Lower School Curriculum

Grades 1 - 5

Each year of the Lower School has a story motif, with human development providing the map for the story curriculum in each grade.

 

“If a child has been able in his play to give up his whole loving being to the world around him, he will be able, in the serious tasks of later life, to devote himself with confidence and power to the service of the world.”

— Rudolf Steiner

Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Lower School Enrollment

Grade 1

Mountain Phoenix Community School Grade 1 Creek Walk
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In Grade One, children hear a wide variety of fairy tales from many cultures. These, along with nature stories, nourish the imagination of the Grade One child. True fairy tales contain archetypes of human existence and have been used throughout history to explain the world around us. The world of the fairy tale is an integrated whole in which animals speak, wrongs are righted, and resolution is found. This world reflects the child’s still somewhat dreamy consciousness and feeling of connection to the world. The stories provide the material for instruction in writing, a process that takes the child from story image to picture to letter to word, and onwards to reading and arithmetic. Stories are told, recalled, acted out, and illustrated. Through this process, the child acquires a fund of knowledge and increasing skill and develops capacities for mobile, creative, image-filled thought.

  • Math: Qualities of numbers; introduction of the four operations in arithmetic
  • Language Arts:  Pictorial and phonetic introduction to letters; writing; fairy tales from around the world; poetry recitation
  • Science: Nature stories; nature walks in all seasons
  • Social Studies: Multicultural stories, class community building
  • Handwork: Knitting (fine motor skills, concentration, sense of form)
  • World Language: Introduction to Spanish through songs, stories and rhymes, imitation and gesture
    Visual & Performing Arts: Form drawing, painting, beeswax modeling, crayon illustrations, drama, singing, pentatonic flute
  • Movement/Physical Education/Games: Eurythmy, circle games, imaginative and cooperative games; movement combined with music and singing; throwing and catching, rhythmic stepping, balancing, jump rope.

Grade One is a bridge between kindergarten and the grades. The child is now ready to begin to work imaginatively in new, more focused and explicit ways with the mind. The Grade One curriculum is designed to meet the children at their particular developmental level. First graders learn and live through imagination, feeling, and movement. Therefore, Grade One academics foster and utilize these elements to support strong academics, cultivate a love of learning, and foster curiosity for the world around us.

An important task for the teacher is to create a rhythm for the child’s school life as a foundation for the learning process. Towards this end, the teacher designs a rhythm not only through the seasons and holidays, but also within each day and within each lesson of the day.

The year begins with the discovery that within all forms lie two basic elements: the straight and curved lines. The child finds these shapes in her/his own body, in the classroom and in the world beyond. The straight and curved lines are practiced through walking, drawing in the air and on a neighbor’s back and, finally, on paper. These form drawings train motor skills, awaken the child’s powers of observation, and provide a foundation for the introduction of the alphabet.

Fairy tales and stories from around the world form the basis of the Grade One language arts curriculum. The students begin their exploration of the alphabet through vivid stories and images.  Through practice visualizing and reviewing stories, students build strong comprehension skills even before formal reading has emerged.

Through the stories the child is introduced to each letter of the alphabet. In this way the child experiences the development of language in a very concrete yet imaginative way. Images arise from these stories, such as a mountain that takes the form of the letter M.  The class composes short descriptive sentences to accompany each picture. The wording is then copied from the teacher’s model. Through these activities the child learns word and sentence structure without conscious effort, and has the joy of creating her/his own illustrated books for reading material. By associating abstract symbols with concrete images, students can better master the sound-to-symbol relationship.  Through collaborative story writing, pictorial representations combining letters and story, exploration of word families and word patterns, and other literary explorations, students develop the skills and motivation to begin their journey as readers and writers.

In a similar imaginative way, within the mathematics curriculum the child first experiences the qualities of numbers before learning the four processes. What is the experience of “oneness”? “Wholeness”? What is there only one of in the world? (Me! You!). Stones, acorns and other natural and familiar objects are used to introduce counting. They develop number sense experientially through movement and hand-on activities in may forms, including stepping and clapping and the rhythmic, choral speaking of numbers. Only after considerable practical experience in adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing are the written symbols for all four basic mathematical processes introduced. This approach leads to a deeper understanding of math concepts by engaging students creatively and imaginatively in their learning.

