Introduction of reading and writing

Waldorf kindergartens approach literacy readiness through movement games, poetry and story. The written language is first introduced at age six or seven. Instruction progresses through writing into reading. Some children are reading independently by age eight.

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[ Waldorf Schools in the U.S. ]

In both the elementary school and secondary school, most academic subjects are taught in blocks. For these blocks, each pupil writes and illustrates a "main lesson book", a self-created 'textbook' based upon the content learned. Scope for independent creativity in these books progresses rapidly through the elementary years.

Most Waldorf schools begin teaching two foreign languages from first grade/ class 1 (age six-seven) on. Foreign language instruction in the first years is purely oral; by the end of class 3, the written forms of the languages are introduced. When the pupils are about sixteen years old, exchanges with schools in other countries are encouraged.

* Painting is normally a weekly experience in the early years. Art instruction continues through the high school for all students.

* In the elementary years, drawing is practiced daily. For pedagogical reasons, full-color figures are usually drawn, not outlines. A special discipline called Form Drawing, created by the early Waldorf pedagogue Hermann von Baravalle, focuses on linear forms.

* The children sing daily with their class teacher. Generally, weekly singing lessons with a specialized music teacher begin at an early age and continue as choral instruction through to age 18.

* Pentatonic recorders are introduced in first grade/ class 1, the familiar diatonic recorder in third grade / class 3, when the children also take up a string instrument: either violin, viola or cello. Waldorf pupils are generally required to take private music lessons when a class orchestra is formed, usually at aged 10. By aged 11, the children may switch to (or add) other orchestral instruments such as the woodwind or brass. Orchestral instruction continues through to 18, though in many schools it becomes elective at some point.

A movement art, Eurythmy, is required in most Waldorf schools, generally from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Eurythmy, founded by Rudolf Steiner, is usually performed to poetry or music, and aims to create a unity of the movement, the performer's inner experience and the expressive reality (spiritual content) of the piece.

I speak in all humility when I say that within the Anthroposophical Movement there is a firm conviction that a spiritual impulse of this kind must now, at the present time, enter once more into human evolution. And this spiritual impulse must perforce, among its other means of expression, embody itself in a new form of art. It will increasingly be realized that this particular form of art has been given to the world in Eurythmy.

It is the task of Anthroposophy to bring a greater depth, a wider vision and a more living spirit into the other forms of art. But the art of Eurythmy could only grow up out of the soul of Anthroposophy; could only receive its inspiration through a purely Anthroposophical conception.

Rudolf Steiner, "Lecture on Eurythmy"

Whereas the six or seven-year old children would typically be performing a nursery rhyme, folk tale or simple melody in eurythmy, the eighteen-year olds might perform large-scale musical and/or dramatic pieces to their own choreography.

Waldorf schools' very distinctive phases of education show themselves clearly in the treatment of nature and the natural sciences. In the pre-school, kindergarten and first elementary years, rich, direct experiences of nature are encouraged. Children play outside in all weathers, preferably in gardens that show the seasons through the changing plant (and sometimes animal) life. Inside the classroom, natural materials are preferred for the room, its furnishings and all toys: these include wood, stone, clay (e.g. pottery), wool, cotton, silk, and linen. The emphasis is on working with the materials of nature through planting and harvesting, craft work and creative play. The commonly used dolls are also made of natural materials and have simple expressions and allow natural postures. The beings of nature are personified and even anthropomorphized as active agents. The first years are thus years of ‘nature experience’.

At about nine years of age, children begin to become more conscious of their separation from their environment. From this age, nature is studied in an imaginative (rather than analytical) way, and still in relationship to the human being – but no longer anthropomorphized. The curriculum includes blocks on farming (aged 10), Man and animal (aged 11), Plant and Earth (aged 12) and geology (aged 13). A feeling connection to nature is aimed for, out of which a sense of stewardship can grow.

By twelve, children are entering a newly rational phase (cf. Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development). An experimental approach to science is introduced, beginning with simple but systematic sensory explorations of phenomena of acoustics, light, mechanics and chemistry and progressing through ever more advanced physics, chemistry, biological and ecological studies:

11-12 years: Mineralogy, acoustics, optics, heat, natural magnetism and electricity.

12-13 years: Nutrition and hygiene, mechanics, acoustics, heat, optics, electricity and magnetism, chemistry.

