Grade 4 in Waldorf Education

Class Description

“For the Fourth Grade child, the inner and outer worlds are no longer one. The child experiences these worlds torn apart. Self-consciousness becomes stronger, and the soul life becomes more inward and independent. The task of the teacher and parent is to lead the child into a world that is filled with beauty and meaning.” – Rudolph Steiner

During this year, children become increasingly awake to the awareness of their individuality, they look around and seek to discover where they stand in the world around them. Some of their experiences can be filled with confusion and contradictions as they feel the need to begin learning how to navigate both, the calm and rocky waters of their world. They experience rising self-consciousness and heightened cognitive awareness. They become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and will. A fourth grader’s questioning springs forth with “Why? How come? Are you sure? How do you know?” on a daily basis. The curriculum seeks to help them discover and explore possible answers to these seemingly endless questions.

Meeting the children in the beauty of colors, creative artistic explorations, and outdoor experiences in nature can provide nourishment for their soul journey and inspiration to their inquisitive minds as they strengthen their confidence in the sense of connection and belonging to their family, community, their class, and their friends near and afar. The curriculum meets them in this stage with the mythological images from Norse Sagas, stories, and legends inspired by their local area history, mapmaking, and the colorful qualities of artistic work.

Math curriculum reflects their perception of many, seemingly very separate, parts of their world by introducing them to fractions, their qualities, and ways of working with them through the four basic processes.

Science studies take a turn from nature and living on the earth to more specifically observe the world of nature around them. The children take a close look observing animals, landscapes, and their relationships to each other and to the human being.

Main Themes of Grade 4

Language Arts: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar, Norse Mythology, stories inspired by local history, stories inspired by the history and cultures of Native civilizations 

Math: Expanding on the work with large numbers, Introduction to Fractions, Long division, averages, checking own work 

Science: Human Being & Animals, Landscapes & Animals 

Social Studies: Compass, Mapmaking, Local Geography (neighborhood, town, state, region), Stories inspired by local history, stories inspired by the history and cultures of Native civilizations 

Artistic Work: Watercolor, Drawing with pencils, Drawing with crayons, Form Drawing and Freehand Geometry, Songs, Recitation (poetry and class plays), clay modeling 

Full video is available in our Candle access HERE.