Waldorf CurriculumIntroduction
A curriculum could be compared to the list of ingredients
for a recipe. However good the recipe, the quality of the ingredients is crucial
but to make a start the components also need to be available. When they are to
hand, the next question is whether the cook is skilled enough to combine and
adjust flavors so that each item plays its part without overwhelming the others.
An experienced cook may be able to substitute one ingredient for another, even
to improvise in such a way that something new is created. But we should not
forget that emotion, even love, goes into the preparation of food and this will
influence how it is received. And, of course, the expectations, health and
culinary experience of the diners also makes a difference.
A curriculum guides an entire learning process. It should not, like a dish into which a chef has thrown every possible taste, explode in an overwhelming, sensation-bursting blowout; it should bring to the table ingredients that are well- balanced, digestible and nutritious, that promote health and stimulate, not stupefy, the senses. Over time, as with diet, a curriculum can introduce items that may not be immediately appealing, stronger tastes or more subtle and complex ones: intellectual chillis, subjects initially sour or astringent, as well as flavors, textures and scents that help to educate the palate. A primary school curriculum, in particular, sets out ingredients for the hors d'oeuvres of lifelong learning. Of course, many school curriculums share common ingredients, but the distinctive qualities of the Steiner-Waldorf curriculum framework are, we believe, unique:
Course OutlineSophia Institute Waldorf Courses: The Art of Teaching Waldorf Grade 1
Lesson 1 / Waldorf Curriculum / Introduction Lesson 2 / Waldorf Curriculum / Grades 1 - 3 (Part 1) Lesson 3 / Waldorf Curriculum / Grades 1 - 3 (Part 2) Lesson 4 / Waldorf Methods / Reading and Math / Introduction Lesson 5 / Waldorf Methods / Reading and Math / Reading / Grade 1 Lesson 6 / Waldorf Methods / Reading and Math / Math / Grade 1 Lesson 7 / Waldorf Methods / Sciences / Chemistry / Introduction Lesson 8 / Waldorf Methods / Sciences / Physics / Introduction Lesson 9 / Waldorf Methods / Sciences / Life Sciences / Introduction Lesson 10 / Waldorf Methods / Sciences / Geography / Introduction Lesson 11 / Waldorf Methods / Sciences / Geography / Grades 1 - 8 Lesson 12 / Waldorf Methods / Sciences / Gardening and Sustainable Living |
Tasks and Assignments for Art of Teaching Waldorf Grade 1 /AoT14Please study and work with the study material provided for this lesson. Then please turn to the following tasks and assignments listed below.
1. Elaborate on the Waldorf approach to reading and math as opposed to a more conventional approach. What are the differences, what is similar? Why is the Waldorf approach better? 2. Before literacy the oral tradition was much more picture and image based. Create a short story that you can "tell" by a succession of pictures. Draw the pictures to tell the story. 3. One of the basic concepts of all mathematics are the numbers: Create illustrations that reflect the quality of each number from one to ten. For instance the one sun for one, two eyes for two, five fingers for five, etc. 4. Draw and illustrate in an artistic manner basic geometric forms, for instance a house that includes the square and the triangle, etc. Please send your completed assignment via the online form or via email. 
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Study Material for this Lesson
The Spoken and the Written Word
Language has two primary forms within education, the spoken word and the realm of oralìty and all forms of literacy. It is the task of English lessons to cultivate both. Literacy fits like a glove on the hand of orality. In the pre-school years the emphasis is on language acquisition and is essentially concerned with oral language. With the introduction of writing and reading, a new form of linguistic consciousness emerges. Vital though this is to the developing human being, it needs to be based on spoken language and so the cultivation of oral skills always underpins literacy.
In terms of the emerging child’s consciousness, the transition from orality to literacy reflects the historical and cultural transition from pre-literate to literate traditions. Through literacy and the written word, consciousness is significantly re-structured and this factor is important to understand from the point of View of methodology.
One can compare the fundamental differences between the pre-literate and literate mind as follows. Oral consciousness is mythic, Whereas literacy tends to a rational and historical sensibility. Situational thinking, exemplified by the riddle, the fable, the parable or the metaphor compares with logical thinking, definitions, categories or syllogisms. Oral thinking involves concrete mental images, as opposed to abstractions. Oral language characterizes; literate language structures and defines. Pre-literate thinking is often expressed in the form of collective, communal, contextual memories linked to ritual and situation, whereas literate memory is individual and internalized. Epic, myth, poetry and performed drama are forms of expression which draw strongly on the oral tradition whilst prose belongs to a literate tradition. The oral mind tends to have an experience of self through the context, whilst literature lends itself to the self-experience. We can also see this in the distinction between shame and guilt; shame is in the eyes of others; guilt is internal within the soul.
The task is therefore to cultivate a transformed orality, which is none other than the power of imagination itself. Imagination and analytical thinking are two poles of experience that need tn he integrated. The cultivation of both the ora] and the literate forms of language support this process. Imaginative, holistic thinking are called upon when the child is challenged to participate, to do, to engage in complex situations. Analytical thinking requires that the individual stand back from a situation. Whenever the pupils are engaged in experiential learning, whenever they are challenged to enter the unknown, the realm of the intuitive be it in mathematics, drama, the arts, crafts or eurythmy, transformed orality will be at Work. It is one of the primary tasks of teaching English language and literature to establish a strong culture of orality upon an equally strong culture of literacy depends.
In terms of the emerging child’s consciousness, the transition from orality to literacy reflects the historical and cultural transition from pre-literate to literate traditions. Through literacy and the written word, consciousness is significantly re-structured and this factor is important to understand from the point of View of methodology.
One can compare the fundamental differences between the pre-literate and literate mind as follows. Oral consciousness is mythic, Whereas literacy tends to a rational and historical sensibility. Situational thinking, exemplified by the riddle, the fable, the parable or the metaphor compares with logical thinking, definitions, categories or syllogisms. Oral thinking involves concrete mental images, as opposed to abstractions. Oral language characterizes; literate language structures and defines. Pre-literate thinking is often expressed in the form of collective, communal, contextual memories linked to ritual and situation, whereas literate memory is individual and internalized. Epic, myth, poetry and performed drama are forms of expression which draw strongly on the oral tradition whilst prose belongs to a literate tradition. The oral mind tends to have an experience of self through the context, whilst literature lends itself to the self-experience. We can also see this in the distinction between shame and guilt; shame is in the eyes of others; guilt is internal within the soul.
The task is therefore to cultivate a transformed orality, which is none other than the power of imagination itself. Imagination and analytical thinking are two poles of experience that need tn he integrated. The cultivation of both the ora] and the literate forms of language support this process. Imaginative, holistic thinking are called upon when the child is challenged to participate, to do, to engage in complex situations. Analytical thinking requires that the individual stand back from a situation. Whenever the pupils are engaged in experiential learning, whenever they are challenged to enter the unknown, the realm of the intuitive be it in mathematics, drama, the arts, crafts or eurythmy, transformed orality will be at Work. It is one of the primary tasks of teaching English language and literature to establish a strong culture of orality upon an equally strong culture of literacy depends.
Arithmetic and Mathematics
Waldorf schools take a phenomenological approach to math and science. The multi-faceted math program begins with the direct experience of math through movement. We introduce all four arithmetic operations in the first grade. Rhythm and song bring a sense of numbers and relationship into muscle memory. History and biography are closely related to math in the middle and upper grades. In science, the students begin with a first hand experience of nature. From nature stories in the first grade, to farming in the third, the children care about the world around them. From this sense of stewardship, they develop a solid sense of objective observation in the middle and upper grades.