Primary School
Starting in first grade, Waldorf students have a “class teacher” who will stay with them through fifth, and frequently even eighth, grade. The core curriculum taught by the class teacher is supported by subject teachers. The core curriculum and the subject classes are aligned with the students’ development as they grow.
Curriculum by Grade
Story Curriculum: Multicultural fairy tales, Maori legends, nature stories
Language Arts: Choral recitation, pictorial introduction and writing upper and lower case letters, sentence writing, oral storytelling, reading
Mathematics: Quality of numbers, counting forwards and backwards from 1-100, Roman numerals from I – X, odd/even numbers, four arithmetic processes, skip counting
Form Drawing: Straight and curved lines, standing forms, running forms
Visual Art: Crayon drawing, wet-on-wet painting, craft, wax modelling
Handwork: Finger knitting, making knitting needles, knitting, sewing
Music: Singing, beat and rhythm making, pentatonic recorder
Drama: Puppets, re-enacting fairy tales, assembly performances
Maori: Waiata, karakia, waiata-a-ringa, and mihimihi
Festivals: Class preparation and community celebration of festivals
Outdoor classroom: Exploring school gardens, farm land and local spaces, craft making with natural materials,
Farm to Table: Observing nature, gardening, composting, planting, worm farms
Movement: Ring games from around the world, skipping, beginning ball skills, balance, stilt walking, hopscotch, tagging game
Story Curriculum: Animal fables, Saints stories, King of Ireland’s Son, multicultural folklore, Pakiwaitara/Pūrākau – local stories and legends
Language Arts: Recitation, retelling stories, beginning composition, reading, punctuation, spelling, elements of grammar
Mathematics: Four arithmetic processes, place value, carrying/borrowing, number patterns, times tables, mental math practice
Science: The nearby world around us
Form Drawing: Symmetry, reflection, running & rhythmical forms, spirals
Visual Art: Crayon drawing, beeswax modelling, form arising out
of colour
Handwork: knitting, purl stitch, adding and reducing stitches, correcting mistakes, crocheting, hand sewing
Music: Singing in unison, recorder playing, playing by imitation
Drama: Re-enacting fables and legends, assembly performances
Maori: Waiata, karakia, waiata-a-ringa, and mihimihi,
Festivals: Class preparation and community celebration of festivals
Outdoor Classroom: Craft making with natural materials, basic fire skills, cooking on a fire, trips associated with main lesson studies
Farm to Table: Discovering living systems, gardening, composting, planting, worm farms
Movement: Ring games from around the world, skipping, beginning ball skills, balance, stilt walking, tagging games relay races, hula hoops
Story Curriculum: Old Testament stories, Maori Creation Myths
Language Arts: Speaking, composition, spelling, reading comprehension, basic parts of speech, punctuation, cursive writing
Mathematics: Time, measurement, weight, monetary calculations, times tables,
Science: Farming, agriculture, house building, people at work
Social Studies: Festival celebrations, ancient Hebrew culture, study of shelters through time,
Form Drawing: Circle divisions, expansion/contraction, comlex forms
Visual Art: Crayon/coloured pencil drawing, wet-on-wet painting
Handwork: Knitting patterns with different colours, fair isle knitting, weaving, crocheting, hand sewing
Music: Recorder playing, introduction to musical notation, singing in unison
Drama: Class play
Maori: Waiata, karakia, waiata-a-ringa, and mihimihi, commands, special nouns and verbs
Festivals: Cass preparation and community celebration of annual festivals
Outdoor Classroom: Basic fire skills, whittling, day tramps, shelter making, class camp
Farm to Table: Soil building, gardening, sprouting, harvesting, plant identification
Movement: Ball skills, historical world games, folk dancing, handball games, tagging games, relay races
Language Arts: Grammar, punctuation, verb tenses, descriptive & letter writing, cursive with fountain pen, poetry recitation, reading comprehension
Mathematics: Number patterns, times tables, long multiplication & division, fractions
Science: Human and animal
Social Studies: Local Geography, Māori and European local history, Norse Myths, map-making
Form Drawing: Weaving patterns, Celtic knots
Visual Art: Wet-on-wet painting, clay modelling, crayon/coloured pencil drawings
Handwork: Cross stitch, chain stitch, crocheting in a round, hand sewing
Music: Recorder, singing in rounds, introduction to a second instrument
Drama: Development of individual speaking parts, Norse class play
Maori: Te Reo, waiata, karakia, karakete, commands, Tī rākau, paku mihi, simple conversations
