Middle School
(Grades 6 - 8)
The Waldorf approach in middle school balances academic, artistic, and practical activities to awaken each child’s thinking and creativity. Through the middle grades, Waldorf students are guided along a journey of human consciousness through an exploration of world history and cultures.
Learning comes to life through practical experience. Making and doing, creating beauty, and working with one’s hands – knitting, crocheting, sewing, painting, drawing, clay modeling and woodworking – are an integral part of the educational and developmental process. The teacher uses the curriculum to develop each child’s academic skills while firing up the imagination and stimulating the initiative to meet life’s challenges.
The Waldorf approach in middle school balances academic, artistic, and practical activities to awaken each child’s thinking and creativity. Through the middle grades, Waldorf students are guided along a journey of human consciousness through an exploration of world history and cultures.
Learning comes to life through practical experience. Making and doing, creating beauty, and working with one’s hands – knitting, crocheting, sewing, painting, drawing, clay modeling and woodworking – are an integral part of the educational and developmental process. The teacher uses the curriculum to develop each child’s academic skills while firing up the imagination and stimulating the initiative to meet life’s challenges.
All Grades
History,
language arts, science, and math are taught in lesson
blocks of three to five weeks during the morning
hours in all grades; the children, throughout the
curriculum, create original lesson books.
Grade 6
The
approach of puberty often involves a loss of the
relatively harmonious and graceful movements of the
5th grader, as the children seem to “fall” into
gravity. On an inner level the children are entering
into their skeletal system, the most rock-like and
mechanical part of the human organism, as the long
bones of the limbs begin the growth spurt associated
with puberty. It is at this stage that physics and
geology are first introduced.
The children have a love for things delineated as absolutes; everything is experienced as black or white, and the nuances of shades of gray are distant at this age. Roman Law, black and white drawing, specific gymnastic exercises involving the overcoming of obstacles, and the teaching method of “compare and contrast”, all speak to the developmental stage of the children.
The Roman era epitomizes historically what the children are experiencing in their bodies. Of all the ancient cultures, the Romans most strongly dominated and transformed the physical world.
Whereas geometrical shapes have been drawn freehand in earlier grades, the sixth grader learns exact constructions with compass and straightedge, and the mathematical properties of these shapes. Business math and perimeter and area provide the means of introducing simple formulae.
The approach to astronomy, which may also be saved for 7th grade, is geocentric or navigational astronomy. How does the night sky actually look to a person here, or at any other location on the earth, at different times of the day, and of the year? This orientation between earth and sky can support the children emotionally as they become ever more aware of the world around them. With the children’s increasing awareness of their physical bodies, the time is right for geology, the study of the physical body of the earth. The approach to physics is first through art, e.g., acoustics begins with music.
Language Arts
• Writing, Reading, Spelling, Grammar
• Speech Formation/Dramatics
• Composition / Creative Writing
Mathematics
• All Four Processes
• Geometric Movement
• Fractions, Decimals, Ratio
Natural Sciences
• Physics—light, sound, heat, cold, electricity
• Botany
Earth Sciences
• Geography/Surveying
• Astronomy
Social Sciences
• Roman/Medieval history
• Ancient History
Foreign Languages
• German
• French
Fine Arts
• Painting, Drawing, Woodwork
Handwork
• Knitting, Crochet, Sewing
Music
• Recorder, Singing, Second Instrument
Eurythmy Physical Education
• Games
• Sports
The children have a love for things delineated as absolutes; everything is experienced as black or white, and the nuances of shades of gray are distant at this age. Roman Law, black and white drawing, specific gymnastic exercises involving the overcoming of obstacles, and the teaching method of “compare and contrast”, all speak to the developmental stage of the children.
The Roman era epitomizes historically what the children are experiencing in their bodies. Of all the ancient cultures, the Romans most strongly dominated and transformed the physical world.
Whereas geometrical shapes have been drawn freehand in earlier grades, the sixth grader learns exact constructions with compass and straightedge, and the mathematical properties of these shapes. Business math and perimeter and area provide the means of introducing simple formulae.
The approach to astronomy, which may also be saved for 7th grade, is geocentric or navigational astronomy. How does the night sky actually look to a person here, or at any other location on the earth, at different times of the day, and of the year? This orientation between earth and sky can support the children emotionally as they become ever more aware of the world around them. With the children’s increasing awareness of their physical bodies, the time is right for geology, the study of the physical body of the earth. The approach to physics is first through art, e.g., acoustics begins with music.
