Specialty Classes
The arts — drama, painting, music, drawing and modeling are integrated into the entire academic curriculum, including mathematics and the sciences. The Waldorf method of education through the arts awakens imagination and creative powers, bringing vitality and wholeness to learning. There is no other educational movement that gives such a central role to the arts as does Waldorf education.
Handcraft
Knitting and other handwork projects play an important role in the development of fine motor skills, inner calm, and intellectual clarity. Handwork will be a special class taught at UTCS. The specific handwork taught in Waldorf schools “grows with the growing child.” In the first grade, the curriculum calls for learning the basic knit stitch and creating a practical and useful project in a warm textile such as wool. In second and third grades, this is continued with purling and crochet, which add new movements and require more focus on each row and stitch. Around age nine or ten the children undergo a change of consciousness: they are individuals within themselves, no longer as open. The hats that the third grade knit to cover their heads represent this developmental milestone. Third graders are also experiencing the beginning of critical thinking, and in the knitting of hats they are introduced to small patterns, thus engaging their new thinking skills. The cross stitch taught in fourth grade reflects this more elaborate stage in their development.
The fifth grade advances to more complicated knitting. Knitting socks requires using four needles instead of just two, and it is a task that requires much perseverance, providing challenges and valuable lessons for the children.
Music Education
Music education is a vital part of our day to day curriculum and is taught in all grades by the music teacher. Music not only enlivens the spirit but increases a child’s capacity for learning. Through the study of music, we learn to sensitize our hearing, allowing us to better listen to the sounds of the world and to each other.
There are many important inner skills to be learned in the study of music. The discipline of practicing an instrument helps children find the inner discipline to face other challenges in life. Group music lessons offer an opportunity for children to practice the ability to listen to others and to work cooperatively. It is quite a challenge for a group of children to work completely in unison in any realm, be it social, academic, or physical. In trying to sing or playing instruments as a group, with the same timing and pitch, the resulting harmonious sound allows them to directly experience the value of working well together. Singing and playing an instrument is a means of self exploration, self-expression, and creativity that allows the children to grow into more well-rounded human beings.
Throughout the grades, children are taught music through singing and playing instruments. In first and second grades, the children sing as a group and learn to play the pentatonic flute. In third grade, children begin singing rounds and begin to play the recorder. In fourth grade, two part songs are added, and the children learn about holding their own voices against others to create harmony. Fourth grade children continue to play the recorder and begin string instruments. In fifth through eighth grades, recorders are still used in the classroom, and string instruments are often still offered.
Movement & Games Class
Child development is taken into account in Movement and Games classes. The activities that are chosen reflect this understanding. Each lesson contains a rhythm of joining together and moving apart. Highly active games balanced with quieter ones and working together as a group are part of each class.
Games in first and second grades have the gesture of the circle, keeping the children protected and part of the whole. As we move up the grades, the children are slowly coming into their individuality and the Games curriculum reflects this. By the fifth grade there is a focus on beauty, form, and preparation for the Olympic competition in the spring pentathlon event. Not only does a Movement class provide the opportunity for the children to play games and have fun, it also works with their social interaction by teaching them to play with each other before they play against each other, to acknowledge each other, to play safely, and to gain an appreciation for all kinds of movement.