In Social Studies, the children learn to understand the rule-making processes in their classroom, school, and community. They learn how to be supportive, positive members of their community.

Science through nature study. Through weekly time in nature, students develop fundamental scientific skills of observation, exploration, curiosity, and reverence for the natural world.

Learning a world language, such as Spanish, is ideally suited to the imitative disposition of the young child, as s/he learns through hearing and speaking the language. These classes use language immersion, song, and movement to explore language in an exciting, expressive, and natural way.

Through frequent music, art, and handwork lessons and extensive integration of music and the visual arts throughout the curriculum, artistic development is emphasized as a key element of the student’s imaginative interaction with the world and their personal growth.

The Grade One enters the world of music through the pentatonic scale. In this scale all notes have a harmonious sound in any order they are played. The playing of the pentatonic flute develops finger coordination, concentration, and breath control.  Songs are based on seasonal themes typically.

Painting in the Grade One is intended to give the child an experience of working with color rather than attempting to create formed “pictures.” The child’s feelings for form are encouraged through beeswax modeling and crayon illustrations. In drawing, the child imitates the teacher’s work, drawing whole shapes rather than filling in outlines.

Knitting is a fundamental Grade One activity, as there exists a close relationship between finger movement, speech, and thinking. Projects include a kitty, flute case, and scarf.

Games and movement through circle and singing activities, jump rope, ball games, beanbags, rods, and the balance beam are an integral part of the curriculum as the child develops his/her motor integration and their confidence and joy in movement. There is a close connection between bodily movement, spatial integration, and brain development.  Therefore, through daily Circle Time and regular Movement classes, students use music and movement to develop their bodies and minds.

Grade 2

Grade 2 Students Crocheting at Mountain Phoenix Community School
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The mood of the fairy tale shifts in Grade Two to reflect developing self-awareness in the child. Fairy tales are replaced by short fables that depict various elements of human nature, often expressed by animals, and by legends that tell of the deeds of extraordinary human beings who were able to overcome or work in harmony with nature to bring goodness to the world. The child inwardly feels that our task as human beings is to balance our instincts and drives with our highest ideals. Native American tales are often told; they frequently provide a blending of the mood of fable and legend. More complex nature stories bring the cycle of the seasons alive for the child, still through the medium of imaginative pictures. The child continues to absorb the content of stories that again provide material for the development of knowledge and skills; these become more abilities develop.

  • Math: Continue with four operations of arithmetic; story problems; skip counting by 2, 3, 4, 5… through 12; beginning multiplication tables
  • Language Arts: Elements of grammar (naming, describing words); beginning cursive; animal fables and legends of sages and saints from around the world; decoding and sight word recognition; building fluency through regular practice (oral and silent reading); comprehension through story recall
  • Science: Nature studies and walks through the seasons
  • Social Studies: Multicultural stories; lives of sages and saints
  • Handwork: Knitting patterns of knit and purl (pattern recognition and perpetuation, concentration, fine motor skill development)
  • World Language: Learning of Spanish continues through songs, plays, poetry, games, and simple conversations
  • Visual & Performing Arts: Form drawing, painting, beeswax modeling, drawing, singing, pentatonic flute, drama
  • Movement/Physical Education/Games: Eurythmy; circle games; imaginative and cooperative games; fine and gross motor activities; activities with props (balls, hoops, etc.) and exploration of the dynamics of objects, jumping rope
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In Language Arts, the fairy tales of Grade One gradually give way to stories of sages and saints from many cultures–people who strive to overcome inner and outer obstacles, who aspire to and accomplish the loftiest deeds. In contrast, the polarities within us are well depicted for second graders through animal fables. The Grade Two children explore the landscape of personality traits: the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Traditional fables hold a rich source of wisdom about human nature and the world. There, human traits are exaggerated in the brave lion, the timorous mouse, the pokey turtle, the clever fox, and so on. The children can see themselves and their classmates through the antics of the animal kingdom and learn valuable lessons about life.