Language Arts
• Writing, Reading, Spelling, Grammar
• Speech Formation/Dramatics
• Composition / Creative Writing
Mathematics
• All Four Processes
• Geometric Movement
• Fractions, Decimals, Ratio
Natural Sciences
• Physics—light, sound, heat, cold, electricity
• Botany
Earth Sciences
• Geography/Surveying
• Astronomy
Social Sciences
• Roman/Medieval history
• Ancient History
Foreign Languages
• German
• French
Fine Arts
• Painting, Drawing, Woodwork
Handwork
• Knitting, Crochet, Sewing
Music
• Recorder, Singing, Second Instrument
Eurythmy Physical Education
• Games
• Sports
Grade 7
The
seventh
grade students
are in the process of experiencing significant
physical, emotional, and cognitive changes. While
these tendencies are exhibited differently by various
students, and experienced differently by boys and
girls, some general tendencies can be observed. The
physical growth changes often can lead to the
experience of clumsiness in bodily movement and
self-expression. The emotional changes lend
themselves to mood swings and an increasing
self-absorption, while the cognitive capacities begin
to move toward increasing reflection allowing the
students to work with cause and effect and overview
with greater facility.
The seventh grade curriculum is designed to meet the student’s physical need for greater accuracy and articulation through eurythmy, mechanics, chemistry, and physical education. The emotional life is explored in a thoughtful, organized way through the poetry block, geometry, perspective drawing, chemistry, etc. Cognitive skills are challenged by the increasing expectation of clarity and order in verbal and written expression as well as through the observation of phenomena in the sciences, the humanities, or the arts. The goal is for the student to experience a stronger sense of self-mastery and responsibility. The students are increasingly experiencing themselves as individuals with tastes and impulses of their own. They rightfully challenge accepted practices and ideas in order to understand and participate in a more independent way. The history of the Renaissance, Age of Exploration, and the Reformation (1300-1700) meets their inner experience with biographies of human beings who fought with the cultural life of their times in order to live out of their own individual conscience rather than the laws of the State or Church.
The students are introduced formally to meters and poetic structures. These are used as a foundation to explore specific experiences of wish, wonder, surprise, fear, anger, and other soul moods. The natural mood swings the children experience are worked with using these poetic structures allowing them to shape their inner experiences and to articulate them in a new way.
The experience of algebra brings simple, logical structures into more complex problem solving. The students continue work with plane geometry, often focused on the geometry of triangles and the laws of construction in regard to the various kinds of geometrical centers. Constructions become increasingly demanding both technically and cognitively. Accuracy is essential in both thinking and technique. This practice gives the children confidence in their growing capacities. Through a study of perspective drawing, the students can experience a confluence between science and art. Depth no longer is seen as an arbitrary phenomenon but as having mathematical lawfulness. This study connects well with the history curriculum, as the discovery of the mathematical laws of perspective in the Renaissance, first used in art, became the foundation for a new accuracy in map making, a technological support for the explorers, and also provided some of the foundation for the new scientific worldview.
The historical transition from the geocentric to the heliocentric picture of the solar system is the focus for the study of astronomy. The biographies of the great thinkers Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, etc., connect this block well to the history of the Renaissance, and the Age of Exploration.
Seventh grade is the first introduction to a more formal study of chemistry. Combustion is the starting point for this study, followed by a consideration of the lime cycle, salts, acids, and bases. This relates closely to the physiology block and the work on the digestive system, which will be picked up again in the 8th grade chemistry block.
At a time when their center of gravity is experienced differently and a physical lethargy can be felt, the students are introduced to the new topic of mechanics and the simple machines in physics. This study is picked up from a different perspective in the eighth grade study of muscle and skeleton. A physiological and developmental context is given for discussion of sexuality, substance abuse, and peer pressures by a study of nutrition and health, which includes an introduction to the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and reproductive systems of the body.
