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Sophia Institute online Art of Teaching Waldorf Program

Art of Teaching Waldorf Grade 3

Lesson 3

HELP

Waldorf Curriculum

Introduction

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:
  • The curriculum unfolds over time, is wide and richly experiential: not merely designed towards narrowly-defined 'achievement', but intended to promote capability for the art of living
  • The curriculum is really only a series of 'indications', as Steiner described them, pointers inviting interpretation and free rendering, i.e. it calls on and encourages the creativity ( or artistry) of teachers
  • The importance of content is fully recognized (young people need certain skills and useful knowledge), but as a creative framework, the Steiner- Waldorf curriculum is embedded within a developing practice and method. The curriculum outline takes its cue from the development of the child: subject, or content, provides a medium for a meeting and collaboration of teacher and learner. Thus, since meaning and knowledge are built over  time, this is co-constructive learning in which understanding unfolds as a process of learning to learn encompassing both students and teacher
  • Subject content and necessary competence are always relative to the child: the curriculum is midwife to the emerging individuality, rather than suit of clothes into which the child must be made to fit
  • The shaping principles of the curriculum are extraordinarily robust and resilient. Many independent educators recognize this fundamental coherence, which has stood the test of time and many generations of children
  • The creative freedom within the Waldorf curriculum framework enables it to be successfully adapted for a variety of settings, languages and cultures. Schools founded on the principles and example of the first Waldorf School (Stuttgart 1919), can be found around the world, including every inhabited continent. What started as a central European curriculum has been modified by applying its essential principles to the education of children in -the Americas, many parts of Africa, the Middle East, India and the Far East, as well as most of the rest of Europe.

Course Outline

Sophia Institute Waldorf Courses: The Art of Teaching Waldorf Grade 3
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 3
Lesson 6 / Waldorf Methods / Reading and Math / Math / Grade 3
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
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Tasks and Assignments for Art of Teaching Waldorf Grade 3 /AoT33

Please study and work with the study material provided for this lesson. Then please turn to the following tasks and assignments listed below.

Create curriculum examples that address the developmental profile, and aims and objectives for grade 3. Create 1 week of sample Waldorf Main Lesson Curriculum Plans using the template provided (see here and below).

Please send your completed assignment via the online form or via email.

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Study Material for this Lesson

The Waldorf Main Lesson

Please study the information provided concerning the Waldorf Main Lesson and examples/outlines of Waldorf Main Lesson Curriculum Planning and additional resources as needed.