Nature stories from home surroundings, multi-cultural folk tales, and riddles are also included in the language arts. As in first grade, poetry continues to play an important role in the class, both orally recited and in writing. All-class recitation, tongue twisters and other speech exercises, and work on plays written in verse, lead to choral recitation by smaller groups. Students participate in individual retelling of stories told in class as well as the recounting of personal experiences. Students strive for clear speech at appropriate volume levels.

During Grade Two much attention is given to the development of writing skills. The children’s first reading experience comes through reading what they themselves have written in their main lesson books. This may be a short verse that helps them review a letter sound, or perhaps a simple retelling of one of the fables they have heard. In this way the children experience the way written language actually developed over the course of human history.

Lower case printing and cursive handwriting are presented in Grade Two if they have not already been introduced in Grade One. The teacher leads the class in guided writing whenever possible, according to the children’s growing ability to sound out and recognize words. Children also copy passages from the board and express their own thoughts and recollections in writing, all the while paying attention to well-formed and spaced script.

From the stories, songs, and verses studied during the year, introductory spelling and grammar lessons and games are imaginatively presented. In addition, the children participate in daily phonics work and expand their sight recognition of high-frequency words.

The imaginative, personifying quality that still lives strongly in the 7/8 year old is used to fully develop inspiring pictures of the operations involved in the four processes in arithmetic, using strong visual and narrative elements. The students are taught to differentiate between the processes and know when to use each one as well as to be able to work simple problems of each type in their heads and on paper.

The concepts and mechanics of written addition and subtraction are introduced through the use of manipulatives, imaginative pictures, and carrying and regrouping activities. In their written work in mathematics, orderliness is developed. The neat columnar writing of problems is stressed. Previous work is reviewed and practiced. The ability to write dictated and read written numbers 1-100 is firmly established before the students move on to place value. Counting by various multiples (skip counting) is mastered before moving on to written multiplication and division. In Grade Two, rhythmic counting is transformed into the times tables (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 10s). Word problems will continue as students write simple algorithms. Students solve written, oral story, and mental math problems using math concepts.

Rhythmic and patterning work increase in sophistication, emphasizing the aesthetic and dynamic quality of the number line through arranging number families in various ways. Students are encouraged to consciously see order and beauty in number patterns. Visualizations of the counting patterns are introduced—employing string boards, grouping geometric forms in space, etc. Movement exercises can be built around number work, from group exercises to simple computation games, and can include moving in geometric forms.

All basic academic skills continue to develop at a rapid pace. Laying the ground for future Science blocks, the students continue their experiential exploration of the world of nature through observation and stories.

As with the Grade One, the entire curriculum is integrated to present the world as a whole, not as disjointed and disconnected pieces.

In the Arts, all students continue watercolor painting and their exploration of the moods of the colors, beeswax modeling and crayon drawing, as well as form drawing with vertical and horizontal midline mirror forms given for each child.

The Handwork curriculum works on knitting leading to the creation of stuffed animals, washcloths, and gnomes. String games, hand-clapping games, and counting knitted rows also support this work. 

World language lessons in Spanish continue to take inspiration from main lesson blocks of study. Students begin to speak individually and conversationally through games and activities that are filled with new descriptive language. Puppet shows and/or dramatizations of stories from rich folk tales also continue.

Musical instruction continues as in first grade and includes singing as well as pentatonic recorder. 

Eurythmy movement describes stories and forms, with a strong emphasis on inner listening and inner visualization of images and forms. The movement now includes, but is not limited to, geometrical forms, Curves of Cassini, expansion/contraction with music and stories of animals. 

Games and movement classes focus on imaginative games encouraging teamwork, cooperation, problem solving, and individual successes, with opportunities to improve coordination and balance through obstacle courses and gymnastic activities. A class play tied to the curriculum is shared with class families.

