I would have to assume that you are referring to a younger child writing, correct? In looking at this from that standpoint you need to go back to Steiner's beliefs and views about form drawing. Form drawing is the basis for for the development of fine motor skills as a preparation for writing. Remember, the movement of the hand also educates the brain. From the book Form Drawing Grades One through Four: "It is part of the evolution of art and, as such, develops the aesthetic sense and a feeling for form. It also teaches thinking but not in a non-intellectual way; it trains the intelligence to be flexible, able to follow and understand a complicated line of thought."

A child experiences the forms and this develops the will forces. It is a way of "seeing" with the hands. Rudolf Steiner said "the line is the subject and not a picture of something in the outer world". This is also why when form drawing you should not allow the child to color in between the forms and lines. Children in waldorf schools learn very significantly through the arts.

In looking at work for the first grade, following Steiner's indications, we would begin with two lines: the straight and the curved. The first year is the year when the child gains uprightness - so in this posture the child actually "draws" this form with her upright body. So you see it's not just about drawing a line or letters or writing words... the reasons Steiner set forth for his specific methods of teaching go much deeper and as a Waldorf home educator you really do need to do the homework to understand completely what is going on. You must have a real understanding of coordination, movement, senses... the human ego and will forces and the soul force. Waldorf is about willing, thinking, feeling and all of this is going on in your child at all times!

Physical movement with the childs entire body should always precede any attempt at putting anything on paper. The child should be asked to stand straight with their arms straight above their heads. They should be able to run a straight line forward. They should attempt it with their eyes closed, then walk the line backwards and so on. Then they should draw the line in the air in front of them, and practice drawing it with their arms, hands, legs... A Ribbon stick is a wonderful tool for this practice.

In The Spiritual Ground of Education Steiner said: "Let us be clear about what it means to 'push' a foreign body into the child's organism. It is just as though a child, from the very earliest years, were being habituated to wearing very small clothes that do not fit, and therefore damage the child's organism. Today observations tend to be superficial, and people are even unaware of the damage done to a child's organism simply by introducing reading and writing in a wrong way."

In the Waldorf approach writing is always taught before reading. The reason for this is that writing is a much more concrete, practical and less demanding activity. In writing (again) the whole being is involved. Ideally, the child begins with beeswax paper on the largest sheets of paper so the scale of the form can be fully (physically) experienced by the child. Also, when done very large the child can clearly differentiate between the straight lines and curves of the letters. In Waldorf schools the letters are taught by "drawing" them in the air, on the floor, by drawing, painting and modeling them... Each letter - each form must be "alive" to the child.

This way also follows the natural development of civilization. The first writing was picture writing and writing as we know it today evolved very slowly and gradually out of picture consciousness. The little shapes of printed letters which we ADULTS use are completely foreign to young children!

Also note that reading came much, much later - following the printing in Europe in the 15th century. As recently as 100 years ago relatively few people worldwide could read or write. So as you begin to think about it in this way, it really is quite "foreign" to our soul life and consciousness to effectively grasp or understand reading - at such a young age.

This is also why the introduction of letters is ALWAYS accompanied by certain form drawn - because the child sees and understands the picture. In the book Putting the Heart Back into Teaching they write: "The young child lives in a world filled with imagination where animals can talk, fairies and witches live, and all kinds of wonderful things happen. When playing with a stick he sees it in turn as an aeroplane or a train, a man, etc. We must recognize the world of fantasy and use it in our teaching. The child will learn far more quickly and easily because he has not been forced to work in an adult way with concepts and facilities that have not yet matured, it will have a healthy influence on his later life."

Steiner demonstrates: "Once the children have seen how a letter is derived from an image, they draw their won pictures that show the transformation of an object into a symbol. When they finally write the letter, using bright beeswax crayons to draw a beautifully formed capital letter against a glowing background, they infuse the skeletal symbol with life."

Drawing and writing between the lines is an adult concept. It may appear that the writing looks neat and all organized to us, but are we doing a service to the soul and will forces of our child? Are we allowing the child to fully experience the form of the letters? These are the questions we must ask ourselves.

I know it's difficult because everyone else IS writing on the handwriting paper and it doesn't go off drifting down the page... but if you cannot grasp the importance of allowing the creative forces to live within your child - then you may want to consider another method of education because this is the very CORE of Waldorf education. Willing, Feeling, Thinking....

How does a child feel when presented a notebook of lined paper? Does it allow the child's imagination to be awakened and engaged? Because without the imagination the child becomes apathetic, anxious or burdened by the very weight of knowledge he does not understand. Because what affects the child emotionally will eventually work through to the physical body and your child can actually get sick from this type of "learning".

Think of the basic standard introduction for the alphabet - A is for apple. The sound, the picture and the letter have absolutely NO connection. The child simply memorizes it. This does not lay a strong foundation for the future of reading. The child feels no connection to this letter, this method.

In Waldorf education, the letters are presented as pictures which appeal to the child's imagination. In reality the letter is clothes in the picture...the picture is the key. All letters of the alphabet were once pictures themselves. Are pictures ever drawn on rigid lined paper? (And coloring books are NOT pictures!) Additionally, lower case letters came much later - so we ALWAYS begin with capital letters ONLY.