The Lower School: Classes 1 to 3

​Curriculum in Classes 1 to 3 
The Steiner-Waldorf curriculum usually begins  with a subject unknown in other schools. This is  'form drawing' or 'dynamic drawing: Basic straight  and curved lines and shapes are made and drawn  by the children, preferably making the shapes with  their whole body to begin with (walking, running,  sweeping movements of the arms and hands) and  later using crayons or pencils on paper. Having  been experienced in movement, these shapes and  rhythms are then brought to rest by drawing them  on paper. All this requires the children to make  purposeful, concentrated efforts in movement, a  medium ideally suited to them. The shapes have  no outer meaning, neither do they depict anything  in particular, rather they make the dynamic of  movement and shape visible in space. The children  learn to experience, feel (with their fingers, for  example) and understand the inherent quality  and nature of different shapes and movements. Experiencing the inner nature of something  through movement is one of the basic themes in  Classes 1 to 3. Form drawing is also an excellent  preliminary exercise to writing. In Classes 2 and  3 such exercises stimulate the activity of forming  mental pictures, an activity which both engages  the will and stimulates the feelings. In a sense the  life of feeling is used as an organ of perception.  The child feels the balance, proportion, symmetry,  integration and character of the forms and the  dynamic movements they embody. In English language lessons the children are  introduced to the letters of the alphabet. Initially the  aim is to lead the children to experience the qualities  of the spoken sounds and sentence melody, whilst  the shape, name and meaning of the capital letters  of the alphabet are taught. By allowing the shape of  a capital letter to emerge from a picture that stands  for the character of the sound, the children can  develop their own relationship to the individual  letters and later to the whole activity of writing.  Consonants are evolved out of pictograms, vowels  out of interjections and expressions of feeling. The  process proceeds from pictorial representation  of the letters to formal writing, with the children  initially copying examples written by the teacher  and later through dictation. The exploration of  the relationship of sound and symbol includes the  use of emergent writing. From capital letters the  children proceed to lower case cursive handwriting,  usually in Class 2. The content of written work is related to main-  lesson themes and the children's own experiences.  As a general guideline, about a third of writing is  composed by the children, the other two thirds  comprising texts prepared by the teacher and  copied from the board or dictated by the teacher.  By Class 3 the children write longer, more complex  compositions. Instruction and practice in formal letters, diaries and description of nature moods  supplement this. Neat legible handwriting is  encouraged. Reading proceeds from writing and in Class 1  the children read familiar texts which the teacher  has written on the board and which they themselves  have written in their exercise books. An integrated  combination of whole word, phonic and contextual  methods is used to develop reading, though with  an emphasis on whole sentences/whole phrases.  Reading books are not normally used until Class 2.  A differentiated approach to reading is used  including whole class reading, child to child and  child to adult reading and supported with regular  practice in the recognition of auditory, visual and  kinesthetic patterns. Spelling is based on a whole  language approach reinforced by contextual,  phonic and kinesthetic methods. By Class 3  reading progresses to a differentiation of material  for different purposes, including understanding  instructions and tasks, finding information and  reading timetables. Reading aloud is practised with  an awareness of content and punctuation. Children  are directed to a wide range of reading material  according to ability. Oral work plays an important role throughout  the classes with equal emphasis on both speaking  and listening. Good skills at both are prerequisites  for the development of all literacy skills. As  well as the daily recitation of poetry and verses,  many of which are designed as speech exercises  to strengthen pronunciation and articulation,  the children are encouraged to describe their  experiences and recall the stories they have heard.  The teacher's own language serves as a model for  the use and form of spoken language. This emphasis  on oral work provides a basis for the subsequent  understanding of grammatical structures and  punctuation as well as exemplifying the linguistic expression of emotional qualities such as surprise,  curiosity, denial, enthusiasm, willing affirmation  and so on. The work on writing, reading and speaking and  listening in the first two classes provides a basis for  introducing children to a systematic exploration  of grammatical qualities in Class 3, starting with  nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. The aim is  not only to make conscious principles that have  hitherto been learned pragmatically but to school  the child's thinking and awareness of the real  relationships which grammar and syntax express  and define. Foreign language lessons are as important as  those focusing on the mother tongue. From Class 1  onwards the children learn two foreign languages  by the direct method of listening and speaking.  Writing and grammar are not touched on during  Classes 1 to 3. The children are immersed in these  languages by means of poems, stories and fairy  tales and dialogue, all learned by heart and enacted  in context. Through the other languages they  experience a different way of describing things, a  different way of looking at things, a different way  of approaching the world. This is one of the most  important prerequisites for a lively ability to form  concepts and also for achieving a more universal  view of the world that encompasses more than  one perspective, in that it broadens the one-sided  orientation of the mother tongue. During the first  three years the children acquire orally an extensive  vocabulary of everyday things and situations and  a practical usage of most of the main grammatical  structures of the language. In the succeeding years  the children will draw on this reservoir of oral  language and experience as they begin to learn to  become literate in the foreign language. The stories told in this phase are those which  describe 'the child's pathdown tothe earth'. In Class 1 the oneness of humankind, animals, nature and  the heavens is experienced in an archetypal way in  traditional fairy tales and local folklore. Stories are  also chosen which portray the cycles of the natural  world and especially the seasonal changes. In Class2  differentiation between these kingdoms begins to  be demonstrated through fables and legends. In  Class 3 the human being's responsibility towards  the earth and God is shown in the creation stories  of Genesis and other Old Testament material.  (This applies chiefly to schools in countries with  a European tradition. Steiner-Waldorf schools  where Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Hebrew or  other cultures predominate choose other suitable  material.) The essential elements in these myths  are the creation of the heavens and earth, the  plant and animal kingdoms, the divine origin of  humankind: the tasting of the Tree of Knowledge,  the origin of human community and the laws  which govern it. In Class 3, through the themes of farming and  house-building, the children's journey is brought  literally down to earth. They carry out practical  farming and building activities. The actual topics  chosen depend on the locality so that, for example,  in coastal regions fishing may feature in the lessons.  Such practical activities, tailored to the children's  age and capabilities contain long-term pedagogical  elements that prepare them for later insight into  economics and ecology. Learning how natural raw  materials are transformed into products, which  serve real needs in the world, sows the seeds for a  real experience of mutuality and service. Arithmetic also involves movement. In Class 1  the children experience the totality and the  individuality of numbers. Whole numbers are  introduced with emphasis on their archetypal  character - one means unity, two is a duality and  so on, using pictures familiar to the child's world  (the sun, parts of the body, petals of flowers, etc.).  Then come the four basic arithmetical operations  and their different qualities, always going first from  the whole to the parts. The symbols are introduced  in a pictorial way. Rhythmical counting, recitation  of tables, number bonds up to twenty and mental  arithmetic are all practised intensively in the early  years. This gives the children an experience of  movement in mental activity, which complements  the way the letters of the alphabet are introduced. By Class 2 there is a shift of emphasis from manual  operation to mental computation and the exploration  of various forms of appropriate notation and  algorithm and their application to problem solving.  In Class 3 measurement moves from the oral realm,  which is comparative, qualitative and contextual  (this is bigger, there are more here etc.) to the use of  formal units. Starting with traditional measures based  on body proportions, the children are introduced to  standard units of linear, liquid, weight, time, money  and music measurement and notation. In painting with watercolours the inner qualities  of a colour are explored. What feelings does this  colour generate? What soul qualities are linked  to the three primary colours: blue, yellow and  red? The aim of these painting lessons is not to  copy external objects or make illustrations but to  experience and 'listen' to the inner language of  colours. The children illustrate their main -lesson  books with pencils and crayons, an activity which  unites the dynamic of line drawing with the mood  and feeling expressed by the colours. In this way  the children bring their powers of imagination to  what they have perceived with their senses. While in painting the 'sounds' of the colours are  explored, in the music lessons during the first three  years of school the inner 'colours' or character of  the notes are explored. In these first school years,  however, it is important that the children do not yet focus on musical moods that are as yet unfamiliar to  their experience, such as those connected with the  musical scales or the tonalities of major and minor.  Their inner life is not yet mature or differentiated  enough to empathise with such qualities. At this  age the children still need to experience the tones  and the space they fill in a free way, for example  through the pentatonic mode. The music they play  with their simple wooden flutes, recorder, child's  harp or lyre is initially related to the songs they  have learnt. This can perhaps be compared with  the way they learn to write, by beginning with what  they already know by heart. There is an emphasis on active listening through  singing, often accompanied with movement and  gesture in response to melody. Through Class 2  the children expand their range of tunes, and  individuals take the step to small solo parts within  the context of the class as a choir. In Class 3 the  transition is made to music that relates to a keynote  or diatonic perspective, when the children meet  with an early 'grammar' or 'spelling' (notation) of  music. The recorder is an instrument that shapes  and differentiates the stream of the breath. Bowed  instruments bring in a new important element.  With the recorder both hands are involved in  shaping the stream of air. With a bowed instrument  the right hand wields the bow, the left hand selects  the notes and the listening ear makes sure that the  result is in tune. An almost craft-like skill is needed  for this, but it remains within the realm of feelings  and sensations in the soul. It leads to a sense for the  qualitative shaping of time. Eurythmy lessons provide the link between space  and time: the sounds of speech and the sounds of  music are made visible through movement in space.  This art helps the children harmonise their actions  through the balance between the alert perception  of the senses and bodily movement by filling both with feeling. Eurythmy helps the children become  aware of the qualities of the spatial dimension in an  artistic way. During the first three years at school the children  are led gently through movement to an experience  of their own bodily orientation and mobility within  their surrounding space. Traditional movement  and ring games are learnt and practised, which  develop skills and co-ordination as well as having  a strong social component. The transition to more  formal gymnastic exercises comes in the third year.  The harmonious movement sequences already  practised become more target-oriented. Handwork lessons are also aimed at training  manual skills. All children learn to knit and sew and  use basic handicraft tools (scissors, craft knives,  adhesives, string, etc.) and work with a range of  materials. The children produce useful articles  such as recorder cases, potholders, shopping nets  and so on. This schooling of fine motor skills, co-  ordination combined with the artistic and practical  element provides a sound basis for the subsequent  basis of practical intelligence. 