Festivals: Class preparation and community celebration of annual festivals
Outdoor Classroom: Two night class camp, waka canoe trips, Marae camp, cycle outings
Farm to Table: Growing food, harvesting, preparing and sharing food, building community
Physical Education: Team sports such as volleyball, miniball, touch rugby, netball, cross country running
Language Arts: Grammar, composition, spelling, reading, report writing, direct/indirect speech, active/passive voice, paragraph structure, book reports, research writing,
Mathematics: Introduction to decimals, fraction problems, ratio & proportion, geometry, freehand geometry, mental math practice, multiples & factors, prime numbers
Science: Botany: exploration of the plant kingdom
Social Studies: Ancient India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece, NZ geography
Form Drawing: Celtic, Greek and Byzantine influenced patterns:
Visual Art: Wet-on-wet painting, clay modelling, pencil drawing
Handwork: Reading knitting patterns, knitting slippers, socks and gloves
Woodwork: Practicing with tools: saws, rasps, gouge and mallet, spoke shave, draw knife, drills, and carving knife, finishing techniques
Music: Reading musical notation, recorder playing in parts, part singing, performance
Drama: Solo parts, Greek chorus
Maori: Extending kupu hou and marae protocol, conversational practice, mihimihi
Festivals: Class preparation and community celebration of annual festivals
Outdoor Classroom: Clay modeling, harakeke, cycling, waka canoe trips, museum visits, Greek Olympics camp
Farm to Table: Growing food, harvesting, preparing and sharing food, building community
Physical Education: Team sports, cooperative games, athletics, cross country running, Olympic disciplines such as, javelin, discus, wrestling.
Language Arts: Advanced grammar, spelling, report writing, research projects, stylistic writing, presentation of work
Mathematics: Business math, algebra, constructive geometry, relationship of circles, triangles & polygons, Pythagorean theorem, introduction of abstract formulas,
Science: Geology, mineralogy, astronomy
Social Studies: Islam, ancient Rome, Middle Ages in Europe and Asia, Geography of the Pacific Basin
Form Drawing: Geometric drawing with instruments Study of Plato, Aristotle, Thales, Pythagoras, Eratosthenes, and Archimedes
Visual Art: Clay modelling, watercolour painting, geometric drawing, mosaics,
Woodwork: Practicing with hand tools to make spoon, bowl
Handwork: Designing and making a stuffed animal, pattern making, fabric cutting, using a sewing machine
Music: Part and response singing, extended musical pieces
Drama: Medieval class play
Maori: Pakumihi, conversational practice, asking questions, kapahaka
Festivals: Class preparation and community celebration of annual festivals
Outdoor Classroom: Clay firing, environmental action, class trips associated with main lesson studies, class camp
Farm to Table: Growing food, harvesting, preparing and sharing food, building community
Physical Education: Team sports, cooperative games, athletics, cross country running, participation in local sports teams, complex folk dancing, stave work
Language Arts: Poetry composition, creative writing, grammar, spelling, literature, biographies, reports, research, techniques for composition, presentation skills
Mathematics: Algebra, graphs, golden mean, Fibonacci series, order of operations, signed numbers & powers, positive/negative numbers, study of triangles & circles, area
Science: Physics of magnetism and electricity, geocentric astronomy, chemistry of heat, symbols of the elements and formulae of simple compounds, physics of levers, human anatomy and movement of skeletal joints, health, sexuality (human relationships) & nutrition, cyber citizenship
Social Studies: Age of Exploration, Renaissance & Reformation, World geography, Biographies
Form Drawing: Advanced forms
Visual Art: Perspective drawing, felting, woodworking
Wood/Metal work: Making objects from wood, pewter and copper
Handwork: Doll making, designing and making clothes
Music: Playing and singing in harmony, exploration of differentiated tones, qualities and dynamics, practice reading musical notation, opportunities for solo performances
Drama: Shakespeare class play
Maori: Pakumihi, Kapahaka, practice of conversational Te Reo
Festivals: Class preparation and community celebration of annual festivals
Outdoor Classroom: Environmental action, bushcraft, camping, tramping, class adventure camp
Farm to Table: Growing food, harvesting, preparing and sharing food, building community
Physical Education: Athletics, cross country running, participation in local sports teams, sports leadership, coaching in competitive ball sports