Grade 6 | Curriculum | Teacher Info | Class Resources

Curriculum

The sixth grade student has reached the beginning of another turbulent time in her development with the onset of puberty and physical and hormonal changes that mark this period. The gracefulness and harmony of the fifth grade year are gone, replaced by mood swings and the pressure of the peer group.

The study of Roman history is introduced at this age because it so directly speaks to the physical and psychological changes in the children: the construction of great buildings, roads, aqueducts and cities, on the one hand, and the destruction of indigenous cultures through conquest and the empire itself through excess, on the other hand. The decadence and dissolution of the empire, the Dark Ages and the subsequent rise of two of the world’s great religious traditions (Christianity and Islam) mirror the battles going on in the souls and the bodies of the children at this age. The Arthurian legends and the search for the grail help the students form their own questions (“quests”) around love, chivalry, honor and respect.

The Waldorf curriculum supplies ample opportunity for the students to hone their critical thinking skills with cause/effect reasoning and strict observation in the science curriculum and exact thinking in their studies of geometric figures and relationships. Physics, too, gives the students insight into the properties of acoustics, optics, heat, magnetism and static electricity and the laws of causality inherent therein. Astronomy is taught phenomenologically as observations of the movements of the sun and planets, visible constellations, and the moon phases. An understanding develops about the relationship between what occurs in the sky and its impact on climate and vegetation on the earth.

Mathematics lessons are designed to give the students real experiences of the world through learning principal and interest calculations (as a beginning step into Algebra), percentages, profit/loss calculations, ratio and proportion, and estimation. The beauty of mathematics is expressed in geometry, which is in turn manifested in so many ways on the living earth.

In Spanish and German lessons, students are introduced to more formal elements of grammar. Music studies proceed with individual and ensemble recorder playing (soprano, bass and tenor); orchestra and ensemble work; and singing using complex harmonies and minor keys. Fine and practical arts lessons include woodworking; clay; making patterns and sewing stuffed animals; painting; and form drawing. In physical education the students will be introduced to competitive athletics, especially team sports such as volleyball, soccer and basketball. Learning technique and undertaking fitness and training become important disciplines that the students both need and welcome.