Grade 3

MPCS Grade 3 at Roost Farms
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Around Grade Three, or the age of nine, the developing child shows signs of a more awake consciousness and a greater level of self-awareness. The middle phase of the second developmental stage begins, and the child increasingly experiences himself as an individual, separate from the world around him. Questioning, uncertainty, or a loss of confidence often accompanies this growing feeling of separation. The significance of this developmental challenge has been noted in numerous biographies. The Grade Three curriculum responds with content and activities that strongly internal change. The stories of the Grade One and Two are replaced by an ancient mythology, typically that of the Hebrew people. These stories are not told as a religion but as an intact mythology that includes a creation and ordering of a world out of nothing, the departure from paradise (mirroring the child’s departure from early childhood), and the need to learn a range of practical skills that will be required to successfully live on the earth. As early childhood becomes a memory and new capacities awaken, the third grade child masters many practical skills through studies of farming, cooking, clothing and housing of the world, and building. Concepts such as measurement, time, and money are mastered as an essential part of these activities.

  • Math: Higher multiplication tables; division; weight, measure, money and time; review of all four processes; multiplication; problem solving; place value to 10,000s; estimating; mental math; word problems
  • Language Arts: Elements of grammar (nouns, verbs, adjectives); continuing cursive; punctuation; spelling; compositions; stories from ancient history; decoding and sight word recognition; building fluency through regular practice (oral and silent reading); comprehension through story recall
  • Science: Garden and nature studies
  • History & Social Studies: Study of practical life (farming, housing, clothing); stories from ancient history
  • Handwork: Crocheting (mathematical patterns, working in the round)
  • World Language: Continuing foreign language study of Spanish with oral dialogue, dramatization, songs, games and simple written work
  • Visual & Performing Arts: Form drawing, painting, beeswax modeling, drawing, singing, drama, introduction to the recorder, violin or cello
  • Movement/Physical Education/Games: Eurythmy, balance, running and chasing games, song and movement

12650929_937976432947080_840767705122252920_n (2)As the children in Grade Three enter their ninth year, they start to see the world differently. No longer are they content to be a part of life without doubts and questions. A nine-year old can feel him/herself growing up and separating from his/her parents, and becoming part of the outer world. The child becomes more independent, and begins to question all that was previously taken for granted. This can be a time of loneliness and insecurity for a child as well as a time of new self-confidence. The third grade curriculum is designed to meets the child’s new interests and concerns at this age.

The curriculum provides the student with the opportunity to learn about three essential, practical requirements for all of humankind—how we work with nature to provide ourselves with food, clothing, and shelter.

Farming and gardening lessons instruct the child in the importance of the natural systems that support our lives, in the use of farming tools and farming and gardening processes, and how food has been grown over the centuries. These lessons give the child an opportunity for direct involvement in growing his/her own food and begin to establish a foundation for their appreciation of our partnership with nature and an interest in fostering, protecting and preserving the world around them.

The provision of clothing is addressed in the textiles unit, usually beginning with the shearing of a sheep and culminating in a woven or knitted garment from that sheep’s wool. The child is involved in every practical aspect of the making of the garment.

shelterMany types of shelter are presented, modeled and discussed with the students, and some shelters are constructed by the children with the teacher’s guidance. Lessons on building a modern house teaches the critical importance of cooperation amongst architects, contractors, and construction workers as they meet the wide variety of human needs for shelter.

In Grade Three, the child begins to develop a basic awareness for practical applications of mathematics. Measurement of all timetypes is covered: length, weight, and volume; money, and time. All of these measurement systems are put to use in practical activities by the children themselves. In the study of time, money, and measurement, the historical background of the methods, tools, and practices is taught imaginatively before modern methods are explained.

Mathematics and movement go hand in hand. Rhythm is an integral part of the approach to arithmetic and is a significant aid to memorization. For example, the times tables are practiced while jumping rope, tossing bean bags, or bouncing a ball. This increases the child’s ability to memorize and retain the information.

The importance of words and the beauty of speech underlie the entire language arts curriculum. Through the daily telling of stories, the teacher creates in the child the capacity for inward picturing, setting the stage for conceptual thought. Reading, writing, the fundamentals of grammar, spelling, listening and speaking and penmanship are developed in an artistic manner which speaks to, empowers and inspires the whole child.

