The Waldorf curriculum is an approach to education that is based on a deep insight into the development of the child. Rudolf Steiner developed the curriculum with the Three-Fold Concept of Man laying the foundation for an education designed to help the child's spirit and soul take proper hold of the body. The three fold functions are thinking, feeling and willing which unfold at different developmental cycles in a child's growth. Steiner's insights form the basis for the curriculum used in all Waldorf schools, but how the child is taught is unique to each school and child. The curriculum has general indications which are brought to life by the Teacher as artist.

In the first seven years of life, the child's spirit becomes active through the "will" forces. This is supported in the Waldorf pre-school and Kindergarten by creating a healthy environment in which the child can thrive through doing practical and playful activities in a warm and nurturing home-like environment. The child of this age leams best through imitating the activities of older persons.

In the next seven years, during the primary school grades, the life of "feeling" is unfolding in the child. The child of this age leams best through what stirs his or her feelings. This is supported through an artistic presentation of the material in the Main Lesson Blocks in the first two hours of the day. The class teacher strives, through example, to impart a sense of reverence and wonder for the world.

From fourteen to twenty-one, the powers of thinking and judgement gradually unfold. In the Waldorf High Schools, the teachers guide the youth through challenges which help to develop the capacities for thinking.

The Grades
The education of the child proceeds in three major steps as the child's consciousness develops. The child's consciousness is largely pictorial and imaginative up to the age of twelve. Up to this age, the Waldorf curriculum works with the child's imagination, proceeding from fairytales, legends and fables through Bible stories, and ancient mythology. After the age of twelve, an element of reason begins to come in. In the fifth and sixth grade, the transition is made to actual history and science. From then on, without losing its imaginative and artistic elements, the curriculum is presented in a more scientific manner, increasingly relying on direct observation, objective description and reflection in all subjects.

The Class Teacher
The key to learning in the Waldorf elementary school is the intimate relationship that develops between the teacher and the child. Each class has its own teacher who, ideally, accompanies the class from the first through the eighth grade. This relationship promotes mutual understanding, respect, and love. It enables the teacher-thoroughly familiar with each child's development, talents, pace, and style - to plan lessons that will reach and motivate each child. For the child, it offers academic continuity and vitality.

The Main Lesson
A central feature of every Waldorf school is the Main Lesson which occupies the first two hours of each school day. The Main Lesson "Blocks" are designed to immerse the children in a subject theme over a period of three to four weeks, allowing the class to go deeply into a subject with a concentrated focus. After that block another block is taken up, alternating subjects in a way that creates a healthy rhythmic process of learning.

The Maln Lesson becomes an imaginative and artistic learning process, supported by activities such as the recitation of poetry, singing, drama, drawing, and writing - all integrated wlthin thetheme-as well as the dally recalling and discussion ofthe content given by the teacher the day before. The children create individual Main Lesson Books, which are care fully and lovingly illustrated with the content material from the blocks.

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