Teaching Waldorf in the Early Grades: An Interview with Renata Welker (Part 3)
We are excited to share with you the second part of our interview with our Grade 2/3 Teacher, Renata Welker. Renata goes into depth about various aspects of our Waldorf early grades curriculum and shares insights from her long experience as a teacher.
The Role of Drama and Theater
Theater and Drama are tools for learning in Waldorf Schools. Each class puts on its own play from the story theme for the year, and each student in that class participates. The way the plays are done evolves over time to match the developmental needs of the children. In first grade, the class often speaks the play chorally and the children practice learning to memorize lines and cues so that, starting in 2nd or 3rd grade, they are ready to take on more individualized roles. Theater provides a venue for social learning – about responsibility, about compromise, and learning to receive and integrate feedback. The results often highlight individual and class growth. In addition to class plays, teachers lead students in preparing short pieces for school assemblies. These are often designed to bring an academic point home and help students to become comfortable with public speaking.
Laying a Strong Foundation
The work of the early grades is to lay a strong foundation for the years of learning ahead. It develops skills and capacities that blossom in later grades. The children learn how to be and work with one another. They learn through stories about ways that other people have struggled and overcome adversity and worked towards justice. This develops in later years into students who are open to both working on themselves and to working towards the betterment of the world around them. Renata describes how Waldorf 8th graders are often very grounded, and ready to take the next step into the world in a confident yet discerning way, having developed their capacities for observation and for action.
Multiple Years with One Teacher
Waldorf Teachers stay with a particular class for multiple years, establishing a relationship wherein a teacher really gets to know the students and their families. Teachers grow to know what each student's strengths are, how they learn best, and where they need support or additional challenge. This multi-year relationship allows parents and teachers to work together to help support students, and to encourage them to do their best work. The teacher also brings all the parents of the class together to be a supportive community for the children. That includes parent meetings, as well as class trips with parent volunteer support, which all help deepen that community connection.
Language Learning in the Early Grades
Waldorf Schools have foreign language learning as a core part of their curriculum starting in first grade. There is a significant amount of neuroscience research supporting the benefits of learning multiple languages, especially at an early age. In the early grades, the children start with songs, poems and games which lay the foundation for more complex language learning in the upper grades. Waldorf students often continue language learning into high school and college, and the experience of learning languages in grade school makes new language acquisition much easier in later years.
The Importance of Music in Waldorf School
Music is an important part of the Waldorf experience from first grade onwards. It is similar to foreign language instruction in that children learn to express themselves through music using different instruments and learning to read music. Music also has numerous well documented academic and developmental benefits for children. The music curriculum in first grade starts with singing and learning to sing as part of a choral group. The students also learn to play on simple recorder flutes. They learn first by imitation. Over time they are then introduced to music notation, and multipart harmonies. Starting in third or fourth grade students start with the strings education, learning violin, cello, or viola. They further develop their ability to read music and learn about what they can do individually and what can be done in concert and in harmony with others.
We hope you enjoyed listening to Renata speak about the early grades curriculum!