Creative Development

Foreign language instruction opens students up to the larger world outside of their home culture and challenges them to consider their own native language through a different lens.

German is taught beginning with the natural process of imitation in the Kindergarten. The language work continues in the early grades with poems, songs, and games. In the later grades there is more formal work with reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar.

In the Handwork classes, boys and girls are taught many hand skills including knitting, crochet, sewing and embroidery. Learning to knit and crochet develops the powers of discipline and concentration. In addition, the density of nerve endings in our fingertips is so enormous that it is of great value to develop this “sense;” brain research now confirms the connection between small-motor activity and increased neurological development. Natural fibers and tools are essential to our work of creating practical and beautiful items.

The class teacher starts the children on the pentatonic flute in Grade One, with simple pentatonic songs. Recorder study continues through the grades with diatonic music and ensemble playing. An instrumental specialist introduces stringed instruments to all fourth graders; in Fifth Grade, students can elect to continue with violin, viola, cello or bass, or to begin a wind, brass or percussion instrument. Participation in the School Ensemble is required for each 5th - 8th Grader.

All of the arts, including the performing arts, are central to the Waldorf curriculum. Singing, speech and recitation, drama, recorder playing and movement are interwoven with subject matter in virtually every class.

In addition to classroom work, every grade student:

• Performs annually in a class play, on our auditorium stage, for the entire school community;
• Receives weekly violin, viola or cello lessons in 4th Grade;
• Joins the school Orchestra or Band in 5th Grade, and plays in that ensemble through Grade 8, including two concerts yearly;
• Sings in one of the two school choruses (5th-6th Grade, and 7th-8th Grade), including two concerts yearly; and
• Performs with the class at four all-school assemblies during the year.

In all grades, gymnastics, tumbling, acrobatics, games and many other athletic activities complement the curriculum and meet and assist the child's development, alongside the movement provided in our Eurythmy classes and many other indoor and outdoor activities. Because we believe that all aspects of academic readiness are achieved or strengthened through movement, this program incorporates much more than “the usual” gym class. For instance, when the students are studying ancient Greek history in Fifth Grade, they will take part in sports that were part of the original Olympics. Emphasis is placed on helping children acquire and improve their movement and sports skills.

In 7th and 8th grade, the athletics/movement program is accelerated and expanded to include dance (African dance, hip hop, ballroom); orienteering; swimming and diving; cross country skiing; advanced gymnastics; volleyball; tennis; and wrestling. Our primary goals are to enhance current fitness, prepare graduates for a high school team sport, and introduce a wide range of activities for healthy, joyful movement throughout life.

Our program is a varied and full complement of activities. Some reflect and support the Main Lesson curriculum and some are experiential, artistic, or therapeutic. Still others promote ownership and care of our school, such as helping in the kitchen, prep tasks for Winter Faire, or spreading wood chips. Practical Arts is a fluid program determined by opportunity, needs, weather, and the occasion of altruism.

The Woodwork program begins in Grade 5. Using hand tools like the rasp and gouge, Students create functional, beautiful objects, including bulb planters, spoons and bowls. The culmination of the four years of Woodwork study is the creation of a wooden stool by each Grade 8 student. The students start by splitting a green ash log, use mortise and tenon joints to connect the parts, and finish with a dried red oak seat. The result of their hard work is a cherished item of furniture: lovely, practical and durable.

Singing together is an important part of every school day; students sing with their class teacher and with a music specialist. Music reading, theory, and part-singing are all part of the progressing curriculum, which supports and coordinates with the academic curriculum of each grade. All children from 5th through 8th Grade sing in a school chorus.