Special Subjects

Beyond the morning main lesson with their class teacher, students in grades one through eight study a variety of special subjects.

World Languages

All students at WSL study world languages from first through eighth grade. We currently offer Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Waldorf education uses world languages to develop a positive attitude toward people of other languages, cultures and countries and to encourage the development of human understanding. By exposing students to two different languages, with distinct tones and structures, beginning in first grade, students build foundational capacities for understanding language and recognizing and imitating intonations. Simultaneously, through singing, stories, projects, speech and eventually reading and writing, the children are introduced to diverse cultures and people.

Oral work is key to learning languages in the early grades, with songs, poems, rhymes, counting, games, short plays, and other engaging activities. In the later grades, written work is introduced, including grammar, poetry, and literature. After eight years of language instruction, most students test into second-year programs in high school.

Handwork

The handwork curriculum in grades 1–8 educates students on many levels. At its most literal level, students learn traditional crafting skills that have been practiced for centuries and are increasing being lost to a digital world. Learning how to create beautiful and useful objects builds fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, powers of concentration, perseverance with difficult tasks, facility with counting and patterns, and the confidence and satisfaction that comes from making something by hand. At a deeper level, using the brain to control the hands, tools (such as knitting needles), and natural materials is a complex activity that, like handwriting, stimulates multiple regions of the brain and offers cognitive benefits.

In the early elementary grades, all students learn to knit, crochet, sew by hand, and embroider. In sixth grade students make a doll, and in seventh grade learn to quilt. Handwork culminates with the use of an electric sewing machine in eighth grade. Throughout the grades, projects are of a practical nature: pot holders, toys, scarves, socks, and other articles of clothing. All work is done with an appreciation for and development of aesthetic qualities.

Woodworking

Woodworking begins in fifth grade, with an emphasis on the qualities of wood and how to use the tools that shape it. Students develop a feel for their material by rasping and sanding a darning egg out of a square block of wood. They then move on to concave shapes like bowls, which involve digging into the wood. Sixth grade projects, typically forks and spoons, begin to reflect the style of individual children. Seventh graders build wooden boats, using scaled drawings as a guide. Eighth graders build furniture, usually chairs or stools, and are introduced to power tools. Woodworking helps develop focus, creativity, perseverance, and skillfulness of eye and hand. Throughout, the teacher attempts to awaken an appreciation for the combination of usefulness and beauty.

Visual Arts

Art is an integral part of the Waldorf curriculum, strengthening and enlivening the academic program, as well as providing students with skills for creative self-expression. The visual arts—including illustration, painting, form drawing, and art appreciation—are taught by the class teacher from first through eighth grade. Artistic activity stimulates children’s visual and tactile senses and helps them to enter into learning through the realm of feeling as well as intellect.

Instrumental Music & Chorus

Choral and instrumental performances take place regularly through recitals, school assemblies, and seasonal celebrations. Students learn to feel confident performing in class and at school events. The experience of singing and playing music also provides a lively and harmonizing atmosphere to the culture of the school.

Instrumental music instruction begins in first grade with simple flutes. By third grade, all children are playing recorder with their class teacher and continue to do so until graduation. Starting in third grade, each student learns to play the violin, cello or viola and participates in group lessons. In fifth grade, students may switch to a wind or brass instrument, and the class is divided into a string ensemble and a wind ensemble. Seventh and eighth graders play together in an orchestra. Private lessons are strongly encouraged, and scholarship funds are available to help eligible students defray the cost.

Children sing with their class teacher in first and second grades on a daily basis. By third grade, students are singing simple rounds. Beginning in fifth grade, all students sing in a chorus that meets twice each week. In grades 5–8, the choral repertoire expands to include voice parts and harmonies. We introduce rhythmic and notation work and concepts of major and minor modes, as well as sight-singing.

Drama

Drama enlivens lessons and is incorporated through storytelling, recitation of poetry, and class plays. Students do not audition at WSL—there is a part in every class play for each student, and children delight in performing for each other, parents, and guests at weekly assemblies and special events.

Class plays give students the opportunity to dramatically express and internalize their experience of the curriculum, from a trip to a German bakery in third grade, to a Norse myth in forth grade, and Shakespeare in seventh grade. The annual eighth grade musical is a much anticipated tradition the fills our auditorium to capacity.

Athletics & Movement

Physical activity not only boosts fitness, it also improves students’ psychological, social-emotional, and behavioral health—as well as their brain development, academic performance, and confidence. At WSL, no student spends the day behind a desk! Every student participates in a rich array of movement, games, and athletics that advance along with the developing child.

In the early years, games emphasize imagination, social skills, and the joy of movement. By fifth grade, cooperative games are integrated with competitive sports, which continue through the middle school years. Fifth grade also features the Olympic Pentathlon, a recreation of the first Greek Olympics, hosted by WSL and including other area Waldorf schools. Students train for the long jump, javelin, discus, long run, Olympic wrestling, and 50-yard dash. Our Olympians are judged not only on speed and strength, but on gracefulness and good sportsmanship. Beginning in sixth grade, all students (no try-outs) may participate in WSL’s competitive after-school athletics programs in soccer (fall) and basketball (winter), along with physical conditioning in the spring.

Eurythmy

Eurythmy brings a somatic approach to language and music, as children embody stories through gesture, movement, and imagination. As a class, students learn how to move together as one, choreographed by the teacher and accompanied by live piano music. First graders start with simple geometrical forms and learn how to coordinate their movements to work as a whole. As children grow through the grades, the patterns become more complex, requiring students to differentiate their movements and develop more sophisticated spatial awareness.

The practice of eurythmy develops proprioception—the ability to sense the position of our bodies moving in space—along with coordination, rhythm, poise, sensory integration, dexterity, and gross motor skills. Eurythmy also helps to bring balance and harmony to students’ unfolding individuality, and fosters social integration in each class.