Lower School

Each morning begins with a two hour period in which a given academic subject is studied through a multi-disciplinary lens for three to four weeks. Singing, dancing, playing, drawing, painting, crafting, cooking, reciting, and listening to stories are part of how our students learn math, language arts, and sciences.

This multi-layered exploration of a subject allows students to develop a true and deep connection to the topic at hand, relating it to their own life experience, and anchoring their understanding through doing.

Waldorf math education involves movement, music, rhythm, art, form drawing, geometry, language, creativity, curiosity and wonder, creating a truly multi-sensory approach to mathematics. As a result, Waldorf students acquire a deep mathematical understanding that they carry throughout their lives.

Practical math activities such as measuring, understanding the calendar, and furthering fluency with the four mathematical operations continue through fifth grade, including thorough explorations of fractions and decimals in practical life.

The first foray into language arts begins with the introduction of the letters and their sounds, accompanied by storytelling drawn from the rich oral tradition of world cultures. The students learn how to write: letters become words, then short sentences; sentences become paragraphs.

Our approach ensures that reading and writing from a deep understanding of the elements of story, creating strong, avid readers and fostering true comprehension.

Our study of science begins with immersive experiences in nature. Nature walks in our forests and streams and visits to our farm and garden, open up a world to discover and understand. Through stories woven together with hands-on experience, teachers unveil scientific truths that children live into daily.

In third grade, students work and learn at our farm each week, working with plants, the animals, and the soil; direct experience leads to accurate observations and conclusions, which come together in meaningful  classroom science lessons. Explorations into the world of animals and plants follow in the fourth and fifth grades, allowing previous experiences to begin to crystallize into a real science of life. 

Through diverse literary experiences in storytelling, students in first and second grade live into the lives of people and cultures near and far. In third grade, students broaden their perspectives learning about housing, farming, and clothing of different cultures.

In fourth grade, students study the geography and history of New York and its neighboring states, in fifth grade, the circle expands to include lessons about the First Peoples, the geography of North America, and a thorough study of ancient world cultures. A sense of belonging and appreciation is further developed by experiencing the art, drama, literature, and technological innovations of each culture.

Within the academic curriculum, students draw, model, paint, sing and memorize poetry, and rehearse and perform plays with their class teacher. Through art, students develop creativity, sharp observation, and problem solving skills, while deepening their understanding of human culture.

The study of music offers an additional window into other cultures, while developing essential listening skills and building community. Students joyfully learn many  songs, dances and tunes starting with simple wooden flutes in the first and second grades, adding string instruments and ensemble music in third through fifth grade, when some students broaden their musical explorations taking up wind instruments.

The practical arts further engage the children’s will and creativity, as well as strongly developing fine motor and problem solving skills. Knitting, crocheting, embroidering, cross stitch and wood carving are some of the techniques our children develop while creating useful and beautiful objects to share or cherish.

Frequent hikes within our campus bring children to our farm, gardens, streams, meadows, and forest. Apple picking, ice skating, hiking and other day trips are a part of weekly rhythms. Starting in third grade, students go on an overnight farm trip.  In subsequent years they go on camping trips, where they canoe, hike, climb, raft, and use outdoor wilderness skills.

Nurturing their knowledge and love for different cultures, our students begin learning Spanish and German in first grade, and continue developing proficiency through high school. 

All students engage in increasingly complex cooperative games, sports, and movement explorations, including a trip to experience a true Greek pentathlon with other Waldorf schools in fifth grade.