Stories from the Hebrew Bible serve as a metaphor for the children’s inner experience at this age. From the wonder stimulated by the creation story to the challenges faced as Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden, the Grade Three children see that they, too, must one day leave the parental nest and make their own way in the world. This need for the child of this age to experience providing for the basic necessities of life is met in the curriculum through the hands-on study of farming, gardening, food preparation, house-building, and making clothes.

An emphasis on the dramatic presentation of stories culminates in the production of the class play, which echoes a familiar theme from the year’s curriculum.

Music is an important focus in the curriculum. The Grade Three child is ready to experience the complexity and structure of the full diatonic scale. After two years playing the pentatonic flute, the third grade child learns how to play a soprano recorder. This instrument will be used throughout the grades. The children are ready to assert their new independence by learning to sing separate parts in rounds, introducing them to harmony among individual parts and an awareness of rhythmic unity in variety. In Music, the third grade signals the introduction of another instrument, the violin or cello, in addition to the recorder.

In Handwork, the third grade child graduates from knitting to crochet, completing three or four useful articles for themself.

Painting and modeling beeswax are weekly activities that sharpen the child’s powers of observation and expression.

In Grade Three the changing nine year-old is given an opportunity to make new relationships: with nature through farming and gardening; with others through a class building project; and with themselves through drama, music, and art.

Grade 4

Grade 4, Class Play MPCS, 2023
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By Grade Four, the child is solidly in this middle phase and generally feels more comfortable with her growing independence and separateness. She is introduced to a second great mythology through Norse legends. These bring a very different creation myth and offer entirely different explanations of life and human nature. The intact, rather rosy world of early childhood is now a distant memory and the fourth grade child is ready to enter into a world that is no longer whole. Fractions, verb tenses, and parts of speech are introduced, reflecting this new awareness. Local and state geography and history build confidence and help anchor a solid sense of location. The nature stories and activities of the lower grades now transition into first lessons in formal science through studies of animals, the foundation of zoology. Studies are still brought through imaginative pictures, hands-on activities, and artistic renderings, nourishing the rich inner feeling life of this age. They are related to the human being, giving the child a picture of our unique gifts and responsibilities. The curriculum is brought alive through living concepts and reflects the child’s ever-expanding world.

  • Math: Review four processes; advanced multiplication; long division; place value to millions, averaging; perimeter and area; factoring; estimating; rounding; word problems; mental math; introduction to fractions
  • Language Arts: Elements of grammar; parts of speech; continuing cursive; punctuation; writing well structured paragraphs; book reports; expository writing, creative writing, narratives; class play; building fluency through regular reading practice; sight word recognition, high frequency words; prefixes & suffixes; spelling and vocabulary development; Norse mythology
  • Science: Zoology; continuation of nature studies
  • History & Social Studies: State and local history
  • Geography: State and local geography and map making
  • Handwork: Cross-stitch, mirror image/symmetry
  • World Language: Continuing Spanish instruction with writing/recording orally-learned material, basic grammatical principles, tongue twisters
  • Visual & Performing Arts: Form drawing, painting, drawing, singing, drama, recorder, violin or cello, introduction to reading and writing music
  • Movement/Physical Education/Games: Eurythmy, field games, balance, games involving trickery and strategy; games exploring movement of animals

Fourth graders are passing through the midst of the nine-year change. They still wish to revere, but, for them, that reverence must be justified. The children begin to form their own personality in response to their experience of the world, consciously choosing those qualities that will go into their characters.

The Grade Four curriculum addresses a child in possession of greater certainty and confidence. At this grade level, the child is more assured of his/her own place in the world and is able to assert more individual needs and wants. The curriculum correspondingly evolves away from the unified approach of early childhood into the teaching of more specific subjects. The Main Lesson blocks are more varied in the fourth grade than they have been in the earlier grades, reflecting both the children’s individuation as well as the intellectual breadth of which they are beginning to be capable.

The focus of the Grade Four Language Arts curriculum is the myths and legends of the Norse people. These stories speak strongly to the children at this time. The gods of Asgard are portrayed as individuals with distinct, powerful personalities who encounter significant consequences for both their good and bad behavior. The vivid images evoked in these stories provide ample inspiration for the expanded creative and expository writing skills required of the child at this grade. The strong alliterations of their verses strengthen the Grade Four child’s clarity and dexterity of speech, and reinforce his/her developing confidence.

