Grade seven

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

s children of this age are charged with emotional vitality, questioning everything and seeking to overthrow authority, seventh grade history is an intensive study of the Renaissance. It brought all previous cultural achievements to a glorious flowering and ushered in a new age of wide scientific inquiry and exploration.

Alive with drama and colorful figures, these are times when history is at its most story-like. The Arthurian legends and voyages of discovery round out this period, providing historical novels, biographies, ballads, and tales of adventure in literature. Composition, grammar and spelling continue.

Physics begins with the lever principle as found in the human arm. Through experimentation, the students learn basic mechanical concepts and their application in the machinery of ancient and modern times.

Inorganic chemistry is introduced as a study of the combustion process. From the beautiful legend of the bringing of fire to earth by Prometheus to a study of combustion in the digestive processes of the human organism, fire can be observed as the breaking down of substances by oxidation. Physiology is introduced as the study of life processes in man: blood circulation, respiration and nutrition in connection with health and hygiene.

Astronomy, beginning from their own place on the earth, allows the children observe solar, lunar, planetary and stellar phenomena. Their observations again lead them back to a picture of spatial relationships on earth.

World Geography, which now runs parallel to history, takes up the theme of adventurous exploration and covers the whole globe. The students’ knowledge of astronomy is called upon to further their understanding of climate, tides, and influences on cultural and economic life of the people of the earth.

Venturing into mathematical thinking that has no relationship to physical perceptions, mathematics introduces negative numbers for the first time, making real demands on the child’s imaginative powers. Square and cube roots and ratios are introduced. Algebra and business arithmetic study continue. Geometrical, perspective and black and white drawing are continued in more complex form.

A cappella singing, motets, madrigals, ballads and Renaissance music are introduced. Recorder continues. Eurythmy explores poems with contrast, wonder and surprise, and ballads with quick dramatic movement, drama and tragedy.

In handwork, the children sew dolls and clothing for the dolls, which they design themselves. Woodworking, creating bowls and lidded boxes in Grade Seven, and modeling in clay continue.

Physical education and games, as well as international folkdancing, continue.

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