Special Subjects

Special subjects in a Waldorf school support the main lesson work and are integral to the effectiveness of the overall curriculum. The Waldorf School of the Peninsula offers the following special subjects: eurythmy, games/movement, gardening, handwork, music and Spanish. All special subject classes are taught from first through eighth grades.

Eurythmy

Eurythmy is an art of movement that engages the whole human being, integrating bodily movement with movements that arise within the soul. This creates a harmonious relationship between the soul-spiritual element and the body.

In contrast to gymnastics, which aims to make the body fit, lithe, harmonious and free, eurythmy is essentially an artistic process. Gymnastics involves the whole human being coming into a relationship with the physical laws that govern levity and gravity and the balance between these two polarities. Eurythmy also works with the polarities of levity and gravity, but more through the inner experience of the soul than through the physical; it is therefore more akin to dance than gymnastics. Although eurythmy is a performing art, it has important educational and therapeutic aspects. Practicing the elements of eurythmical movement helps the children become more graceful in their movement, more coordinated, more alert and more at ease with themselves. What the children reveal in their movements can, to the practiced eye of the teacher, contribute to an overall picture of their potential and what must be overcome to release it.

Gardening

Working in the biodynamic garden provides an opportunity to develop an innate, harmonious sense of being at home on this Earth. It gives the children living examples of many of their class studies; in the garden their lessons can become practical, daily experiences. Through their work, the children feel each contribution they make to the garden as a link in a long chain of others’ contributions and work. They experience first hand “that people always depend on the work of their fellow human beings” (Steiner). They learn to work for the love of work, for others and for the sake of the whole rather than for personal gain. This gives them a basis for building true community. Other gardening themes include nature observation, development of gardening skills and craft skills.

Handwork

Knitting and other handwork projects play an important role in the development of fine motor skills, inner calm and intellectual clarity. Handwork offers many opportunities for reinforcing math skills in practical, challenging and enjoyable ways. Author and Waldorf teacher Eugene Schwartz points out an even more valuable result: “We cannot underestimate the self-esteem and joy that arises in the child as the result of having made something practical and beautiful – something which has arisen as the result of a skill that has been learned. In an age when children are often passive consumers, who as Oscar Wilde once said ‘know the price of everything and the value of nothing,’ learning to knit can be a powerful way of bringing meaning into a child’s life.”

Movement / Games

The movement curriculum assists the development of the child’s sense of movement, spatial awareness, balance and inner equilibrium. It gives children a feeling of bodily well being, through fine and gross motor control. By directing those forces in a meaningful way, they learn to marshal their energies in the right places at the right times. The goals of eurythmy are “to develop in the children courage, endurance and presence of mind” (Kichnick). This curriculum supports and complements the academic curriculum in age-appropriate ways.

Music

Musical growth comes through experiences in listening, singing, playing, moving, creating, reading and performing music. Learning music involves actively being in and experiencing the music. In singing, the child becomes the musical instrument and thereby experiences a feeling of contentment and well-being. From first grade on children also play musical instruments—Choroi flutes in the early grades, violin in fourth and fifth grades and the family of recorders, plus other instruments in the later grades. Music flows through the curriculum, from music class to main lesson and special subjects classes. The experience of tone, beat and rhythm come first, and this joyful immersion leads to an understanding and awareness of these elements and of the art of music.

Spanish

Second languages (i.e., languages other than the mother tongue) have been an integral part of the Waldorf curriculum since the first Waldorf school was founded in 1919. In addition to the practical benefits of learning another language, this study also helps develop the child as a human being. The children gain a sympathetic picture of the culture, geography and history of the countries and people whose language they are studying.

On a more individual level, learning a second language helps develop and sharpen listening skills. The child hears something different from the mother tongue and needs to make more of an effort. Students practice speaking skills before they begin to write in the language. The rhythmical activities that are part of the lesson, especially during the early grades, instill a sense of how the language moves.

In grades one through eight, the whole class learns Spanish. Students have two Spanish lessons a week in grades one through seven, with three lessons a week in grade eight. Often a Spanish tutor is provided for students who have missed the early grades Spanish classes.

“ One is as many people as one speaks languages.”
- J. W. Goethe