Waldorf Teaching Methods
To build the foundations of education from a deeper perspective™, TWS uses unique teaching approaches in the Lower School:
The Class Teacher moves with the class through several years of the Lower School journey, often from Grade 1 through Grade 8. This continuity allows the teacher to get to know children’s strengths and needs deeply, and to support a strong, positive social dynamic in the classroom. This also supports the continuity of curriculum from one year to the next, and the weaving together of disciplines.
The Main Lesson is fundamental to education from a deeper perspective™. For 2 hours each morning a core academic theme is experienced, weaving together science, math, English, geography and history with the arts and movement activities. The Main Lesson starts the school day, when children are the freshest, and uses rich images to engage the students emotionally and intensify the learning experience. Each theme is explored for 3 to 4 weeks, known as a Main Lesson Block.
During the block, students create their own Main Lesson Books as a record of their understanding of the themes and material, and as an opportunity to develop their skills. They record observations, compositions, drawings and diagrams to chart the path through their studies. Care is taken to produce a beautiful, personal account of the lesson material; each main lesson book is unique, produced by the student. They are often used as a rich diagnostic for the teachers in assessing each child’s progress.
Special subject lessons are taught by teachers who are specialists in their fields of French, German, choral music and recorder, orchestra, handwork, woodwork, Spacial Dynamics™, farming and gardening, physical education, eurythmy (a movement class) and fine arts. These lessons support the foundations built in the Lower School, as well as teaching specific skills.
The foundations of education from a deeper perspective™ are deep and wide. Read on to see the path of discovery the children take as they learn how the sciences, mathematics and culture evolved from the earliest times to the present day.
The Class Teacher moves with the class through several years of the Lower School journey, often from Grade 1 through Grade 8. This continuity allows the teacher to get to know children’s strengths and needs deeply, and to support a strong, positive social dynamic in the classroom. This also supports the continuity of curriculum from one year to the next, and the weaving together of disciplines.
The Main Lesson is fundamental to education from a deeper perspective™. For 2 hours each morning a core academic theme is experienced, weaving together science, math, English, geography and history with the arts and movement activities. The Main Lesson starts the school day, when children are the freshest, and uses rich images to engage the students emotionally and intensify the learning experience. Each theme is explored for 3 to 4 weeks, known as a Main Lesson Block.
During the block, students create their own Main Lesson Books as a record of their understanding of the themes and material, and as an opportunity to develop their skills. They record observations, compositions, drawings and diagrams to chart the path through their studies. Care is taken to produce a beautiful, personal account of the lesson material; each main lesson book is unique, produced by the student. They are often used as a rich diagnostic for the teachers in assessing each child’s progress.
Special subject lessons are taught by teachers who are specialists in their fields of French, German, choral music and recorder, orchestra, handwork, woodwork, Spacial Dynamics™, farming and gardening, physical education, eurythmy (a movement class) and fine arts. These lessons support the foundations built in the Lower School, as well as teaching specific skills.
The foundations of education from a deeper perspective™ are deep and wide. Read on to see the path of discovery the children take as they learn how the sciences, mathematics and culture evolved from the earliest times to the present day.