Summary of Classes 1 to 3 
The first three years of school can perhaps best be  described as helping the children find their way  into the world while taking into account their  basic need to experience the 'inner side' of nature,  language and music. The children also acquire a  range of basic skills. It is important for the children  to gain a sense of respect and reverence for what  they learn about as well as for the people whose  skills they admire. Then, in addition to learning to  feel at home in the world, they will strengthen their  desire to be good at things, which is an important  stimulus to self-activity in learning. This feeling of  wanting to be good at things forms the basis for the children's love for the authority of their teachers. In their pre-school years the children had a strong  urge to move; their movement was space-oriented  and directed into exploring the world around  them. In the early school years new developmental  forces have to be taken into account, which seek  to find an orientation in the qualities of their inner  life. A start is made in achieving an interplay  between external activity and inner reflection. In  this sense it is the teacher's task to help the children  acquire a healthy balance between the inner and  outer worlds, between taking in and taking part, in  bringing the child's own individuality into the right  relationship to her own body and environment.  This process of finding a healthy balance between  the inner experience and the bodily organism is  what Steiner referred to as teaching the children to  breathe" the breath being the archetype of inner-  outer exchange. The metaphor also infers that  the exchange is not fixed but rhythmical, with  breathing in, a transformation of substance and  breathing out.

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