Lower School
In elementary grades 1-5, students are ready for practical and rigorous work. By engaging students’ curiosity through experiential, academically rigorous, and meaningful lessons, teachers help students develop a sincere love of learning. As students are nurtured through stages of development, they grow more refined in their skills and knowledge, and become creative thinkers and confident problem solvers.
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Waldorf education embraces healthy student-teacher relationships built over time. The Class Teacher (the main primary teacher) stays with the same group of students as they transition through multiple grades. This long-term relationship supports a rich social dynamic in the class. It gives the teacher a deep understanding of each student’s strengths, challenges, and developmental milestones, and it creates a mutual connection between student and teacher.
Specialty subjects are taught by teachers trained in their specific disciplines. They include Spanish, German, Fiber Arts, Eurythmy, Music, Woodwork, Horticulture, Movement Education (P.E.), Health and Wellness, and Orchestra.
Main Lesson – Unique to the Waldorf Experience
The day begins with the Main Lesson, a two-hour block of time dedicated to in-depth explorations of core academic subjects: Language Arts, Math, Science, History, Social Studies, and Geography. Main Lesson blocks are organized in three-to-four-week rotations throughout the year. They begin with warm-up activities to awaken students’ bodies and minds such as singing, jump roping, recitation, and mental math. Next students recall or review class material of the previous day; then new material is presented by the teacher. During the last portion of Main Lesson, students create work in their Main Lesson books, which eventually become their own “textbooks” for each subject of study.
Sample Main Lesson Block Rotation – Grade 4
-Three blocks in Math that focus on fractions.
-Two blocks in Science that focus on zoology.
-Two blocks in Local Geography.
-Three blocks in Norse Mythology that focus on Language Arts skills.
