Elementary Grades

As the child enters the grade school, the earlier stage of imitation expands into a need for loving authority. Ideally, a group of children stays with one class teacher from the first through the eighth grade. Children and teacher deepen their relationship as they move through the grades together. This secure continuity enhances the child’s learning. Throughout the years, the class teacher and the parents form a cooperative relationship centered on the growing child. Social relationships between the children also take on added meaning in this context.

The grade school begins each day with a lively two-hour “Main Lesson” that concentrates on the subject for a period of three to four weeks. This uninterrupted time of study enables the children to immerse themselves completely in the subject matter at hand. It also allows the class teacher the freedom to structure the lessons artistically to incorporate a variety of activities, such as music or movement to enhance the teaching of mathematics, and drama or clay modeling to expand the work in history.

Many subjects are presented by teachers other than the class teachers. Foreign Languages are taught in all the grades. Other subjects include physical education, handwork and eurhythmy, an art of movement which is a expression of the sounds and rhythms of poetry, stories and live music. The music program includes singing, recorder playing, and lyre. Each subject draws out and helps to form the true intelligence of the child, an intelligence of the head, heart and hands. The curriculum also includes form drawing, painting, clay and beeswax modeling, woodworking, drama and speech.

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