Class One Waldorf Steiner Year

This Waldorf Steiner class is designed with the homeschooling families in mind.  Here, I will teach the Class One Waldorf curriculum including literacy, numeracy, art, science, and geography.  Lessons are taught in blocks of 3-5 weeks (as indicated below).  

The classes will also hold a space for music as the children learn to play short, popular songs on the recorders.  There is no need to learn notes on a sheet, all music is learned through repetitive playing and watching me show how to play the notes in the class.  The sound of the music and the tones and rhythm are what help teach the students how to play.

The first block of study begins with a form drawing study incorporating straight lines and curved lines.  This is precursory for writing.  

A block of alphabet study comes later, focusing on one letter study at a time.  In these lessons I begin by telling a story (usually through a fairy tale or traditional story listed below) to introduce the letter and letter sound.  The stories I tell are oral and I do not use a picture book to read it.  The child will use their imaginations to envision the story and, therefore, make it easier to see the shapes and pictures in the letters.  We explore the shape of the letter (capital first) and the relationship of the letter and letter sound to a character in the story through a drawing.  The student will draw the letter and the picture in the letter with me.  This picture helps the child recognize the letter and sound together.  For example, B is for bear in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  After the drawing and writing are complete we will use movement to help the student draw on all aspects of the letter to learn the name and sound.  The alphabet is not taught in alphabetical order and vowels (or 'angel letters' in Waldorf Steiner schools) are taught at the end.

Here is a list of some of the letters and corresponding stories I may use to create the learning lessons for the alphabet block.  

Letter B - Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Letter G- The Golden Goose
Letter K - King Thrushbeard
Letter M - Simeli Mountain (Grimms Fairytale)
Letter W - The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Anderson)
Letter J - The Crow and the Jug (Aesop's Fable)
Letter C - The Cave of the Beasts (Chinese Folktale)
Letter F - The Fisherman and the Magic Fish
Letter D - The Ugly Duckling (Hans Christian Anderson)
Letter H - The Hut in the Forest or Baba Yaga (Russian fairy tale)
Letter V- The Golden River (English fairy tale)
Letter R - The Golden River (English fairy tale)
Letter S - The Six Swans (Grimm German Fairy Tale)

Further Literacy blocks are used to develop pre-reading and pre-writing skills.  Creating sentences, practicing CVC words and sight words and increasing the number of high frequency words they can identify.

The Numeracy block is broken up into numbers and processes.  Children experience counting sequences and the four processes in story and movement, work through number patterns and grouping and begin to read and write numbers. Stories of kings, queens, princesses and princes who love to give, take, and share; gnomes who are greedy and horde their coins, gnomes who hide their treasure.  Children will find and explore numbers in the world around them, draw number stories, and learn the days of the week and the months of the year.

History blocks run for 2 or 3 weeks and incorporate stories of Ancient World Tales.  Children will hear traditional stories of the distant past in different cultures.  They will model elements of the story using beeswax, portray dramatic interpretations of the stories and incorporate writing to record stories and poetry.

Science blocks run for 2-3 weeks and include stories of nature; plants, mountains, springs, lakes, rivers, etc.  Seasonal topics play an important part in these science lessons and children are encouraged to experience the elements within their own landscapes (in their garden or on bushwalks).  The children will hear stories about their environment and experiences (sun, moon, wind, rain and how these nourish the animals and people).

In these block lessons, children will use a Main Lesson book to record their drawings and writing.  They will also use watercolor paints, beeswax, and block crayons to create art around the study.  Form drawing will be carried through the blocks to orientate and balance through spacing, position and balance of form on the page (right / left, top / bottom, beginning / end).
      
The blocks will be taught as follows:
1. Form Drawing - Straight and Curved Line (2 weeks)
2. Alphabet Beginning (5 weeks)
3. Number Exploring -Counting and Informal Processes (4 weeks)
4. Science - The World Around Them (2 weeks)
5. Alphabet Angels - Learning the Angel Letters (vowels) (3 weeks)
6. Number Processes (3 weeks)
7. Nature and the World Around Us (2 weeks)
8. Ancient World Tales (2 weeks)
9. From Letters to Text (3 weeks)
10. Number Processes II (2 weeks)
11. Frequent Phonics (2 weeks)
12. Nature and the World Around Us Part II (2 weeks)

Beginning dates and lessons:
Week of October 16th: Form drawing beginnings, watercolor paintings
Week of October 23rd: Form drawing, clay modelling or beeswax
Week of October 30th: Alphabet beginnings - alphabet teachings through story telling, drawing, and painting
Week of November 6th: Alphabet beginnings - continuation of alphabet learning through story telling, drawing, painting and clay or beeswax