A wonderful pedagogical insight unique to Waldorf education is knowledge of the four temperaments: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic. In the classroom one can use an understanding of the temperaments as a classroom management tool. This doesn’t work in the same way at home.

 Nevertheless, having a sense of one’s child’s dominant temperament can help with questions of parenting, discipline, teaching and presentation of lessons.

The choleric child is fiery and wants to get up and act; the melancholic hangs back, unsure and suspicious; the sanguine’s attention is caught by every passing sense impression; and the phlegmmatic stoically sits there, seemingly unmoved.

A challenge to parents is to not let their child’s temperament ignite their own dominant temperament. (A goal of self development is to bring harmony to all four temperaments within oneself.)

Donna has been helping homeschool parents understand the temperaments for many years, having worked with them as a teacher—they are  an invaluable aid and give important insights into one’s child. At various key points in the Christopherus curriculum, Donna gives specific instances of using the temperaments in the course of teaching that grade.