 The School Waldorf |
Kindergarten A Day in the Life of Kindergarten When the children have finished their daily planned activity, they are then free to play. The room is equipped with many beautiful natural toys and objects that are used for all kinds of imaginative play. In one corner the children might set up a restaurant, in another area several children might construct an airplane from wooden planks. There is no limit to the children's imaginations.Through this play, the children act out the world around them. After about 45 minutes of creative play-time, we all work together to make our room tidy again. We then wash our hands, sit down at the table, light a candle, say a verse and eat our snack. The children participate in preparing our snack and setting our table. After snack we gather together again for a circle time of seasonal songs, verses, and rhythmic movement. We sing good morning to the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees. The children form a relationship with the world of nature through this activity. It is then time to go outside to play in the yard. The children dig
in the sand, climb, swing, work in the garden, play games, and look
for bugs. After about 45 minutes outside, we go inside again and gather
together for story-time. A candle is lit and a song is sung that takes
us to the land of the fairytale. Fairytales are chosen for the season
and to meet the needs of the group of children. After the tale is told
we sing goodbye to our friends, and the children join their parents
for the journey home. A Day in the Life of Second Grade With the sound of the harp, the students put their work away and stand
behind their desks to begin our morning circle time. A "good morning"
song is followed by the morning verse, recited around the world, followed
by another song, which includes stretching and movement. A verse of
galloping, hopping, skipping and tip-toeing leads us to the back of
the room, where we form into a circle for approximately twenty minutes
of verses combined with movement, mathematical rhythms, dancing and
singing. The students then return to their desks while singing a seasonal
song. A daily helper marks our calender and leads us in a daily The main lesson begins with something new. At this time, we are working
on telling time and receiving an introduction to borrowing. The new
lesson is very short, from two to ten minutes so as not to fluster the
children and allow them time to ponder on it throughout the day and
the night. After the new lesson, we practice lessons learned from previous
days. This practice is rich with hands-on activities and movement. After
practicing for at least one day, and often more, the students enter
this work into their Main Lesson Books. The students enter their work
very carefully, and the finished books offer beautiful glimpses of all
that we have been learning in our main lessons. Before or after this
time, the students will retell a story from the day before. This story
may be told by different students, acted out or artistically re-created.
The entire lesson is concluded by retelling a story, adding onto a story
or telling a new story. A new story often is concluded with the unveiling
of a new picture on the After we have washed our hands, we gather at the large table at the back of the room and eat snack as a family. Snack is followed by recess. Activities after snack recess follow a weekly pattern. They each last about forty-five minutes and throughout the week they include: academic skill development, flutes, reading groups, Spanish, sewing and painting. Lunch and lunch-recess are followed by a quiet time of drawing while I read to the class for about fifteen minutes. The afternoon classes, which also change throughout the week, include: form drawing, games, knitting, flutes, beeswax sculpturing, walks to the library and time for inside free play. Throughout the year, we attend a variety of concerts and plays at the Yavapai College Performance Hall and the Prescott Fine Arts Association theater, both of which are within an enjoyable walk from our school. Our class also has adopted the local "Meals on Wheels" lunch program, and we present a program of music and poetry to its participants once or twice a year. After our performance, we all eat lunch together. At this time, there are twelve students in our class. We would love to expand our class size and make new friends! A Day in the Life of Fifth and
Sixth Grade The latter portion of the main lesson time consists of reviewing the previous day’s lesson, presenting the new lesson, and working on independent or group activity. Students practice English and math skills daily after morning snack and recess, then they travel into a foreign land during Spanish class. We spend our afternoons focusing on developing our artistic and creative sides. On Mondays, students create water-color paintings. On Tuesdays, they work on making stuffed-felt animals. On Thursdays, students participate in a games class, where they strengthen their physical fitness levels and sportsmanship. On Fridays, students create drawings or projects associated with the current month’s block-theme. Thus, the day ends as it began, with a friendly handshake at the door between myself and each student. |
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