Grades Curriculum
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“Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives.”
—Rudolf Steiner |
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| First Grade Block curriculum: Language arts, including reading, approached through writing, pictorial and phonetic introduction to letters and speech through fairy tales, folk tales, nature stories; math, including qualities of numbers, introduction to the four processes: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; Nature & Environmental Studies. Specialty subjects: Arabic or Mandarin; Spanish; eurythmy/movement; music, including singing and flutes; handwork; developmental movement through non-competitive games. Second Grade Block curriculum: Language arts, including reading, writing, phonics, simple compositions, and speech through tales about saints, legends, animal fables, and nature stories; math, including continued work with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, borrowing and carrying, and number patterns; Nature & Environmental Studies. Specialty subjects: Arabic or Mandarin; Spanish; eurythmy/movement; handwork; music, including singing and flutes; developmental movement through non-competitive games. Third Grade Block curriculum: Language arts, including reading, spelling, speech, cursive writing, composition; Old Testament stories and Jewish legends introduce history; Native American myths and stories; math, including weights and measures, time, money, review and practical application of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; study of practical life, including farming, house building, fibers, fabrics, clothing, and cooking; Nature & Environmental Studies. Specialty subjects: Poetry; Arabic or Mandarin; Spanish; eurythmy/movement; handwork; music, including introduction to orchestra – violin, viola, or cello – singing, and recorder; developmental movement through non-competitive games. Fourth Grade Block curriculum: Language arts, including literature, composition, grammar, speech, and spelling; math, including continuation of the four processes, long division, averaging, and fractions; history, including Norse mythologies and sagas, indigenous people of California; local geography and map-making; science, including zoology (study of the animal kingdom); and Nature & Environmental Studies. Specialty subjects: Poetry; Arabic or Mandarin; Spanish; eurythmy/movement; handwork; music, including orchestra – violin, cello, viola, or bass – singing, and recorder; developmental movement through non-competitive games. Fifth Grade Block curriculum: Language arts, including literature, composition, grammar, speech, and spelling; math, including the four processes with fractions, decimals, ratios, and proportion; history of ancient civilizations, including India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece; geography of the United States in relation to vegetation, agriculture, and economics; science with a focus on botany; Environmental Studies. Specialty subjects: Poetry; Spanish; eurythmy; handwork; woodworking; gardening; music, including orchestra – violin, cello, viola, or bass – singing, and recorder; cooperative and competitive games/physical education.      Sixth Grade Block curriculum: History of Rome and the Middle Ages; introduction to Latin; language arts, including literature, composition, grammar, spelling; math, including calculations with fractions, decimals, compound and simple interest, percentages applied to business, discounts, graphing; geometry, with compass and straight-edge; geography of South and Central America; science, including astronomy, geology, and physics with acoustics, magnetism, optics, and heat; Environmental Studies, incorporating geology and physics. Specialty subjects: Poetry; Spanish; eurythmy; handwork; woodworking; gardening; music, including orchestra – violin, cello, viola, bass, or a wind instrument – and recorder; cooperative and competitive games/physical education. Seventh Grade Block curriculum: History, including voyages of exploration, the Renaissance, and the Reformation; language arts, including biographies, literature, composition, spelling, grammar; math, including introduction to algebra and Euclidean geometry, perspective drawing (linked to history); geography of Africa; science, including physics (electricity and mechanics), physiology, human sexuality and fertility, health and nutrition, inorganic chemistry; Environmental Studies, incorporating physics and inorganic chemistry. Specialty subjects: Poetry; Spanish; eurythmy; handwork; woodworking; gardening; music, including orchestra – violin, cello, viola, bass, or a wind instrument – singing, and recorder; cooperative and competitive games/physical education. Eighth Grade Block curriculum: History of America and the modern world – Industrial Revolution to the present; language arts, including literature (Shakespeare, short stories), composition, grammar; math, including continuation of algebra, geometry – Pythagorean theorem; geography of Asia; science, including anatomy, physiology, health, and drug education; Environmental Studies, incorporating organic chemistry, physics, meteorology, life science, ecology, and conservation resources. Specialty subjects: Poetry; Spanish; eurythmy; handwork; woodworking; gardening; music, including orchestra – violin, cello, viola, bass, or a wind instrument – singing, and recorder; cooperative and competitive games/physical education.          Field Trips: Each class ventures beyond the familiarity of home with an annual class trip, congruent with the year’s curriculum. Students have traveled to locations such as Hawaii, Mt. Shasta, Yosemite, Death Valley, and the Gold Country, as well as to working organic farms, ropes courses, and river trips. |
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“It is as if somewhere in their early years of schooling they [Waldorf students] somehow got the idea
that learning is a lifelong enterprise.” —James Shipman, History Department, Marin Academy, San Rafael, California |