Grade School

Letters are learned the way they originated in human history: first graders hear stories, draw pictures, and discover the letter in the gesture of the picture. This process is accompanied by phonetic work in songs, poems, and games, helping to establish a joyful and living experience of language. Through the grades, texts taken from the humanities curriculum―for example the book of Genesis, the Bhagavad-Gita, or the Kalevala from Finland―provide material for reading practice. The Humanities begin in first grade with folk and fairy tales and continue in second grade with mythology and legends; third grade with Old Testament stories; fourth grade with Norse mythology; and the ancient cultures of India, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Greece in fifth grade. These studies provide the background for the study of history and arts presented through excerpts from original texts. By living in these cultures through their legends and literature, students gain flexibility and an appreciation for the diversity of humankind. By the close of eighth grade, the children have journeyed through Rome to the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Exploration, and up to the present day. Reading from the world’s great literature reveals the pain and joy of modern consciousness. In creative writing, stormy moods and emotions are explored through the writing of poems, short stories, and expository and persuasive pieces, with grammar’s structure providing boundaries. Writing assignments like book summaries and research reports include accurate, as well as narrative, descriptions of science experiments. Recitation of the world’s great poetry, echoing the human drama, continues through our middle school classes. Debating—between Roman orators, for example—develops emerging reasoning skills and satisfies argumentative tendencies in growing adolescents.

The teaching of mathematics begins in the first grade with the four arithmetical processes and continues through algebra and solid geometry in eighth grade. In addition, the abstract principles of mathematics are infused into many other aspects of the curriculum. In the early years, jumping rope is a venue for learning to count. Playing the recorder teaches the concept of intervals. Proportion and scale are studies partly through geometric drawing and woodworking. Clay modeling offers an opportunity to sculpt Platonic solids. This multi-disciplinary, and often initially tactile, approach resonates with children and leads to an in-depth understanding of mathematical principles.

The Sciences are taught experientially: the teacher sets up an experiment, calls upon the students to observe carefully, ponder and discuss, and then allows them to discover the resulting law, formula, or principle. Through this process, rigorous, independent thinking and sound judgment are trained. Students progress from learning about nature through the direct experience of a nature walk, to the study of Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, Astronomy, Physics (including Optics, Thermal Physics, Acoustics, Static and Current Electricity, Magnetism, Mechanics), and Physiology.

“Through the inner flexibility of their speech organ, the children find their way to a flexibility of soul and an openness that has an effect on their entire later life, and especially on their social abilities. The foreign language lesson is suited like practically no other lesson to encourage openness and awaken interest for what is foreign to oneself―and in our time of widespread racism and social conflict on both a small and large scale, this is a pedagogical mission of the first order.”
~Rudolf Steiner, founder of Waldorf Education~

The goal of world language teaching in Waldorf Schools is to encourage a positive attitude towards people of other cultures and languages. We strive to foster human understanding through language and culture. We help the students see the world in a different way and broaden their own perspectives. At HVWS we teach Spanish and German. Learning a new language strengthens the ability to listen to another person, to follow and grasp the other person’s spoken and unspoken intentions. Being competent in multiple languages supports the capacity for flexible, mobile thinking, since different languages access different realms of experience, and this in turn stimulates greater interest in the world and other people. Language classes are taught orally in first through third grades through everyday conversation, traditional songs, poems, stories, and games, with the addition in fourth grade of writing, reading, and grammar lessons. Classes are conducted in the target language.

Visual arts are infused into nearly every academic subject in the Waldorf curriculum through varied techniques including drawing, painting, and clay modelling. The events and heroes of history and mythology are depicted in students’ watercolor paintings. Precise geometry is studied through drawing with compasses and other mechanical equipment. Studying the Renaissance, students retrace the discovery of perspective drawing, which requires both technical mastery and philosophical inquiry, as in: do I trust what I see, or what I know to be there? Animal and human forms are explored in freehand drawing. All students write and draw their own notebooks for main lesson and other subjects to record their academic and artistic accomplishments.

Practical arts, handwork, and crafts are an integral part of the Waldorf curriculum. Decades before brain research could confirm it, Rudolf Steiner recognized that brain function was founded on body function. Learning these skills in the early grades leads to motor skills that later metamorphose into lively thinking and enhanced intellectual development. Coordination, patience, perseverance, and imagination are developed through practical work. The creation of beautiful handmade objects, increasingly rare in a utilitarian society, also feeds the child’s sense of accomplishment and aesthetics, and the use and movement of hands and limbs offer an important counterpoint to intellectual pursuits.

Our students develop increasingly complex artwork through their years in middle school. Sixth graders sew a cloth doll or stuffed animal, combining technical skill with a new-found awareness of the human or animal form. Seventh graders design and knit a full-size wool sweater—a lengthy project requiring concentration, consistency, and purposeful work. To enhance their study of the Industrial Revolution and their fascination with technology, eighth graders use a sewing machine to create a garment.

Music permeates life in the Waldorf school through a curriculum designed to develop the innate musicality with which every child is born. In first grade, students sing and learn to play simple wooden pentatonic flutes. Both activities are practiced daily through the elementary school years. In third grade, diatonic flutes are introduced and all students begin to play a string instrument. Students may choose a wind instrument beginning in sixth grade. In the upper grades, all students belong to the Chorus and Orchestra. This demands increasing precision and skill as students study more sophisticated pieces. There are two concerts a year at which both groups perform. In addition, all students play 3- or 4-part music in their class Recorder Ensembles. Music is taught not only for its own sake and the joy it engenders, but also because it brings a strong harmonizing and humanizing force into the child’s life, strengthening the will and capabilities for the future.

