The true curriculum results from an understanding of the stages of human life. The children themselves tell us, if we can really observe them, what they want to learn in a particular stage of life.
Overview
Rudolf Steiner gave a series of “indications” on pedagogical topics in lectures and writings during his lifetime. These insights inform the unique and distinctive Waldorf curriculum framework in the following ways:
- The curriculum unfolds over time, is wide and richly experiential
- The curriculum takes its cue from the development of the child. It is midwife to the emerging individuality, rather than suits of clothes into which the child must be made to fit
- The curriculum relies upon and encourages the creativity of teachers. The innate flexibility and resilience enables it to be adapted for a variety of settings, languages, and cultures
Curriculum by year
|
Class
|
Theme
|
Literacy
|
Numeracy
|
Geography / Science
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 (age 6-7) | Fairy tale | From image to letter, phonics | Numbers & the 4 processes | Observation of nature |
| Year 2 (age 7-8) | World of saints & fables | Reading short sentences | Multiplication table, place value | Observation of nature |
| Year 3 (age 8-9) | Hebrew creation tales | Reading comprehension | Weight / measuring, long ✖️➗ | Farming & building |
| Year 4 (age 9-10) | Norse mythology | Grammar, parts of speech | Fractions | Local history & geography |
| Year 5 (age 10-11) | Ancient civilizations | Short essays | Decimals, geometry | Greater China geography; botany |
| Year 6 (age 11-12) | Roman history, the Middle Ages | Structured writing | Percentage, business math | Asia geography; minerals & geology |
| Year 7 (age 12-13) | Renaissance, Age of Discovery | Persuasive & expository writing | Algebra, negative numbers | Astronomy; human biology; chemistry |
| Year 8 (age 13-14) | Age of Revolution to present day | Comparative & analytical writing | Algebra, statistics, trigonometry | Chemistry; physics |
Subject to teachers’ modification based on the capacity and needs of different classes