Bangalore Steiner School
Grade School
Realm of feeling - educate the emotional intelligence through feeling.
During this second stage of life, the child’s world expands beyond the self, and with this expansion, children’s feelings dominate their world as they move between joy and sadness and learn to manage these different emotions.
The growing Human Being: Stages of Development
One of Rudolf Steiner’s most powerful and important insights was that a human child passes through separate and distinct stages of development, marked by noticeable changes. Parents and teachers had long observed these changes, but it was Rudolf Steiner who first pointed out what they indicated – that the full and complex consciousness of the adult human being does not arrive all at once at birth, but grows gradually, in stages.
Our Curriculum
The Waldorf curriculum is designed to be responsive to the various phases of a child’s development. Thus, our endeavour is to engage with the curriculum and bring it alive such that it meets the living needs of the child rather than the child having to meet the needs of a curriculum. In a Waldorf school the relationship between the student and teacher is recognised as both crucial and changing throughout the course of childhood and early adolescence.
Subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography and language arts are taught in Main Lesson Blocks of two hours per day, with each Block lasting from three to five weeks. In addition to these, Hindi, Kannada, Painting, Music, Form Drawing, Handwork, Games, Woodwork, Gardening and practice are covered after the Main Lesson over the course of the week.
The Waldorf curriculum has been likened to an ascending spiral: Subjects are revisited several times, but each new exposure affords greater depth and new insights into the subject at hand. The class teachers will orient you regarding the curriculum for a particular grade at the beginning of the year.
Education to suit development
In-depth learning
Each academic subject like English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Hindi, Kannada and so on is taught with a creative & artistic approach in a block of 3-4 weeks to facilitate in-depth learning.
The morning circle
Gestures and body movements express the sounds of the spoken language and is a part of the morning circle. Movement and games have a great importance in the curriculum.
Local Festivals
Festivals provide a rhythm and community context to the school year.Songs in Indian languages and Indian Folk dance are also taught, usually in relation to the festival celebrations each term.
Handwork
In addition to the subjects described, handwork, gardening, clay work and wood work are also part of the weekly rhythm at the school for children of both kindergarten and grade school.
Nature Walks
Nature walks enable them to see the changes in the seasons.The natural materials available in the immediate environment are emphasized to make the learning process relevant and engaging.
Child Progress Reports
The child’s progress in their class will be shared with parents twice a year. A mid-year oral report is
scheduled.Class teachers will meet with each child’s parents for this report.