Every grade performs a class play each year, with the subject arising from the curriculum of the main lesson. The presentations become more complex as the children can handle longer verses and separate parts. By the upper grades, the children are capable of complex and sophisticated plays–often Shakespeare in eighth grade–including lots of memorization and more elaborate costumes, props, blocking, choreography, and singing. Producing a play, from beginning to end, is an experience that creates and reinforces the social bonds of the class.

Form drawing is unique to Waldorf schools. It allows one to experience the inner nature of things through movement—which is one of the basic learning modalities of the early grades. First, the students move with their whole bodies to create shapes; then they draw the shapes on chalkboards or paper. The shapes are archetypal patterns and designs such as those found in nature, incorporating straight and curved lines that freeze the movement, making it visible in space. Through form drawing, the students learn to recognize the inherent qualities and characteristics of different forms—aspects such as balance, direction, proportion, repetition, symmetry, tension, and relaxation—though they are not explicitly identified. Form drawing is therapeutic for all ages. It enhances one’s ability to concentrate, strengthens spatial orientation and eye-hand coordination, and helps with sequencing and tracking for writing and reading. It can soothe a hyperactive person and stimulate a sluggish one. Form drawing also strengthens the capacity for imagination; a lively ability to recognize the form or configuration of things can later transform into a keen sense for grasping the essential soul gesture of a story, object, person, or situation.

Physical education classes are an integral part of every grade’s curriculum. Students enjoy games and sports, which improve coordination, balance, and rhythm. Teamwork is always emphasized over competition. Every year our fifth-grade students travel to compete in an inter-school “Olympic Pentathlon” with other Waldorf fifth graders. The athletes compete in wrestling, long jump, javelin, discus, and relay races. Upper grades students often participate in after-school sports programs outside of the school. Recess at HVWS, as in Waldorf schools everywhere, is an integral part of the rhythm of every day―an “out breath” to the “in breath” of academic study. After concentrating in class, students of all ages interact at recess and work out the lessons they have internalized from the curriculum. Recess is also crucial to social inclusion. One of our golden rules, “You can’t say, ‘You can’t play!'” can easily be heard from a young student engaging in play with others―for it is often through encounters on the playground that children can find their way with each other. Traditional country dancing (including square dance, international folk dance, whole-set contra dance, play party/singing games, English country dance) supports the curriculum and stimulates creativity, focus, and positive interaction between students. The Morris and Longsword dances taught for May Fair encourage increasing levels of teamwork. Through traditional dance students increase their confidence, social skills, and cooperation while having fun.

Like Form Drawing, the movement art known as eurythmy, developed by Rudolf Steiner, is unique to Waldorf schools. It may at times resemble dance, gymnastics, and theater, but its aim is ultimately to harmonize the child’s soul-spiritual nature with the body, by making the body a more flexible and responsive instrument of the soul’s intentions. Eurythmy classes feature recitation of verses or stories by the teacher and piano accompaniment for parts of the lesson. In moving to music and the spoken word, the children become aware of different rhythms, repetitions or rhymes, tone color, moods, and the narrative arc. The first grade curriculum starts with the reenacting of fairy tales and simple verses. As the grades progress, the students move to increasingly complex music or poems and are involved in choreographing pieces themselves. By learning the vocabulary of eurythmy gestures, the children form an inner connection to the qualities inherent in language and music, as well as an appreciation for the principles of geometric form. Eurythmy helps children become more imaginative, graceful, coordinated, alert, and at ease within themselves; it also greatly enhances spatial orientation, peripheral perception, and awareness of others. In middle school, Eurythmy counteracts the awkwardness and self-consciousness of this age with its formalized, graceful interactions, fostering awareness of one’s presence in space and relationship with

HVWS teachers are committed to challenging the dominant narratives and representing more diverse perspectives and voices in our lessons. Turning a lens towards inclusion and equity means doing the deep inner work of confronting our own biases, and then looking out into the world for the resources and educational tools needed to provide an education that truly celebrates the diversity of the human experience. We embrace this journey of learning and growth as we rise to meet the needs of our ever-changing world.

HVWS will continue its commitment to providing social and emotional learning programs for every age. This curriculum supports students’ mental health and wellness and helps to cultivate a safer and more positive learning environment where everyone can thrive. Our objective through the integration of SEL is to empower students with: processes to acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities; management of emotions and achievement of personal and collective goals; feeling and showing empathy for others; establishment and maintenance of supportive relationships; and the ability to make responsible and caring decisions. 

A thoughtful and comprehensive curriculum for Health and Wellness ensures that students are learning to relate to themselves and others in a positive and affirming way. The HVWS Health and Wellness curriculum covers topics connected to human development, gender, and sexuality so that all of our students receive healthy and age-appropriate information in a holistic and artistic way. In Early Childhood the Health and Wellness program is embedded into the curriculum through stories, circle, songs, puppet plays and during teachable moments that emerge during the curriculum. Grades 1 and 2 teachers will be bringing topics of gender and family diversity through read-aloud books and expanded representation in their classroom stories. In 3rd and 4th grade our Health and Wellness curriculum will include more classroom discussion and class culture building through stories, games, and art activities. In Grades 5-8 students will have instruction on a number of topics related to this curriculum including combating stereotypes, changing bodies, and healthy relationships. Each class teacher will outline the topics that will be covered in your child’s class and communicate those with you at the beginning of the year.