Language Arts
• Writing, Reading, Spelling, Grammar
• Speech Formation/Dramatics
• Research Skills
• Composition / Creative Writing
Mathematics
• Geometry
• Algebra
Natural Sciences
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Physics
• Human Physiology
Earth Sciences
• Geography
Social Sciences
• Renaissance
• European 17th-18th century
Foreign Languages
• German
• French
Fine Arts
• Painting, Drawing, Woodwork
Handwork
• Sewing
Music
• Recorder, Singing, Second Instrument
Eurythmy Physical Education
• Games
• Sports
• Health
The seventh grade curriculum is designed to meet the student’s physical need for greater accuracy and articulation through eurythmy, mechanics, chemistry, and physical education. The emotional life is explored in a thoughtful, organized way through the poetry block, geometry, perspective drawing, chemistry, etc. Cognitive skills are challenged by the increasing expectation of clarity and order in verbal and written expression as well as through the observation of phenomena in the sciences, the humanities, or the arts. The goal is for the student to experience a stronger sense of self-mastery and responsibility. The students are increasingly experiencing themselves as individuals with tastes and impulses of their own. They rightfully challenge accepted practices and ideas in order to understand and participate in a more independent way. The history of the Renaissance, Age of Exploration, and the Reformation (1300-1700) meets their inner experience with biographies of human beings who fought with the cultural life of their times in order to live out of their own individual conscience rather than the laws of the State or Church.
The students are introduced formally to meters and poetic structures. These are used as a foundation to explore specific experiences of wish, wonder, surprise, fear, anger, and other soul moods. The natural mood swings the children experience are worked with using these poetic structures allowing them to shape their inner experiences and to articulate them in a new way.
The experience of algebra brings simple, logical structures into more complex problem solving. The students continue work with plane geometry, often focused on the geometry of triangles and the laws of construction in regard to the various kinds of geometrical centers. Constructions become increasingly demanding both technically and cognitively. Accuracy is essential in both thinking and technique. This practice gives the children confidence in their growing capacities. Through a study of perspective drawing, the students can experience a confluence between science and art. Depth no longer is seen as an arbitrary phenomenon but as having mathematical lawfulness. This study connects well with the history curriculum, as the discovery of the mathematical laws of perspective in the Renaissance, first used in art, became the foundation for a new accuracy in map making, a technological support for the explorers, and also provided some of the foundation for the new scientific worldview.
The historical transition from the geocentric to the heliocentric picture of the solar system is the focus for the study of astronomy. The biographies of the great thinkers Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, etc., connect this block well to the history of the Renaissance, and the Age of Exploration.
Seventh grade is the first introduction to a more formal study of chemistry. Combustion is the starting point for this study, followed by a consideration of the lime cycle, salts, acids, and bases. This relates closely to the physiology block and the work on the digestive system, which will be picked up again in the 8th grade chemistry block.
At a time when their center of gravity is experienced differently and a physical lethargy can be felt, the students are introduced to the new topic of mechanics and the simple machines in physics. This study is picked up from a different perspective in the eighth grade study of muscle and skeleton. A physiological and developmental context is given for discussion of sexuality, substance abuse, and peer pressures by a study of nutrition and health, which includes an introduction to the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and reproductive systems of the body.
Language Arts
• Writing, Reading, Spelling, Grammar
• Speech Formation/Dramatics
• Research Skills
• Composition / Creative Writing
Mathematics
• Geometry
• Algebra
Natural Sciences
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Physics
• Human Physiology
Earth Sciences
• Geography
Social Sciences
• Renaissance
• European 17th-18th century
Foreign Languages
• German
• French
Fine Arts
• Painting, Drawing, Woodwork
Handwork
• Sewing
Music
• Recorder, Singing, Second Instrument
Eurythmy Physical Education
• Games
• Sports
• Health
Grade 8
Grade
eight has as its
guiding principle the sense of culmination, the goal
of developing a capacity for creating a picture of
the whole, and a mood of completion of all that has
gone before. The students themselves are observably
in the process of completing their passage through
childhood and are entering the territory of youth, an
attainment that gives each of them an enhanced vista,
sharper powers of observation, and growing critical
faculties. From this new vantage, with their new
capacities, the students can develop the scope and
the perceptive abilities to recollect, to connect, to
see relationships – abilities which make it possible
to build a comprehensive picture whether the subject
is history, physics or math.
The American, French and/or Industrial Revolutions begin the study of history in this grade. What happens when the struggle for artistic and religious freedom that characterized the Renaissance and the Reformation develops into a struggle for human rights? How has the desire for universal human rights shaped our world? The study continues with the American Civil War, and on to a history of the 20th century, looking at some of the people who have brought new ideas to life in the modern era and identifying some of the questions and promises that face us as we enter a new millennium.
In anatomy and physiology, the students make use of modeling and drawing to sharpen observations of the forms of the human bone structure. The 7th grade study of the lime cycle connects to a look at the chemistry of bone growth and development. The 7th grade study of mechanics relates to a look at the mechanics of human movement in the bones, different types of joints, and the muscular system. The nervous system, and particularly the eye and ear, are further topics for this year.
