Class Description

Children race to meet their twelfth-year-of-life experiences as they begin the journey through the year of Class 6. New capacities and new ways of experiencing and discovering the world emerge in their lives. While critical, independent thinking will truly unfold in High School, in Class 6, they enter the realm of a feeling approach to thinking. A child’s life and experiences undergo great changes, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. Centered and grounded support and guidance of loving adults around them, parents, grandparents, teachers, and family mentors, is of utmost importance as we go through this year and the years ahead. Academically, the curriculum takes us through the work of laying the foundation for conceptual and critical thinking they are preparing for.

Students explore mathematical laws while developing confidence in their capacities to understand them, apply them, and trust that they can think through them. They write more than they did in the past with very little, if any, copying of teachers’ compositions like they did in the past years. Their skills in writing well-organized five-paragraph essays expand as well as their skills in business formats of writing. 

Astronomy, mineralogy, geography, history, science, and math weave together the school year allowing the children to experience their interconnectedness in the world that they live in. Physics takes us into the excitement of science experiments, observations, and explorations of heat, light, sound, and its lawfulness, like lawfulness in math and beautifully precise geometric constructions leading us into the Middle School years.

It is such a great honor to serve as your guide and a class teacher adding a spark of support for the year in which your twelve-year-old child prepares to see, explore, learn, and seek to understand the world with newfound capacities and confidence this stage that is on the cusp of adolescence brings to life.

Blessings on this year’s journey.

Class 6 Steiner pedagogy:

Language Arts: Biographies, Grammar, Historical fiction 

Mathematics: Pre-Algebra, Percentage, Interest, Profit/Loss, Geometry

Science: Gardening. Geology, Physics, Intro to Astronomy

Social Studies: Roman History, Troy, World Geography, Life of Christ, Crusades, Mohammed, Islamic people, Medieval Life

Sample Video's from Mr. Siepker:

Handwork With Ms. Maggie

The focus of Class 6 is fine needle work and an introduction to doll making. The students will learn traditional dollmaking techniques to make a handcrafted Waldorf doll, sewn by hand with skin-colored cotton knit fabric and stuffed with wool. The students will first make the doll head, and then draft a pattern for the body as they visualize how the pieces should come together to make a three-dimensional object. Careful stuffing techniques will be introduced as well as new sewing stitches, such as the invisible ladder stitch. Embroidery and basic crochet will be revisited as the face of the doll is embroidered and the cap for the doll hair is crocheted. Students will create a basic wardrobe for their dolls. The time, thought, and effort it takes to make these special dolls will be reflected in the students’ completed projects, all unique with their own character.

Eurythmy Inspired Movement With Ms. Tiffany

The theme of the sixth grade is “Master of the House.” The sixth grader is reminded where he comes from. This year we will work on memorizing the letter gestures forwards and backwards, as well as work with all colors. We will continue our work with walking various forms, as well as, threefold walking and moving through etheric space. For tone eurythmy, we work with rhythm, beat, and pitch in the direction of space, minor scales, and the Interval of the Octave. For copper rods exercises we will work intermediate to advanced rod exercises and activities that involve great concentration and coordination.

German with Mr. Dornemann

The aim of the course is to experience the German language, to get used to its sounds, acquire basic vocabulary and speaking skills. It is intended for beginners with no or little previous exposure to the German language.  

In the recorded part of the lessons there will be listening and speaking activities, poems, songs, stories and tongue twisters. Students will practice speaking by repeating what the teacher presents. In our live sessions we will engage in speaking and conversation as well as call and response.  

The vocabulary covered will include actions, counting, phrases, cultural references and many words describing aspects of everyday life.

Music with Mr. Mark 

In Music Class 6 we use singing games, dancing games, and sing-alongs to create music together. We explore physically the steady beat, how the beat relates to rhythm, and how beat and rhythm relate to melody in a naturally organic progression. The material we use incorporates aspects of the students’ Main Lesson blocks. Emphasis is on creative expression and musical exploration, where everyone participates together in the creation of beautiful music. Rythmic and Melodic Notation are explored in a fun, organic way that relates to the Feeling Life of the music rather than the Intellectual. We incporporate Intermediate Recorder into our musical explorations (many students have already been playing recorder at this age, and I take that into account as I incorporate complete beginners with those who have some recorder skills, so that we can all progress together). We will also incorporate Beginning/Intermediate Ukelele!