Grades 6-8
Grade 6 : We to Spirit Give a Dwelling in our Soul
The sixth grade student has reached the beginning of another turbulent time in his/her development with the onset of puberty and physical and hormonal changes that mark this period. The gracefulness and harmony of the fifth grade year are gone, replaced by mood swings and the pressure of the peer group.
The study of Roman history is introduced at this age because it so directly speaks to the physical and psychological changes in the children: the construction of great buildings, roads, aqueducts and cities, on the one hand, and the destruction of indigenous cultures through conquest and the empire itself through excess, on the other hand. The decadence and dissolution of the empire, the Dark Ages and the subsequent rise of two of the world’s great religious traditions (Christianity and Islam) mirror the battles going on in the souls and the bodies of the children at this age. The Arthurian legends and the search for the grail help the students form their own questions (”quests”) around love, chivalry, honor and respect.
The Waldorf curriculum supplies ample opportunity for the students to hone their critical thinking skills with cause and effect reasoning and strict observation in the science curriculum and exact thinking in their studies of geometric figures and relationships. Physics, too, gives the students insight into the properties of acoustics, optics, heat, magnetism and static electricity and the laws of causality inherent therein. Astronomy is taught phenomenologically as observations of the movements of the sun and planets, visible constellations, and the moon phases. An understanding develops about the relationship between what occurs in the sky and its impact on climate and vegetation on the earth.
Mathematics lessons are designed to give the students real experiences of the world through learning principal and interest calculations (as a beginning step into algebra), percentages, profit/loss calculations, ratio and proportion, and estimation. The beauty of mathematics is expressed in geometry, which is in turn manifested in so many ways on the living earth.
In the foreign language lessons (as well as grammar lessons), students are introduced to business letters and more formal elements of grammar: declensions, sentence structure, punctuation, prepositions, active and passive voice, etc. Music studies proceed with individual and ensemble recorder playing (soprano, bass and tenor); orchestra and ensemble work; and singing using complex harmonies and minor keys. Fine and practical arts lessons now include working with wood (rasping, sawing, carving and filing); clay; leather; making patterns and sewing stuffed animals; painting; and form drawing. In physical education the students will be introduced to competitive athletics, especially team sports such as ball hockey, badminton, volleyball and basketball. Learning technique and undertaking fitness and training become important disciplines that the students both need and welcome.
Outdoor education consists of two trips at the beginning and the end of year to Provincial Parks where the students will study geology, hike, canoe and challenge themselves with various activities. Throughout the year there are hikes and bike trips within the city as well as ski days.
Grade 7: Wish, Wonder and Surprise
If you know seventh grade students, you are familiar with the expressiveness and forcefulness of the adolescent’s emotional life at this time in their development. Overthrowing authority and challenging life itself with their questions, the students seek with every breath to assert their independence and to find their place among their peers. What better time to study the Renaissance, that flowering of humanity in which lived colorful individuals who made their mark in the sciences, the arts, and in human social life. A new way of looking at the world developed in these times which depended upon close, exact observations of the world, the basis of our modern scientific method. The study of the Reformation and of the Age of Exploration also resonate with the development of the children in these adolescent years. Students have their first creative writing and poetry block, which gives wings to their need for self-expression..
The physical sciences, taught in seventh grade, bring the students fully into abstract thinking, which is mobile and free to create concepts thanks to its metamorphosis from imaginative thinking during the younger grades. Mechanics begins the physics block with the discovery of the lever principle in the human arm. The study in this block extends to the basic mechanical principles applied to ancient and modern machines. Other topics in physics are the laws of refraction, reflection, heat and electricity. During the chemistry block, the students observe the properties of substances, especially acids and bases, and the way in which they inter-relate. Combustion of substances is a theme that leads into the study of physiology and the life processes in the human being. The students can be more objective about the human being and discover what contributes to health or illness, especially in the areas of nutrition. The study of astronomy continues as observation from the earth, but this leads the students to experience the earth’s spatial relationships through solar, lunar, planetary and stellar phenomena.
The mathematics curriculum is very demanding, calling upon the students to use thinking that has no relationship to physical perceptions. Students must come to understand negative numbers, algebra and plane geometry, graphing, roots, powers and formulas. However, the students will be able to apply the laws of perspective, devised by Renaissance artists, as a way to understand ratio and proportion.
The geography curriculum takes the students out into world-wide spaces with the theme of the explorations of the New World by European explorers. Here the study of astronomy will help the students understand how such exploration was possible. In addition, the studies of climate, tides, weather and similar phenomena give the students a picture of how world cultures have adapted to a wide variety of climatic regions.
The foreign language curriculum includes grammar skills, reading and conversation on a more sophisticated level. The students will also have some Greek and Latin studies incorporated into their word study in grammar blocks. Asian studies are introduced such as basic mandarin. The fine and practical arts encompass sewing, sculpture, pottery, perspective drawing, and black and white drawing. Exact geometrical constructions are incorporated into the Geometry block. During the music classes, students will continue to participate in chorus and orchestra and will become acquainted with other musical styles, including madrigals, ballads, opera and oratorio. Finally, physical education will include team games and sports.
Outdoor education consists of two trips at the beginning and the end of year to Provincial Parks where the students will study botany, hike, canoe and challenge themselves with various activities. Throughout the year there are hikes and bike trips within the city as well as ski days.
Grade 8: In Heights of World Without, In Depths of Soul Within
Eighth grade students stand at the threshold of adulthood as they leave Alan Howard Waldorf to continue their education in many other schools all over the region. To complete their elementary years, teachers strive for the students to have the knowledge of the human being, the world and themselves so that they can create a place for themselves in the world. In order to do this, the curriculum must bring them fully into the present day.
The eighth grade history curriculum covers the end of the Age of Exploration, the Age of Reason and the great revolutions for human freedom. The students will also study the industrial revolution and the accompanying social changes, which affected the lives of all men and women. Charles Darwin’s view of the evolution of the species will be examined for the manner in which it birthed the modern scientific world view. Themes in geography also give a comprehensive world-view of the economic interconnectedness of human cultures through the human use of plant, animal and mineral resources distributed throughout the world.
The science curriculum covers anatomy, especially the skeletal and organ systems, and organic chemistry, with emphasis on the processes of photosynthesis and digestion. Topics in physics include hydraulics, aerodynamics and meteorology. Through the principles of mechanics in the steam engine, the students learn how modern knowledge of technology led to the industrial revolution.
In the mathematics curriculum, students will continue the study of algebra and plane and solid geometry, with an introduction to surface area and volume. Graphing liner equations is introduced, along with the principles of the Fibonacci sequence, the Golden Mean and construction of the five Platonic solids.
Literature and writing for eighth graders concentrates on the theme of human freedom through the short story; Shakespearean drama; poetry; and the practical art of writing letters. Students normally stage one of the Shakespearean plays before their graduation in the spring. The study of Latin will continue as part of the students’ word studies.
In foreign language lessons, the students will undertake the study of poetry, verse and metric forms. Fine and practical arts studies will include portrait and landscape painting and charcoal drawing with an emphasis on light and shadow; sculpture, clothing construction on the sewing machine, and carpentry. Students will continue their instrumental music in orchestra and take up Elizabethan songs, Spirituals, and other forms of folk music. In physical education, students will continue team sports.
The outdoor education is designed to challenge the student. Whitewater rafting may start off the year and a solo 24 hours in the wilderness may start off the end of year trip. As well there is much fundraising to cover the cost of the graduation trip. In previous years the Grade Eights have sailed on a Tall ship, travelled to Japan and Costa Rica.
