The heart of the Waldorf method is the conviction that education is an art – it must speak to the child’s experience. To educate the whole child, his heart and will must be reached as well as his mind. Rudolf Steiner
Special Subjects: Fine Arts: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture
At the Eugene Waldorf school, art is an intrinsic part of all main subjects. In addition to our curriculum overview, please read this wonderful article about the role of Art in the Waldorf Curriculum.Special Subjects: Woodwork
Children begin working with wood actively in preschool and kindergarten. But beginning in 5th grade they take that up in a new way. All students, boys and girls, learn to use gouges, saws, chisels, rasps, and many other woodworking tools to sculpt and build with wood. Woodworking class is held …
Read more »Special Subjects: Eurythmy
Eurythmy ("beautiful or harmonious movement") is a unique experience as part of the Waldorf curriculum. The art of eurythmy was born in 1912, growing out of the work of Rudolf Steiner. Eurythmy uses the body as an instrument in space. Eurythmists make forms and gestures in the air much as …
Read more »Special Subjects: Music Lessons and Orchestra
There are many important inner skills to be learned in the study of music. The discipline of practicing with an instrument helps a child find the inner discipline to face other challenges in life. Group music lessons offer a wonderful opportunity for a child to practice listening to others and …
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Special Subjects: Spanish
The spoken word is the key to learning languages in the early grades. Songs, poems, rhymes, tongue-twisters, counting and group games—all these foster group knowledge of the language and appreciation of the folk soul of the peoples who speak that language. In the later grades, keeping a written record of …
Read more »Special Subjects: Movement Education and Games
Movement education and games in the Waldorf curriculum spring from the same understanding of a child’s development that underlies the academic curriculum in a Waldorf school. This deeper understanding of a child’s development is taken into account in a movement education and games class in the activities that are chosen, …
Read more »Special Subjects: Handwork
Knitting and other handwork projects play an important role in the development of fine motor skills, inner calm, and intellectual clarity.
The specific handwork taught in Waldorf schools also “grows with the growing child.” In the first grade, the curriculum calls for learning the basic knit stitch and creating …
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