Class One

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The seventh year sees the start of formal education in the Waldorf educational philosophy. The children have moved away from the imitation phase, often marked by the change of teeth, and are now ready to take on formal learning. 

The newly freed forces of the etheric are now released so the child can clearly form and recall mental pictures from sensory experiences. This picture thinking is closely connected to living experiences the child has and the associated feelings. The teacher now leads the child through images to begin the process of learning literacy and numeracy skills.

Class One is a world of fairy tales and nature stories which are used to develop both literacy and numeracy skills. Movement and rhythm of important parts of the learning process and the children will engage in daily and weekly activities to build and strengthen their routine.

Form drawing is a vital part of the curriculum as it brings in the skills of pre literacy and numeracy, developing the art of writing so that the child feels confident in the work they do, not only with the hands but with their entire body. Movement play an important role in all activities the children do in Class one.

Regular nature stories help the child begin to understand the environment around them though imaginative pictures and feels comfortable in their world.

Form Drawing I                  

Literacy - Introduction of Letters I      

Numeracy - Quality of Number       

Form Drawing II             

Literacy - Introduction of Letters II                           

Numeracy - Arabic Numbers                      

Literacy - Introduction of Letter III                    

Numeracy - Four Processes I                         

Literacy - Vowels                      

Numeracy - Four Processes II                                   

Form Drawing III                             

Literacy - Writing

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs

The class two child is like a butterfly which has emerged from its protective chrysalis, poised to take flight. Children in class two are now almost 8 years old and are ready to explore, meet, wonder, question, comply and resist in the world around them. They like contrasts and polarities, for example: good (base nature) vs good (higher self).  

After their first year of formal education, the children in Class 2 visibly grow and change, both outwardly and inwardly; they become more confident and, in comparison with the contentment of Class I,  they are more talkative, louder and cheekier. They push boundaries more than before and they notice and question things. Slowly, through the course of this year and the next, the impulse to just follow - to imitate - will be replaced by the growing wish for independence. The fluctuations in the behaviour of the 8-year-old signals the beginning of a process, which will lead them eventually to become free thinking, empathetic, responsible adults. Form Drawing at the beginning of the year brings some form to the children after the freedom of the summer holiday. At the same time, it is an artistic activity that the children enjoy, and the form - ability to focus, to sit still, to listen, to work carefully, to abide by class rules - comes in almost unnoticed.  Much of what is done in the second-grade year builds upon the groundwork laid in the first grade, increasing the repertoire of knowledge and skills developed in the previous year.  The second grader’s learning through imitation is still prevalent and their thinking is still very pictorial.    

Multicultural animal fables, such as those from Aesop/African and Native American lore, in contrast with stories of great people, saints and heroines/heroes. The stories speak to the children’s imaginations allowing them to form their own inner pictures of right and wrong. The moral of the story is not made conscious, instead the children are let to work inwardly with it.    

Language Arts a thorough study of phonics skills coupled with sight word acquisition is pursued as we write and read short vignettes of fables and stories. During writing blocks, children practice their handwriting moving onto printed lower case letters. Form drawing will help with dexterity to practice running forms. Form drawing is also an introduction to identifying and describing shapes.      

Math/Numeracy  work is continued with the four processes, using the vertical format and story problems. Place value work into the thousands, regrouping in addition and subtraction, introducing carrying/borrowing. Daily mental math. Times tables of 7,8,11 and 12 will be formally introduced. Learning of times tables by heart, through recitation and movement, continues and, by the end of the year, everyone should know the 2, 5, and 10 times tables; most should also know 11, 3 and 4; some will know all of them.

Literacy - Fables reading and writing                               

Numeracy - Four Operations             

Form Drawing                          

Literacy - Saints and lower case letters        

Literacy - Saints and Mary's Little Donkey                                                     

Numeracy - Place Value                         

Literacy - Fables and Phonics                                    

Numeracy - Place Value                                                       

Literacy - Saints and Readers                                           

Numeracy - Tables and the Four Operations                                   

Literacy - Fables                          

Literacy - Saints and Readers

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs

The children, now nine years old, experience a great deal of change, both physically and psychologically. It is often referred to as the 9 Year old Change or Rubicon, which can dominate the year.  

Developmentally they are finding balance within their bodies, a firmer gait and constitutionally they are more robust than previously. Growth is now more focused in the limbs as they become ‘spindly’. These changes can also bring symptoms of weariness, tummy and head pains, nausea and dizziness and interrupted sleep patterns. 

As the children become more aware of themselves the curriculum meets them with content that engages them in the world around them. Class Three is very practical, with farming, building and measurement, all of which they need to get a hands-on experience. Lay bricks and mortar, dig and plant seeds, weight out and measure different materials.  

Behaviour needs clear guidelines at this age with the help of the teachers and parents. The old testament stories which are key to this year also have a pedagogical value as they tell of the old testament god where there was right and wrong, no grey areas.  Class Three is a wonderful and practical year that fully engages the child’s, head, heart and hands.

