The first grade year begins with the discovery that behind all forms lie two basic principles:  the straight and the curved line.  The children find these shapes in their own bodies, in the classroom, and in the world beyond. Straight and curved lines are then practiced through walking, drawing in the air and the sand, on the blackboard, and finally, on paper.  These “form drawings” train motor skills, awaken the children’s powers of observation, and provide a foundation for the introduction of the alphabet.

Through fairy tales and stories the children are introduced to each letter of the alphabet. Instead of abstract symbols, the letters become actual characters with whom the children have a real relationship.  “S” may be a fairy tale snake sinuously slithering through the grasses whispering a secret; the “W” may be hiding in the blackboard drawing of waves.

In a similar way, the children first experience the qualities of numbers before learning addition or subtraction, e.g. what is “oneness”?  What is there only one of in the world?  (“Me!”)  The characteristics of one, two, three, etc., are explored in the children’s inner experience and in nature. Counting is introduced through clapping, rhythmic movement, and the use of stones, acorns, or other natural objects. Only after considerable practical experience in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing are written symbols for these operations introduced.

Knitting, eurythmy, and the pentatonic flute are also introduced in the first grade.

The second grade brings many fables, animal stories from around the world, and legends of saints, heroes, and heroines. Through the stories, the children begin to see the dual aspect of human nature.  They work on writing skills in many ways as they put these stories into their Main Lesson.

Arithmetical work proceeds on to larger operations with the four processes, including borrowing and carrying, or what is now called “trading” numbers, and working on the times tables. Imaginative stories still form the backdrop of math lessons.

Grammar is introduced with liveliness and humor. The children may act out stories in which they can experience the contrast between “doing” words, “naming” words, and “describing” words. Nature study continues with nature walks, poetry, legends, and imaginative descriptions of natural processes.

In handwork the children continue with knitting, making many knitted animals and other small projects helping them attain creative skills in form and function.

The Second Grade helps the school to celebrate the small festival of light, Santa Lucia, on/near December 13, which gives a living image of the light and warmth of the spirit shining in the darkness.  The children visit each class giving the gift of song wearing crowns. 

The third grade is often called a turning point of childhood.  Nine-year-olds feel themselves growing apart from the world, becoming separate and independent, and beginning to question all that was previously taken for granted.  This questioning is accompanied by a serious stream of interest in everything practical such as “How is a house built?” and “Where does my food come from?” 

In the third grade, children study Old Testament stories to learn about people’s struggles to live on the earth, to make shelters, and to work the land. They study house building while learning weights and measures, and they learn about gardening, farming, and cooking.  These acquired skills are often translated into their handwork as they make a “house for their heads” in creating crocheted hats.  There is much counting and measuring when adding patterns to their handwork.

The fourth grade addresses the children’s inner experience of becoming individuals through hearing and reading stories about heroes in Norse and other mythologies.  The hero emerges as someone to look up to, emulate, laugh at, and respect.  The characters’ human qualities, emotions, struggles, and confrontations are emphasized.

The theme of separateness is further reflected in mathematics with the introduction of fractions.  In handwork, cross stitch is introduced, allowing children to experience a beautiful wholeness that results from many different crossings.

Geography, local history, grammar, composition writing, and a comparative study of the human being and animals are introduced.  Through activities such as map-making, children experience the separation from nature that marks the developing intellect.  In composition, simple narration of the children’s own real experiences begins.

In the fourth grade, children begin a stringed instrument and are required to practice and form a class orchestra.

The fifth grade leads children into a wider world, and they are encouraged to develop a broader perspective.  They study American geography and botany, and in mathematics they continue with fractions and begin decimals.  Building on the years of form drawing, freehand geometry is introduced. Choral singing and four needle knitting are introduced as well.

History has until now been only pictorial or personal in nature, with no attempt made to introduce exact temporal concepts or to proceed in strict sequences.  Now history becomes a special Main Lesson subject, as does geography.  History, telling of human beings’ deeds and strivings, stirs children to a more intense experience of their own humanness.  Geography does exactly the opposite: it leads children away from themselves out into the ever wider spaces from the familiar to the unfamiliar.  History brings the child to him or her self; geography brings the child into the world.

Ancient history starts with the childhood of civilized humanity in ancient India, where human beings  experienced earthly life as an illusion or “maya”.  The ancient Persian culture that followed the Indian culture felt the impulse to transform the earth, till the soil, and domesticate animals while helping the sun-god conquer the spirit of darkness.  The great cultures of Mesopotamia (the Chaldeans, the Hebrews, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians) reveal the origins of written language on clay tablets.  The Egyptian civilization of pyramids and pharaohs precedes the civilization of the ancient Greeks.

