Importance of Childhood & Adolescence

Waldorf grade school students begin each day with a two-hour main lesson in which one field of study is explored for a period of several weeks. The class teacher has the freedom to structure the lessons creatively by incorporating a variety of activities. For example, music or movement enhances the teaching of mathematics, drama the study of history, and clay modeling the understanding of anatomy.

Each student creates an ongoing record of main lesson work in individual books that are filled with composition, diagrams, mathematical premises or operations, as well as illustrations. These main lesson books, carefully crafted with attention to detail and artistic presentation, are a unique and vital part of Waldorf education.

Complementing the core academic curriculum are other academic, artistic, and practical subjects taught by specialists in their fields. These classes create a wholistic synergy with main lesson work.

Following morning main lesson, students participate in foreign language study, eurythmy (a modern art of creative movement), choral and instrumental music, painting, gardening, games and physical education, and the practical arts, such as sewing, knitting, and woodworking.