Olympia Waldorf School
About Waldorf Eduation
Waldorf is one of the largest independent educational movements in the world today. Currently there are more than 900 Waldorf schools in 40 countries worldwide. There are more than 200 schools in the
Waldorf education is a means to awaken what lives in the child. The goal of Waldorf education lies not in the economic destination of an individual but in the becoming of a “full human being.”
Waldorf education works in a rhythmic way. Each subject is introduced in tempo with the natural rhythm of the seasons, the day and the child’s developmental needs.
Learning in the Waldorf school is not static. The curriculum changes annually as it strives to reflect a balance of head, heart and hands...not through rote lesson plans or textbooks, grade curves or pop quizzes, but through a teaching enlivened by the arts.
The uniqueness of Waldorf education lies in how subjects are taught. The approach is oral and dramatic, creating in the child an experience of the subject matter. For example, by writing and illustrating their own “text” books, students digest what they receive, thus arriving at the concept.
Thinking, feeling, doing are the three elements necessary in true learning. This is the heart of Waldorf education. In every lesson, at every turn throughout the school day, the curriculum is dedicated to nourishing the inner life of the child, strengthening his or her body, developing the intellect, and experiencing feelings of awe, reverence, joy, and sorrow.
Kidergarten
Young children learn primarily through imitation and creative play. They are most secure in a warm, home-like environment. The Waldorf kindergarten is warm and welcoming and utilizes a full range of creative activities appropriate to early childhood activities. These activities include creative play, rhythm and movement, finger plays, singing and circle games. A weekly rhythm is established in which the children experience bread baking, modeling with beeswax, watercolor painting, beeswax crayon drawing and seasonal crafts. Fairy tales and nature stories are told and are further enlivened through puppet plays and simple drama. In order to provide a solid foundation upon which subsequent academic learning can flourish, the kindergarten program addresses the development of a creative imagination, provides focused activity, and nourishes a sense of wonder and reverence for life. We have three kindergartens, Briar Rose, Spindlewood and Morning Glory, offering mixed-age (ages four to six), three-day and five-day kindergarten programs.
The kindergarten is intended to be a home-like experience so that the young child feels secure and comfortable in their first step away from the family home. There is a restfulness and orderliness in the classroom and in the rhythms that the teacher establishes—the rhythms of the seasons, of the day, and rhythms of the breathing in and breathing out of the curriculum. These protective rhythms are essential to the well-being of the whole child.
Kindergarten children are phenomenal imitators. Therefore, the teacher must be a role model worthy of their imitation. The teacher works with a reverence for life, honoring the dough to be kneaded, wood to be sanded, table to be scrubbed. . . When the teacher is enthusiastic and purposeful while sweeping the floor, stirring the batter or planting the seeds, the children gladly join in.
The teacher provides the rhythm, ritual and reverence that live within the Waldorf kindergarten. The beautiful physical environment, the rhythm of the work of the day, the reverent presentation of the fairy tales all work within the young child to encourage healthy growth and a respect for life and each other. Even the mood of music which lives in the room draws forth the healthy imagination of the young child. When we embrace the young child with beauty and respect, those values are reflected back, and we encourage a foundation for the healthy development of the whole child.
In the grades, the student journeys from the imaginary world of early childhood to the adult world of awakened thoughts. The creative methodology and unique curriculum of Waldorf enhances each child’s ability to learn while passing through each stage of development. The Waldorf school curriculum strives to appreciate the changing abilities of the growing child in a very concrete way by offering subject matter specifically suited to the appropriate developmental level. The main lessons—language, arts, science, mathematics, history and geography—are taught in blocks of three to five weeks during the morning lesson hours when the children are freshest for academic work. Throughout each grade the students encounter a stimulating depth of experience in the arts. This includes movement, foreign language, handwork (knitting, spinning, sewing), painting, beeswax or clay modeling, music, drawing, games and drama. The arts are integrated into the entire academic curriculum, including math and science. The following is an overview of the Waldorf curriculum:
First Grade
Fairy tales, folk tales and nature stories; pictorial and phonetic introduction to letters; form drawing; preparation for reading through writing; qualities of numbers; introduction of four processes of arithmetic; lower multiplication tables; pentatonic flute.
Second Grade
Legends and animal fables; continued work in language (phonics, reading, writing, punctuation, spelling); arithmetic (the four math processes, odd/even, times tables, place value); cursive writing introduced; form drawing; pentatonic flute.
Third Grade
Stories from Old Testament history; composition and grammar; study of practical life (farming, housing and clothing); higher multiplication tables; weight, measure and money; form drawing; lyre instruction; diatonic flute.
Fourth Grade
Norse Mythology and sagas; Native American mythology; letter writing, language arts (composition, spelling); local geography and map making; study of the animal kingdom; arithmetic and fractions; form drawing; violin/cello and diatonic flute.
Fifth Grade
Ancient history and myths through Greek times (Indian, Persian, Egyptian); American geography related to vegetation, agricultural and economics; botany; decimals, ratio and proportion; language arts; form drawing; violin/cello and diatonic flute.
Sixth Grade
Roman and medieval history; geography; astronomy; geology; physics (acoustics, optics, heat); algebra; geometry and geometric drawing; business math (interest, percentage, discount); language arts; recorder.
Seventh Grade
Arthurian legends, Renaissance history; voyages of discovery, American history and geography; physics (electricity, magnetism); elementary chemistry; physiology (blood and muscles); health and nutrition; algebra; geometry; business math (profit and loss); language arts; recorder.
Eighth Grade
Epic and dramatic poetry; world geography; industrial revolution; French Revolution; modern history, physiology (human skeleton); physics; nutrition and hygiene; algebra; geometry; language arts, elementary chemistry; meteorology; recorder.
Specialty Classes
In addition, these grades curriculum outlines are supplemented by our specialty lessons of: Spanish, German, handwork, music and choir, gardening, woodworking, movement and games, eurythmy and strings.
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