my dog» or «When I look at a herd of cows for many minutes, I become calm and peaceful inside» or «I am never lonely at home because my cats greet me and let me stroke them».

At many Waldorf schools, people spend their free time looking after animals that live in pastures or stables around the school. They enable children and young people to form bonds that are possible without words – by touching, observing and caring for them. This also brings the topics of death and dying naturally to the students' attention – topics that for many of us are far removed from our everyday lives.

A colony of bees died over the winter at the Waldorf School in Hagen. Some of the fourth-graders who took care of the bees with their teacher Dominik Moritz wanted to make each individual bee of the 15,000-strong colony its own grave – a touching sign of appreciation and commitment! Anne Brockmann describes life with the animals in Nürtingen and Chemnitz, Dorothee Raiser met with Ulrike Kaliss, an educator and specialist in animal-assisted intervention, and I spoke to Dominik Moritz about bee education. And there's plenty more to discover in this issue of Erziehungskunst: We report on a writing workshop and its side effects such as a sense of well-being, relief and self-confidence. Katrin Kühne describes an opera project at the Freie Waldorfschule Kassel. Ingo Christians calls for Waldorf schools to offer students a sense of purpose and security. And our colleague Jürgen Beckmerhagen is currently in Nepal. He has sent us a report on the Shanti Sewa Griha, a Waldorf educational institution in Kathmandu.

I wish you an entertaining and informative read and a grasshopper-light, cat-purring and firefly-glowing June!