13-14 years: Anatomy, hydrostatics and simple hydrodynamics, simple organic chemistry of starches, sugars and fats.

At the secondary school level (fourteen years of age and up), Waldorf schools tend to emphasize the historical origins, cultural background, and philosophical roots and consequences of scientific discoveries. By the end of their secondary school education, students are expected to have a grasp of modern science equivalent to that achieved in other schools.

In particular, the following subjects are recommended:

14-15 years: Acoustics and thermodynamics, earth science, organic chemistry

15-16 years: Mechanics, mineralogy, anatomy and physiology, mechanics, acid-base reactions.

16-17 years: Cell biology and embryology, botany, atomic theory, electromagnetism and radiation, the periodic table, advanced chemistry

17-18 years: Zoology, optics, physiological chemistry

Waldorf schools rarely use standardized tests in the elementary grades. High school students take standard college entrance examinations: SAT in the USA, A-levels in England, Abitur in Germany, etc. It is now a requirement of all independent schools in NSW, Australia to use standardized tests in order to receive government funding.

Most private Waldorf schools celebrate holidays and festivals that are an anthroposophic or simply school-specific interpretation of the local culture's holidays and festivals. Festivals can be secular in character, combine elements of several religious traditions, as is frequently the case in multi-cultural settings, or represent the dominant local tradition, as is generally the case in parts of Europe (Christian festivals), Egypt (Islamic festivals), Israel (Jewish festivals, but see Intercultural links in socially polarized communities), and India and Thailand (Buddhist festivals).

In North America and Europe most private Waldorf schools celebrate several Christian-based holidays and festivals, often with an Anthroposophic interpretation, including Martinmas and the four seasonal festival]of Michaelmas (fall), Christmas (winter), Easter (spring), and St. John's (summer). Although a majority of the schools' celebrations in North America and Europe are Christian-based, most North American private and European Waldorf schools also celebrate celebrations and festivals drawn from other traditions.

In the kindergarten and earliest elementary schools years, most Waldorf schools also celebrate something known as the Advent Spiral. This festival, celebrated in the weeks prior to the winter solstice, is also called a Advent Garden, Winter Garden, or Spiral of Light. In this ceremonial celebration, children enter, one at a time, into a large spiral of lit candles. As the parents sing the child a song or music is played, each child lights a candle and as the ceremony progresses, the spiral becomes brighter and brighter. The entire ceremony is conducted without any narration or interpretation, but the spiral and the lighting of the candles symbolizes many things in Anthroposophy: the turning and renewal of the year, the path of incarnation on earth, etc.

According to the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America:

Children who transfer out of a Waldorf school into a public [state] school during the earlier grades probably have to upgrade their reading ability and to approach the science lessons differently. Science in a Waldorf school emphasizes the observation of natural phenomena rather than the formulation of abstract concepts and laws. On the other hand, the Waldorf transferees are usually well prepared for social studies, practical and artistic activities, and mathematics.

Children moving during the middle grades should experience no problems. In fact, in most cases, transferring students of this age-group find themselves ahead of their classmates. The departing Waldorf student is likely to take along into the new school a distinguishing individual strength, personal confidence, and love of learning.

and about children transferring into Waldorf schools from state-run schools:

Children who transfer to a Waldorf school in the first four grades usually are up to grade in reading, math, and basic academic skills. However, they usually have much to learn in bodily coordination skills, posture, artistic and social activities, cursive handwriting, and listening skills. Listening well is particularly important since most of the curricular content is presented orally in the classroom by the teacher. The human relationship between the child and the teacher is the basis for healthy learning, for the acquiring of understanding and knowledge rather than just information. Children who are used to learning from computers and other electronic media will have to adjust.

A government study of English Waldorf schools showed that Waldorf pupils' reading skills tend to lag behind state-educated pupils in the first few grades, but that by 5th grade (11 years of age) the Waldorf pupils have caught up and thereafter are ahead of children of the same age who are educated in state schools. Waldorf schools maintain that the literacy-building techniques Waldorf schools use during early childhood—storytelling, music and singing, games, speech, and movement exercises—help to nourish imagination and a love of language which will be carried long after the child learns to read. It is worth noting that Finland, which sends its children to school at a comparable or later age, is one of the most literate societies in the world. Research by Piaget and others also supports the view that early academic learning actually interferes with the development in early childhood of faculties that will enhance later learning capacity.