Grade five

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Teaching as a Lively Art
Marjorie Spock, Anthroposophic Press, Hudson, NY, 1985.

he fifth grader has integrated recent gains and grown more accustomed to being an isolated self, seeing the world from a new perspective. Yet, like the third grader, he or she is about to leave another phase of childhood behind and cross a new threshold of experience. The curriculum continues to build on already established foundations, introducing certain new elements to prepare for this next step forward.

Until now, history had only a pictorial and personal nature; no attempt was made to introduce exact temporal concepts or to proceed in strict sequences. Now, however, history becomes a special main lesson subject, as does geography. History, telling of human deeds and strivings, stirs the child to a more intense experience of his or her own humanness. Geography does exactly the opposite; it leads the child away from him or herself out into ever wider spaces, from the familiar to the unfamiliar. History brings the child to him or herself; geography takes the child out into the world.

The study of history starts in ancient India. Persian culture follows the Indian. The next great cultures studied are those of Mesopotamia, the Hebrews, the Assyrians, and the Egyptians. Then comes the civilization of the Greeks, with whom ancient history ends. Every means is used to give the children a vivid impression of these ancient cultures. They read translations of poetry, study the hieroglyphic symbols of the Egyptians, and sample arts and crafts of the various peoples, trying their hand at similar creations. By participating in the interschool Olympics, Waldorf students from Oregon, Washington and British Columbia enter into ancient Greek culture. Throughout, history seeks to educate the children’s feelings, rather than just their memory for facts and figures. It requires inner mobility to enter sympathetically into these ancient states of being.

Contrast is emphasized in the study of American geography. Every consideration of the earth’s physical features is linked with a study of the way human life has been lived in the region, the uses made of natural resources, the industry and produce.

As a continuation of their look at the living earth, fifth graders begin to study botany. After discovering some of the secrets of the plant life found in their own environment, the children’s attention is drawn to vegetation in other parts of the world.

Fractions and decimals are the work of arithmetic in Grade Five.

Choral singing is practiced regularly in both fourth and fifth grades. The C-recorder flute is used in connection with the main lesson. Woodworking begins with carving. Knitting now uses four needles to make socks. Eurythmy, foreign languages, folkdancing and physical education also continue.

K • grade 1 • grade 2 • grade 3 • grade 4 • grade 5 • grade 6 • grade 7 • grade 8 • high school