Creation Stories

Numeracy - Four Operations skill development

Farming/Agriculture

Literacy - Old Testament Stories

Numeracy - Measurement

Building/Shelters & Homes

Literacy - Old Testament Stories & Cursive Writing

Farming and Nutrition

Numeracy - Money

Literacy - Grammar skills

Numeracy - Time

Literacy and Numeracy - Skills Review

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs

The children, now ten years old, are entering the middle of the class teacher years and begin a phase between childhood and puberty which is often called the “Heart of Childhood” in Waldorf pedagogy.

Developmentally they are harmonising the relationship between blood circulation and breathing, finding a balance in themselves.

This brings with it a solid self-assurance that focuses their learning and desire for knowledge which shows in their work. They are awakening to their own individual character and exploring who they are in relation to their friends, family and community.

The curriculum brings Norse mythology with strong lively characters that they often connect to strongly. We also start looking out into the world around us and learn what we can from observation and experience. Local history and geography focus on the environment they live in and teach them to get their bearings and how to draw maps. Natural science is begun with a very phenomenological study of the animal kingdom in relation to the human being.

Class four is a year of laying solid foundations for work habits and the children are given more and more responsibility for their own work and its completion.

Norse Mythology I - Form Drawing

Local History and Geography I

Human and Animal I

Norse Mythology II

Literacy - History of Writing

Numeracy - Common Fractions I

Local History and Geography II

Human and Animal II

Norse Mythology III

Numeracy - Common Fractions II

Human and Animal III

Norse Mythology IIII    

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs

In their evolving progress the Class Five child attains a new stage of grace and agility in their movement; developmentally this is a stage of co-ordination, balance, and harmony. This year their psychological development of ‘self’ grows as the child begins to develop their own fledgling ego, hand in hand with a sense of ‘will’. They are now more capable of understanding and formulating concepts as they approach their twelfth year. This age, before puberty sets in, can be described as the golden age of childhood, where they find balance and form in themselves physically and psychologically.

The curriculum meets these developmental changes and helps the children find their place as the educational content looks further afield in geography and takes them on a journey from the ancient mythologies to historical Greece. Here we look at developing the Olympian Ideal where the group/individual distinctions are subservient to the greater whole, where qualities such as beauty are valued as much as speed and distance.

Ancient Mythologies                    

Geography – Home Country       

Numeracy - Freehand Geometry            

Ancient Mythologies            

Numeracy - Decimal Fractions I                         

Greek Mythology                         

Animal Kingdoms                   

Greek History                          

Numeracy - Decimal Fractions II                 

Botany                                 

Greek History                           

Literacy - Review         

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs                

These lessons are subject to change

The Class Six child’s growth begins to express itself in the skeleton as the limbs begin to lengthen and the child develops a tendency for awkward and angular movements.  The twelve year old experiences the strength of gravity through the skeleton.  The physical change is accompanied by the first experience of causation in the thinking realm, while psychologically the child enters a phase which may be characterised as the ‘changeling’ period.  The twelve year old witnesses what may be described as the death of their childhood and the birth pangs as their rise into individuality.  As the child begins to anticipate adolescence the children are also forced to re-examine their relationships and develop a new understanding of social responsibility.

Roman History I                 

Business Math I     

Physics

Roman History Part II         

Geometry with Instruments                         

Geography of Europe and Asia                     

Astronomy February                      

Medieval History I                          

Geology and Mineralogy                      

Business Math II                                   

Medieval History II                           

Literacy - Review

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs

Class Seven is the year the children turn 13 and move from being a child to being a teenager.  This change manifests in two main characteristics of this age: the increased outer active life and the dynamic stirrings of the inner life. The children’s appetite for knowledge grows as they explore the world and develop the capacity for reflection.  Their physical changes, related to puberty, are often only later followed by maturing psychological development. The children will yearn for independence and solitude but can often be hampered by feelings of anxiety, emotional sensitivity and embarrassment. Boys and girls vary greatly in the way in which they deal with the challenges before them, both physically and emotionally; the Waldorf curriculum helps give them perspective and bring some understanding into their lives. 

Voyages of Discovery deal with the great surge in outer activity whereas moods and styles in English compliment the inner changes of the children.

Algebra - Equations               

Wish, Wonder and Surprise

The Age of Exploration

Heliocentric and Geocentric Views

The Four Human Systems

Geometry - Pythagoras

The Renaissance and Reformation

Comparing Two Continents

Chemistry 

Arithmetic - Fibonacci and Phi

The Enlightenment

Physics - Mechanics

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs

The Class Eight child now reaches their most intense period of inwardness, from which they will journey back out into the periphery, the world.  It is now that the young person begins to sees what is around them with a new more critical and conscious faculty. They will feel more ready to face the world and challenge what they feel to be unjust. They will feel more down to earth, connected to the world around them. Discussion, debate and laughter will bubble up in the expressing of new found ideals. The ability to make judgement, especially about rules and aesthetics begins to emerge. It is a time of thresholds for the young person; challenges help them to stand confidently as they enter the turbulent years of teenage hood.

Anatomy  - The 12 Sesnes

Numeracy - Square Roots

History - WWII

Physics - Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

Literacy - The Short Story

Numeracy - Platonic solids

Meteorology

Chemistry - Organic

History - Colonialism in Africa

Geography - The World

Numeracy - Quadratic Equations

Class 8 Projects and Review

Main lesson themes may change and order my be altered according to class needs