Sandpoint Waldorf School, Rudolf Steiner

Picture by Muir
Special Events

Critical thinking blossoms between the ages of 12 and 14, and the warmth of the earlier years of Waldorf education now begins to bear real fruit. Students have developed a rich store of understanding and connections with themselves and their world which leads to the ability to think more clearly and to meet, with confidence, the challenges of adolescence. Seventh grade Waldorf students find great satisfaction in the ideas and feelings echoing out of their childhood, instead of an emptiness and alienation that frequently meets the thinking of middle school age children.
Seventh grade is a year of discovering and exploring the self, the beginning of the growth of individuality. The time is ripe to study the Renaissance, an age when man dared to reach beyond his limits, to rebel against authority and chose to see the world through new eyes. In the arts these qualities were exemplified through the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Students find out about noble, far-reaching thinkers such as Galileo, Copernicus, Brahe, Visalius, and Paracelsus. The word science comes from the Latin world scio -- to know. The scholars of the Renaissance were not content to read Aristotle; they had to know -- so like seventh-graders themselves!

During the Renaissance a whole new age was born. Seventh graders learn of the accomplishments of Prince Henry the Navigator, Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama, Magellan, and Columbus, and their horizons expand through the study of Asian and European geography. A preoccupation with the Renaissance appears in many aspects of the seventh grade curriculum; students study astronomy and the human body, learning how captivated Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were with the body's movements.

Science studies also include nutrition and hygiene and such practical tasks as a complete study of bread making from field and mill to bakery. Physics topics include a continuation of electricity and magnetism and an introduction to simple mechanics. The first principles of chemistry, such as the processes of combustion, are introduced.

Seventh grade students study English Literature, in particular the Arthurian Legends, and continue to develop their writing composition and speech skills. The work of spelling and grammar also continue. Mathematics includes work with powers and roots, positive and negative numbers, algebra, and perspective geometry, another subject of the Renaissance.

Throughout the year core academic subjects are balanced by artistic and practical activities such as gardening, charcoal drawing, painting, clay modeling, woodworking, handwork and movement. Students continue with one or more foreign languages. Music study includes the introduction of madrigals and other Renaissance music as well as music theory and recorder ensemble work. As always, the curriculum strives to maintain a healthy balance of thinking, feeling, and willing activities.

Continue scrolling through the grades to better understand the phases of development and learning that Waldorf students experience.
Early Childhood | 1st grade | 2nd grade | 3rd grade | 4th grade | 5th grade
| 6th grade | 7th grade | 8th grade |Specialties | Back

Sandpoint Waldorf School Where the love of learning that lasts a lifetime . . . begins.
P.O. Box 95, Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208) 265-2683 e-mail: sws@coldreams.com


	Picture by Muir	Special Events
	Critical thinking blossoms between the ages of 12 and 14, and the warmth of the earlier years of Waldorf education now begins to bear real fruit. Students have developed a rich store of understanding and connections with themselves and their world which leads to the ability to think more clearly and to meet, with confidence, the challenges of adolescence. Seventh grade Waldorf students find great satisfaction in the ideas and feelings echoing out of their childhood, instead of an emptiness and alienation that frequently meets the thinking of middle school age children. Seventh grade is a year of discovering and exploring the self, the beginning of the growth of individuality. The time is ripe to study the Renaissance, an age when man dared to reach beyond his limits, to rebel against authority and chose to see the world through new eyes. In the arts these qualities were exemplified through the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Students find out about noble, far-reaching thinkers such as Galileo, Copernicus, Brahe, Visalius, and Paracelsus. The word science comes from the Latin world scio -- to know. The scholars of the Renaissance were not content to read Aristotle; they had to know -- so like seventh-graders themselves! During the Renaissance a whole new age was born. Seventh graders learn of the accomplishments of Prince Henry the Navigator, Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama, Magellan, and Columbus, and their horizons expand through the study of Asian and European geography. A preoccupation with the Renaissance appears in many aspects of the seventh grade curriculum; students study astronomy and the human body, learning how captivated Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were with the body's movements. Science studies also include nutrition and hygiene and such practical tasks as a complete study of bread making from field and mill to bakery. Physics topics include a continuation of electricity and magnetism and an introduction to simple mechanics. The first principles of chemistry, such as the processes of combustion, are introduced. Seventh grade students study English Literature, in particular the Arthurian Legends, and continue to develop their writing composition and speech skills. The work of spelling and grammar also continue. Mathematics includes work with powers and roots, positive and negative numbers, algebra, and perspective geometry, another subject of the Renaissance. Throughout the year core academic subjects are balanced by artistic and practical activities such as gardening, charcoal drawing, painting, clay modeling, woodworking, handwork and movement. Students continue with one or more foreign languages. Music study includes the introduction of madrigals and other Renaissance music as well as music theory and recorder ensemble work. As always, the curriculum strives to maintain a healthy balance of thinking, feeling, and willing activities. Continue scrolling through the grades to better understand the phases of development and learning that Waldorf students experience. Early Childhood \| 1st grade \| 2nd grade \| 3rd grade \| 4th grade \| 5th grade \| 6th grade \| 7th grade \| 8th grade \|Specialties \| Back
Sandpoint Waldorf School Where the love of learning that lasts a lifetime . . . begins. P.O. Box 95, Sandpoint, ID 83864 (208) 265-2683 e-mail: sws@coldreams.com