Here are a few examples
1) Think of a picture that LOOKS like the letter you are drawing. Example F = fish, W = wave, M = mountain, S = snake
2) Build a story around that image
3) Make up a simple one or two line poem, this is called a consonant verse.
F = flirting fishes flashing freely
W = Over wind swept waves, the white seagulls wildly sweep.
M = Many mighty men mount the mighty mountain
S = Six silver snakes silently slithered over the soft sea of sliding sand.
These verses and images are acted out in story, drama, rhyme, song, verse, poem and movement as well as drawing, painting, modeling, etc... The letter forms must be "alive" for the children to fully experience them and feel them within. The children need to absorb the letter and make it their own... So you see in looking at it from these core beliefs you quickly see that the very concept of keeping them on a small lined sheet of paper is as far away from Waldorf as you can get!

The whole belief can be compared to the observation of child's speech. It goes from baby talk to more articulate speech. The child isn't born speaking! Reading and writing are technical and mechanical skills which are more naturally and appropriately learned at a later stage of the child's development. The value lies in the child getting a good foundation, where all of his cognitive and creative capacities are allowed to develop before being pushed to "stay within the lines".

An interesting but little known fact is also that Steiner said that cursive writing should precede printing words..! (All about the forms again.) But generally, in American schools, cursive writing is not taught until the third grade because of the American view of learning to read. So, in affect, to keep up with the American standards of reading - this very important part of learning has been tossed aside due to pressures from outside sources! The current philosophies of the modern and mechanistic world are aimed at seeing early results. As a result they have devised one-sided, left brained achievement tests that have become the indicator of success or failure in education. These tests, as we all know, are useless. Yet they are a representation of the current system in place.

In "The Child at Seven" Steiner pointed out "Some parents have expressed their anxieties about their children still being unable to write properly, even at the age of eight. We have to show them that our slower approach is really a blessing, because it allows the children to integrate the art of writing with their whole being. We try to convince parents that in our school children learn writing at the right age and in a far more humane manner than if they had to absorb something essentially alien to their own nature - alien because it represents the end product of a long cultural evolution. We must help our parents see the importance of an immediate and direct response within the child to the introduction of writing. Naturally we have to provide our pupils with the tools of learning, but we must always do so by adapting our content to the nature of the child."

I strongly suggest getting a copy of Putting the Heart Back into Teaching because it is a wonderful guide for home schooling parents and it covers so much of the CORE basics which so many parent teachers tend to forget, or sadly, not ever fully understand. A second "must have" would be A Path of Discovery Volume One: Grade One.

Finally, to specifically address your question, the only actual mention I have ever heard of writing on the lines was a brief mention to writing on FOLDED paper. (A paper folded into three parts) and this was in reference for the later stages of second grade - and I could not find any other information to support whether this is a Steiner/Waldorf idea or a personal idea of the author. This author suggested folding a large sheet of paper into three parts (two folds across, as if you were folding a sheet to place into a business sized envelope) and not consciously making the child aware of the folds, just asking the child to draw the picture which corresponded with the letter.

In the book "The Spirit of Childhood", Mr. Gabriel writes in reference to reading and writing in a Waldorf school: "The parents deserve to have this issue discussed and the strategies of the teacher and the Waldorf curriculum explained at the very beginning of a child's enrollment in a Waldorf program. This is a deep commitment for a parent to make, especially given the current public mood on what is termed "whole language" approaches, but it must be carefully explained that this decision is one that chooses imagination and creativity over the public school's analytical and achievement oriented curriculums that tend to suppress these qualities of spirit in the developing child."

Finally, from Lecture 2 of The Kingdom of Childhood, Steiner says: "People will object that the children then learn to read and write too late. This is said only because it is not known today how harmful it is when children learn to read and write too soon. It is a very bad thing to be able to write early. Reading and writing as we have them today are not really suited to the human being until a later age - the eleventh or twelfth year - and the more a child is blessed with not being able to read and write well before this age, the better it is for the later years of life. A child who cannot write properly at thirteen or fourteen (I can speak of my own experience because I could not do it at that age) is not so hindered for later spiritual development as one who early, at seven or eight years, can already read and write perfectly."

Most Waldorf students learn to read or write without ANY pressure or anxiety. Most do not need to be "taught" how to read, but learn on their own, naturally and joyfully. The Waldorf school environment is permeated by language and literature and all subjects are presented first through the spoken word. As a result, Waldorf students develop a deep appreciation for language in all of its forms, and they become highly skilled in its many applications.

Kytka Himar-Jezek, Ph.D., is a writer, Certified Childbirth Educator, Labor Assistant, Doctor of Naturopathy, Minister, Soul Counselor, Reiki Master/Teacher, Life Coach and most importantly, a mother. She is the publisher of several family & parenting websites, two books and a regular weekly column. Reprinted with permission, this originally appeared in the "Ask Kytka" column at W.I.S.H.

Learn more about Kytka at http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/more.htm .