In the realm of Mathematics, the Grade Four child begins the year with a firm foundation in working with whole numbers using the four processes. This year marks the appropriate time to introduce fractions, as the practice of breaking apart the whole into its constituent parts mirrors the child’s own internal experience of the fracturing of his/her world. Concepts are first introduced through the manipulation of everyday objects, providing the child with an initial concrete experience of fractions before proceeding to their more abstract representations. The children learn to add, subtract, multiply, reduce and expand fractions, and to change improper fractions into mixed numbers.

History and Geography become formal main lesson subjects in the fourth grade. The child’s growing ability to regard with objectivity her/his environment is developed through the study of local geography. The child learns how to find the four points coloradogeographyof the compass by observing sun and stars. They study and make maps of the classroom, the school, the neighborhood, the city, and state (with the curriculum adapted to the local geography and history of the area around their school). The goal of the Geography curriculum is to engender an understanding of the interrelatedness of human activity and the local physical conditions of the earth.

The Grade Four History curriculum examines the historical development and diversity of human society locally and throughout the state. The biographies of men and women who played a part in creating our local culture reiterate one of the predominant themes of fourth grade, which is the importance of human deeds. (In Colorado, the child develops a sense for the world of the indigenous people of the area, the explorers, the discovery of gold, and the first settlers).

The transformation from imagination to objectivity and detailed observation is manifest again in the study of nature that forms the Human and Animal main lesson block (Zoology). Animal study is introduced, growing out of a descriptive study of the human being and our place in nature. The child develops an animalsunderstanding and appreciation of the animal kingdom as it reflects the environment to which each species has adapted. Through detailed study of the forms and habitats of animals, the children begin to get a feeling for the fascinating assortment of skills and qualities that the animals possess. At the same time, the children begin to see the unique and responsible position they hold as human beings upon the earth. This detailed study offers opportunities for the child to develop his/her comparative, conceptual, and observational skills, and it provides additional material for artistic, dramatic, and language arts activities.

In Music, Grade Four continues with the violin or cello, in addition to continuing the recorder. In both Music and Drama, students are now ready to take individual parts in ongoing group performances.  

World language instruction in Spanish continues, as the child begins to write down poems, stories, and dialogues acquired orally in the earlier grades. Handwork focuses on cross-stitch and embroidery.

Grade 5

Mountain Phoenix Community School Grade 5 Class Trip to Snow Mountain Ranch
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For many children, Grade Five marks the final year of true childhood. The Grade Five child typically shows great energy and enthusiasm for life. Body proportions are harmonious and movement appears coordinated, fluid, and effortless. The child lives deeply in rich inner imaginative pictures. He displays self-confidence and zest for life. The overall mood is more awake than in earlier years and there is a great appetite for learning. Ancient cultures provide the central motif for the fifth grade year. In the early part of the year, these cultures are brought in the form of mythology, relating the great cultures of Ancient India, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. The children see that there are many religions, many cultures, and many, often competing, ways of explaining life on earth that are in part dependent on the geography and circumstances of a particular culture. They are introduced to a variety of religions, including Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. The Egyptian culture of the Dead brings many questions about life. Through mythology, they study the early development of agriculture and writing. The great variety of myths builds a living picture of the relationship between culture and an environment. The mythology curriculum culminates in the stories of Ancient Greece. Towards the end of the year, mythology transitions to recorded history and ancient civilizations. This transition marks a point in human history at which the Greeks moved from an earlier worldview that was holistic and external to a more philosophical, individual, and questioning approach. It mirrors a change in the child’s thinking from picture-based thought to the dawning of formal thought. The fifth grade year concludes with a recapitulation of ancient cultures through the biography and travels of one historical figure, Alexander the Great.

The Grade Five child’s expanding consciousness is supported by a study of North American geography with its contrasting environments and terrains. This once again reinforces the child’s sense of place and shows how our environment impacts our ways of living. The science curriculum expands into a study of botany, which appeals to the child’s love of beauty and requires precise observation, qualities that encourage warm interest and a feeling of connection while providing a strong foundation for future scientific thought and inquiry. Grade Five studies are rounded out with decimal fractions and freehand geometric drawing. The latter combines artistry and imagination and harnesses the child’s newly emerging powers of thought.

