Goodall
10:00am – 3:00pm Fridays
Goodall / Ages 7 - 9
Scroll down to view more detailed class descriptions for our 7-8 age group.
Main Lesson Teacher: Lee Butler
Students join us on Fridays from 10:00am to 3:00pm for a Waldorf-inspired schedule that includes: Main Lesson, Yoga/Mindfulness, Lunch, and Handwork.
This class is Waldorf-based and developmentally appropriate, using various Waldorf curricula as selected by the teacher. In this year, the children get their first formal experiences of forms, sounds, and sequencing of letters and numerals by using pictures, rhymes, and stories. These are recognized and memorized through lots of practice involving movement, verses, drawing, and writing.
MAIN LESSON- Main lesson will be centered around fairytales, fables and folktales and will include learning about countries and touching on the origin of stories. In the afternoon, the students will explore the natural world during Nature Studies. Art activities based on the main lesson, discussion, writing, form drawing, grammar, and outdoor playtime will be infused into the day. Additional main lesson activities are outlined below.
Circle Time- The teacher will lead the class through movement games, songs, math exercises, and poetry recitation.
Art- There will be a focus on artistic activities that encourage the child’s natural sense of beauty and color.
Form Drawing- is an exercise in which students practice a freehand drawing of a form or figure. For example, students may practice drawing spirals in the air, on paper, with the right hand and left hand, and sometimes with their toes! Form drawing is believed to help develop the fine motor skills as a preparation and support for writing. It strengthens hand-eye coordination, and form drawing also works in the other direction — the movement of the hand also educates the brain. Form drawing is also a form of art and gets more and more complex as the child ages thereby developing the aesthetic sense. It also teaches thinking but in a non-intellectual way; it trains the intelligence to be flexible, able to follow and understand a complicated line of thought.
Outdoor and Play Times- These activities will be incorporated into the day so that students have a natural balance of active play time and time to quietly focus.
YOGA/MINDFULNESS- This class begins with an alignment-based yoga practice to build strength, mobility, and body awareness. We then take those physical skills to our mental and emotional lives. We learn skills to help us regulate emotions, navigate fear, increase self-compassion and self-confidence, and strengthen our relationships.
HANDWORK- Students will work with an experienced handwork teacher to cultivate patience, focus and perseverance all while strengthening their fine motor skills and self-confidence. Examples of handwork include hand sewing, weaving and finger knitting.
Waldorf Festivals
Our students spend time preparing for Waldorf festivals and holidays. These are special times to learn about and celebrate. This will be a time for storytelling, art, crafting, literature, poetry, song, and excitement. Examples of festivals or seasonal days include Martinmas, Michaelmas, Christmas, Candlemas, St. Nicholas Day, May Day, and more. We will work on crafts and art projects to further enhance your family celebrations at home. We will not focus on the religious aspects at school, but encourage you make it your own at home however works best for your family. These special festivals are integral to the rhythm of life and passing of the seasons. In celebrating seasonal holidays, the goal is to develop in the child (and adult) a sense of the rhythm of the seasons and the passage of time, and a sense that there is something bigger than himself.
“The original idea of any sacred festival is to make the human being look upward from his dependence on earthly things to those things that transcend the Earth.” – Rudolf Steiner
Even more than that, though, we take these moments as opportunities to show gratitude both for the time we’ve been granted together, and anticipation of the gifts of time that lies ahead.
Waldorf Answers explains our focus on festivals further:
“Seasonal festivals serve to connect humanity with the rhythms of nature and of the cosmos. The festivals originated in ancient cultures, yet have been adapted over time. To join the seasonal moods of the year, in a festive way, benefits the inner life of the soul. Celebrating is an art. There is joy in the anticipation, the preparation, the celebration itself, and the memories.”