Proceeding from the 7th grade study of salts, acids and bases, and the study of nutrition and the digestive system, the focus this year is the chemistry of sugars, starches, proteins, and fats and oils. The study includes consideration of how the processes observed are used in industry, as well as in living organisms.
The study of sound, light, heat, electricity and magnetism is now extended into the areas of hydraulics, aeromechanics and the practical applications of electromagnetism and motors. The students are encouraged to connect the phenomena studied in physics with their manifestations in nature and with practical applications wherever possible.
World Geography includes a survey of the landforms, ocean currents, atmosphere, climates, and life zones of the entire earth. World industry and transportation may also be included, as may an ethnographical look at a few representative remote cultures, still mostly dependent on terrain and climate for their life ways. Historical references and biographies enliven the understanding of how people relate to their surroundings, and shape the cultural and political direction of a particular place.
While drama has been a part of the curriculum every year, in this, the class’s culminating year in the grade school, production values and the time devoted to rehearsals may become more important. A three-week morning lesson block may be devoted to final rehearsals, set building and costume finishing. The choice of play can range from a Shakespeare comedy to an operetta or musical, and is based on the teacher’s insight into the character of the particular class. The year often concludes with a class trip of greater length than in previous years.
Language Arts
• Writing, Reading, Spelling, Grammar
• Speech Formation/Dramatics
• Research Skills
• Composition / Creative Writing
Mathematics
• Geometry
• Algebra
Natural Sciences
• Human Anatomy
• Organic Chemistry
• Physics
Earth Sciences
• Geography
• Climatology
• Anthropology
Social Sciences
• 19th & 20th century History
Foreign Languages
• German
• French
Fine Arts
• Painting, Drawing, Woodwork
Handwork
• Sewing
Music
• Recorder, Singing, Second Instrument
Eurythmy Physical Education
• Games
• Sports
The American, French and/or Industrial Revolutions begin the study of history in this grade. What happens when the struggle for artistic and religious freedom that characterized the Renaissance and the Reformation develops into a struggle for human rights? How has the desire for universal human rights shaped our world? The study continues with the American Civil War, and on to a history of the 20th century, looking at some of the people who have brought new ideas to life in the modern era and identifying some of the questions and promises that face us as we enter a new millennium.
In anatomy and physiology, the students make use of modeling and drawing to sharpen observations of the forms of the human bone structure. The 7th grade study of the lime cycle connects to a look at the chemistry of bone growth and development. The 7th grade study of mechanics relates to a look at the mechanics of human movement in the bones, different types of joints, and the muscular system. The nervous system, and particularly the eye and ear, are further topics for this year.
Proceeding from the 7th grade study of salts, acids and bases, and the study of nutrition and the digestive system, the focus this year is the chemistry of sugars, starches, proteins, and fats and oils. The study includes consideration of how the processes observed are used in industry, as well as in living organisms.
The study of sound, light, heat, electricity and magnetism is now extended into the areas of hydraulics, aeromechanics and the practical applications of electromagnetism and motors. The students are encouraged to connect the phenomena studied in physics with their manifestations in nature and with practical applications wherever possible.
World Geography includes a survey of the landforms, ocean currents, atmosphere, climates, and life zones of the entire earth. World industry and transportation may also be included, as may an ethnographical look at a few representative remote cultures, still mostly dependent on terrain and climate for their life ways. Historical references and biographies enliven the understanding of how people relate to their surroundings, and shape the cultural and political direction of a particular place.
While drama has been a part of the curriculum every year, in this, the class’s culminating year in the grade school, production values and the time devoted to rehearsals may become more important. A three-week morning lesson block may be devoted to final rehearsals, set building and costume finishing. The choice of play can range from a Shakespeare comedy to an operetta or musical, and is based on the teacher’s insight into the character of the particular class. The year often concludes with a class trip of greater length than in previous years.
Language Arts
• Writing, Reading, Spelling, Grammar
• Speech Formation/Dramatics
• Research Skills
• Composition / Creative Writing
Mathematics
• Geometry
• Algebra
Natural Sciences
• Human Anatomy
• Organic Chemistry
• Physics
Earth Sciences
• Geography
• Climatology
• Anthropology
Social Sciences
• 19th & 20th century History
Foreign Languages
• German
• French
Fine Arts
• Painting, Drawing, Woodwork
Handwork
• Sewing
Music
• Recorder, Singing, Second Instrument
Eurythmy Physical Education
• Games
• Sports