  • Math: Decimals; fractions; metric system; introduction to geometry
  • Language Arts: Elements of grammar; spelling; punctuation; structure of paragraphs, compositions; Ancient Indian, Persian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek myths
  • Science: Botany; introduction to inductive method
  • History & Social Studies: Ancient civilizations through Greek times
  • Geography: American geography as related to vegetation, agriculture, culture and economics
  • Handwork: Knitting socks or mittens using four needles
  • Woodworking: Convex Surfaces which includes a project such as a carved egg
  • World Language: Continuing instruction in Spanish with further bookwork and grammar, cultural appreciation, poetry, beginning reading.  Geography and cultural focus is Mexico – Aztecs, Incas, Mayans.
  • Visual & Performing Arts: Painting; clay modeling; drawing, drama, singing; recorder; chorus, instrumental ensemble
  • Movement/Physical Education/Games: Eurythmy, games exploring strength and strategy; games with multiple props; games with team goal, Pentathlon (Greek games)

The fifth grader has grown more accustomed to being an individual; yet, like the third grader, s/he is about to leave another phase of childhood behind and cross the threshold into adolescence. The fifth graders often achieve a temporary balance in their development, exhibiting their potential for all that they are to become in their later lives. The curriculum not only continues to build on and integrate established foundations, but introduces new elements to prepare the child for the next step forward.

In the Language Arts curriculum, the child in Grade 5 journeys back to the dawn of western civilization in ancient India, Persia, Egypt and Greece. The teacher gives the children a sense of each cultural epoch so that they may begin to understand how human consciousness has evolved through time. Through the study of mythology, music, art and primary textual sources, the student experiences how these cultures viewed the world. In his/her written work, the student retells the epics of the Ramayana the Mahabharata, Gilgamesh, the Iliad and the Odyssey. S/he recites quotations from ancient texts, and in his/her dramatic work takes on the characters from the epics they have studied.

Ancient history in Grade 5 starts with the “childhood” of civilized humanity in ancient India, Persia, the great cultures of Mesopotamia (the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians) and Egypt. The class then moves on to ancient Greece and the birth of modern civilization: the foundations of philosophy, science, history, drama and art were laid while Athens and Sparta fought for independence against the mighty Persian empire. The fifth grade year ends with the story of Alexander the Great, who conquered the ancient peoples previously studied, unifying, for a short time, this variety of cultures—a forecast of the study of the Roman Empire in Grade 6.

The study of Geography serves to complement the study of ancient cultures. While history leads the children deeper into themselves, geography takes them to the farthest reaches of the earth. The historical study of the ancient cultures includes an overview of the lands where these civilizations emerged. The teacher strives to give the children a sense for the great contrasts between different geographical regions, and geography awakens in the child a feeling of relatedness with fellow human beings living in all other parts of the world.

In addition, the geography of the North American continent is studied. The student develops an understanding for the major mountain ranges and river systems, and how these landforms influence the rest of the continent. The teacher strives to give the child a sense for the contrasts between the different regions of North America in terms of topography, vegetation, animal life and human use of the land from ancient times to the present.

In Mathematics, fractions and decimals are the chief concern in Grade 5. The student learns to move freely between these two numbering systems, and the use of percentage may be introduced. The deep mathematical wisdom of ancient Egypt, as embodied in the Great Pyramid of Giza, offers a concrete introduction to geometry. The relationship between radius, diameter, circumference and area of a circle is explored.

The Science curriculum for Grade 5 focuses on the plant kingdom. Beside the discovery of the physical characteristics of the earth, studied in geography at this grade, the fifth grader studies the plant life that grows upon its surface. The students learn that the world of plants is made up of many different families, from the simple mushroom to the rose to the mighty oak tree; the scope of the lessons then expands to an investigation of how climate and geography affect plant growth. The children learn that there is order and structure in all that surround them in the natural world.

The text above is adapted from the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education, with revisions that reflect the MPCS curriculum.

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