The Seven Life Processes: Understanding and Supporting Them in Home, Kindergarten and School

Anthroposophical knowledge of human beings identifies and characterizes seven life processes that affect physical organ functions and life forces. A more detailed examination of these processes unlocks a deeper understanding of how living substances function and are effective within the human organism. For children, in whom the physical organ systems only gradually begin to function well together, development of these life processes is of decisive importance. They form the basis for healthy development and age-appropriate learning. How are playing and learning connected to the seven life processes? How can we support the physical organ functions of children so that they can develop in a healthy way and learn with ease? This book considers basic physiological processes and shows how they develop and transform within the child, giving important educational considerations for caregivers, teachers, and parents.

Philipp Gelitz is an early years educator at the Waldorf school in Kassel, Germany. He writes regular magazine columns on early childhood. Almuth Strehlow is a lecturer at the Rudolf Steiner Institute in Kassel, Germany.