Grade School
CURRICULUM
3rd Grade
The third grade curriculum speaks to the consciousness of the child who is turning nine. As this age, the child becomes more self-aware, and there can be a new sense of distance from the joys of early childhood. There might be questions about many things, some of them quite profound. The Waldorf curriculum is meant to reassure, nurture, and help the child move ahead with confidence through this significant threshold.
Children continue with recitation, play acting, singing, flute-playing and rhythmic movement as a way of entering into the activities of the day. Arithmetic work includes the four processes, which segues into carrying and borrowing along with long division and multiplication. The children also transition to measurement work as these lessons meet the children's new orientation to the outer world. Just as they begin to size up those around them, students have a chance to apply this skill constructively. The major themes for language arts study are the stories of the ancient Hebrew stories and legends, which offer a picture of joyful life in the Garden of Eden, the eventual expulsion from paradise, and the human being’s work, transforming the earth’s gifts into food, shelter, and clothing. These stories tell of a people who wandered in search of a place to call their own, and speak to the child in an unconscious, deep way: “Others have done this before me; I am not alone in this experience.”
Learning Objectives
MORNING LESSON SKILLS
Learning and modeling good classroom behavior and habits, listening and communicating constructively, confidence and positive self-image building; developing sense of discernment
LANGUAGE ARTS
Cursive Writing, Parts of Speech, Grammar and Punctuation, Reading, Spelling, Oral Recitation, Drama
LITERATURE
Hebrew Stories and Legends and other Creation Traditions from around the world
MATHEMATICS
Four Operations Continued; Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction Facts; Measurement -- Time, Linear, Dry and Liquid, Weight, and Money; Computation and Problem Solving; Carrying and Borrowing and Long Multiplication and Division; Estimation
SCIENCES
Housebuilding, Farming, Introduction to Climate Studies
FORM DRAWING
Vertical Symmetry Forms, Forms of Metamorphosis, Hebrew Alphabet
ART
Beeswax Modeling, Painting, and Drawing
world LANGUAGE
Spanish (Songs, Dances and Games, Poetry and Stories, Color and Action Words)
HANDWORK
Crocheting Practical Objects, Carding and Drop Spindling, Plain Weaving
MUSIC
Pentatonic Flute, Diatonic Flute, Lyre, Singing, Music Notation Introduced
FARMING & GARDENINg
Soil Maintenance, Animal Care, Composting
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Cooperative Games