Every means is used to give the children a vivid impression of these five ancient cultures.  They read translations of poetry, study hieroglyphic symbols of the Egyptians, and try their hands at the arts and crafts of the various ancient peoples. History is here an education of the children’s feelings rather than of their memory for facts and figures.  Through studies in art, science, government, and Olympic games, children have an opportunity to experience the balanced harmony and beauty of the Greeks.  In the spring a Greek pentathlon is reenacted. where Fifth grade students from Waldorf schools throughout the region come together to compete. Grace, beauty, form, and sportsmanship are lauded along with individual achievements of speed and accuracy.

The sixth grade studies the Roman Empire: its greatness, its vanity, and its collapse.  Children of this age can begin to empathize with this time of struggle and growth in human history and can begin to experience a kinship with people from other times. Thus, they can begin to feel that they are not alone in their inward struggles.

Physics is introduced to study the natural world.  As with all subjects, the approach is first through art. Acoustics and optical studies are begun.  World  geography is studied, and astronomy may be introduced.

As children approach twelve, changes begin in their physical bodies.  One of the most subtle is the hardening of the bones, and at this time children become more aware of gravity and weight.  With the increasing awareness of their physical bodies, the time is right for the study of the physical body of the earth. Geology turns to the structure of the earth and proceeds from the study of the flora and fauna of the geological ages to minerals, metals, and finally gems and crystals, leading to the functions of mineral and metallic substances in the human organism.

Mathematics continues to exercise the disciplines learned in previous classes and then moves on to the study of percentage and ratio.  All the years of circle movement, eurythmy, and form drawing are brought into exact constructions using compass, rulers, and right angles in geometry.  Whereas geometric shapes have in the prior grades been drawn freehand as artistic exercises, now families of geometric figures are constructed and studied for the numerical laws they embody.  These designs are now done with the utmost accuracy.

The seventh grade children are entering puberty.  To help them cross this threshold, the curriculum takes them to civilizations of people who share their mood of soul..  Two subjects addressing these areas are English and history.  The history block of the Renaissance and Reformation really begins modern times with a dauntless quest into the unknown that is also akin to the seventh graders’ soul mood. Allegiance to traditional authority no longer holds sway. Individualism overcomes feudalism, as personified by Joan of Arc and Galileo.  Human capacities are limitless as epitomized by Leonardo Da Vinci.  The emphasis of history and geography is on Europe, the lives of the early explorers, and the colonization of many parts of the world.

Mathematics introduces algebra, including negative numbers, venturing into mathematical thinking that has no relation to physical perceptions.  This makes real demands on the children’s imaginative powers.  Square and cube root and geometry are introduced.

Mechanics begins in physics with the lever principle as found in the human arm.  Children learn basic mechanical concepts and their application in the machinery of ancient and modern times.  Inorganic chemistry is introduced as a study of the combustion process.  From the beautiful legend of the bringing of fire to earth by Prometheus to a study of combustion in the human organism in the digestive processes, fire can be observed externally in the breaking down of substances by oxidation.  Physiology is introduced as the study of life processes in man:  blood circulation, respiration, and nutrition in connection with digestion, health, and hygiene.

The eighth grade students are ready to study modern history and have the ability to see the wholeness of the globe.  History becomes an intensive study of the period from the French and American Revolutions to the modern day, focusing on outstanding individuals such as Lincoln, Jefferson, Edison and great figures from the 20th century such as Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, and Martin Luther King.  Geography takes up the same theme, showing the role played by every part of the earth in modern industrial civilization.

In science, lessons bring thermodynamics, mechanics, climate, electricity, magnetism, hydraulics, aerodynamics, meteorology, and ecology.  Chemistry is also considered in relation to industry. Mathematics emphasizes the practical applications of arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.  Human beings are again the subject of nature study through physiology of the human organism.  Literature often focuses on the theme of human freedom in the short story, letters, and Shakespearean drama.

The task of elementary education is to give children an understanding of humanity and the world they live in, to offer them knowledge so rich and warm that it engages their hearts and wills as well as their minds. Such an understanding is the basis of all real learning in later years.  With the completion of the eighth grade, the children  have a well-rounded general picture of human life and the universe. This last year of elementary school should not only bring all previous experiences to a new peak but should enable the children to enter fully and potently into the life of their own time.