Grade 5 in Waldorf Education

Class 5

Welcome to Class Five! We are about to embark on adventures of a very bright year of growing more awake and feeling ready to “look out into the world” with increasing confidence and strengthening of capacities. The curriculum of this school year meets the children in these adventures and takes them into the mysteries of ancient civilizations and the magical realms of the world of trees and plants. While we look back through the lens of ancient civilizations and begin to contemplate the future, our center stays rooted in the present as we explore the realm of the plant kingdom, take further strides in mathematics, strengthen our writing skills, and create beauty every step of the way.

Children at this age find themselves at a point of dynamic balance between earlier years of their childhood and the near-future years of adolescence. They feel confident, graceful, and capable most of the time, and a sense of harmony with the world becomes a part of most experiences. Explorations of the cultural beauty of several ancient civilizations (Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece) through stories, geography, art, and mythology will bring all to the early history and the many lessons Ancient Greece has given us. Language Arts curriculum will weave through all the blocks expanding children’s grammar, composition, and reading capacities.

Natural Science elements of the curriculum will thread through the realm of trees and plants (Botany) as we further expand our relationship to the blessings of plant life and the many gifts that we can give and receive to and from our beautiful Earth. Math curriculum will be full of color as freehand geometry and illustrated word problems accompany our practice and expanding skills of working with large numbers and fractions; and introductions to decimals, the metric system of measurement, and the ancient ways of recording numbers and measuring spaces.

I am so overjoyed that you are joining us on this special journey and feel excited to meet you very soon!

Main Themes of Grade 5

Language Arts: Grammar, Writing Composition, Reading, Reciting Poetry

Math: Freehand Geometry, Fractions cont’d, Long Division and main operations with large numbers, Word Problems, Decimals, Metric System of Measurement

Science: Trees, Plant Life, Connections to some of Ancient Civilizations’ Discoveries

Social Studies: Geography (North American Continent), Ancient Civilizations, Freehand Mapmaking

Artistic Work: Watercolor Painting, Clay Modeling, Pencil and Chalk Drawing, Handwork, Working with Wood

Full video is available in our Candle access HERE.