History

Unique to Waldorf, the history curriculum mirrors the developmental stages of the child. Sixth graders, for instance, who are beginning to experience the inner turmoil of puberty and are looking for a sense of justice, lawfulness, and order spend several months studying the rise and fall of the Roman civilization and the reemergence of order in the Middle Ages.

In the early grades, children experience history through myths, legend, verse, and imagery. The adolescent revisits that history, but with a deeper understanding and a new capacity for discussion and reflection. In fact, an integrated historical perspective informs much of the curriculum. Science classes study the biographies of great scientific thinkers; a math class may examine Greek assumptions about geometry. The goal is to get students to fully experience the changes in thought and consciousness that have occurred over time so that they will have greater perspective of their own time.