Class 4 Waldorf Steiner Stories and Study

In Class 4 of the Waldorf curriculum, children hear the stories told by the Vikings and other northern peoples about the Norse Gods and their resilient confidence in the face of challenges.  This 4th year is an important year for the experience that speech has on rhythms.  The elements of these rhythms are expressed and strengthened through the recitation of poetry and speeches.  At around the age of 10, Steiner showed that the child confronts the world as a more confident self in a new relationship with the world.  The myths of the Norsemen provide the literature that meets this new confidence through the inspirations and strength of purpose in the peoples.

In this class, the students will hear stories, poems and verses of Odin and other Norse Gods, stories of Odin seeing the runes for the first time and how he then brought language to the people, the creation of Midgard and the sacred Yggdrasil tree.  The story of Ragnarok, the last battle of the Aesir and the one which ushers in the new world and current time, is a metaphor for the end of childhood and the beginning of the next step as the children grow into different and new life experiences.

In these weekly lessons the students will listen to stories of the myths of Northern Europe through a range of literature.  Through this, the students will:
-Use various forms of art (pastels, paints, clay, pencils, etc.) to portray events in the stories
-Learn about the runes (how to write them and what they mean) and use art to portray them (clay, stones, etc.)
-retrieve literal information from the texts and begin to make inferences (etc. infer a characters personality by their actions)
-create their own imaginative literary texts based on the Northern Europe storylines
-Recall and summarize events the main ideas from the stories


As this class will have a different theme / story each week, students are welcome to join at any time.  Some stories may take a few weeks to finish so feel free to contact me if you'd like to know where we are up to.

Homework is given weekly but is optional.  

Week 1: Story of The First Gods and Giants
Week 2: Finish story of The First Gods and Giants / The Creation of the World
Week 3: Finish illustrations and retells
Week 4: The Creation of Man