The Curriculum of the Steiner School - Class 1

Notes and Lesson Plans

First Grade
updated September 4, 2023


Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!

This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.



Class One in Waldorf Education

Mission Statement - Consulting Services - Lending Library



First Grade Immersive Experience

$375.00

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Signs of First Grade Readiness (PDF)


Notes on Schedule of Main Lesson Blocks

Everyone does it differently, and you don't have to think of the main lesson topics as "subjects" because many of them are interdisciplinary. I labeled them to the left but it is a bit arbitrary.

However, I find it helpful to give them rough categories so that I can be sure we are balanced in the kinds of thinking we practice throughout the school year.

Each discipline has different habits of mind, and I like to rotate between them. Alan Whitehead suggests this, although he suggests using three-week long blocks. We do a nine month school year with month-long blocks: two blocks of each subject plus a class play each year.

Form Drawing can be considered a Math topic, a Language Arts topic, or its own subject.

Lowercase Letters can be done using fairy tales in either grade 1 or grade 2. If you want to save it for grade 2, consider the poetry slant to the Four Seasons block.

We used Native American Legends as a bridge into grade 2. I think it helps to put it in grade 1 since you have so many topics to fit in grade 2 Language Arts / Cultural (Saints & Virtuous People, Aesop's Fables, Jataka Tales, and Lowercase Letters if you put it there).

I tried to combine the Four Elements and the Archetypal Professions into one block but I wouldn't suggest doing that. They are connected, but they both need their own unique time to be explored.

Perhaps you might consider an order like this...
Form Drawing; Quality of Numbers; Capital Letters; Four Elements; Archetypal Professions; Math Gnomes; Lowercase Letters; Four Seasons; Native American Legends


Eight Books for the First Grade Year
my April 2021 list of recommended titles


A Peek into the Classroom

Morning Verse for Lower Grades

Gallery of Chalkboard Drawings in the Waldorf Classroom grades 1 - 8

Waldorf/Steiner Main Lessons and Main Lesson Blocks VERY helpful article
from the Sophia Institute Online Waldorf Teacher Training program

  • The Main Lesson - Principles and Features
  • The Main Lesson - Structure
  • The Main Lesson - Rhythm
  • The Main Lesson - Planning a Main Lesson Block
  • Sample Template for Waldorf/Steiner Main Lesson Block


Samples from the First Grade Curriculum by Live Education!


Ruzuku Stand-Alone Courses

Why Ruzuku Courses?

My Professional Background

First Grade Main Lesson Block Planning


Capital Letters

$30.00

Four Elements

$30.00

Four Seasons

$30.00

How to Teach Spelling
Grades 1 - 8

$65.00

Math Gnomes

$30.00


Quality of Numbers

$30.00


note that ALL of these courses are included in the Immersive Experience


General Waldorf Resources

The Education of the Child in the Light of Anthroposophy
article by Rudolf Steiner

How To Create, Tell, and Recall a Story

Four Ways to Connect with Storytelling
blog post - Simplicity Parenting

Overview of Childhood Characteristics - includes the four temperaments
article by David Mitchell

Blackboard Sketching book by Frederick Whitney (1908)
available online for free - with step by step directions and illustrations

How to Bind a Main Lesson Book

Main Lesson Book pages shared by Christopherus Homeschool Resources

browse through my collection of Pinterest Boards
with chalkboard drawings and main lesson book pages for many main lesson blocks

Movement for Childhood - wonderful site!

Waldorf Today Newsletter
very interesting & free weekly newsletter sent via email each Monday

Block Rotations Grades 1 - 8 (PDF)
by Jamie York

Summary of Math Skills for Grades 1 through 8 (PDF)
by Jamie York

A Grades 1 through 8 Math Curriculum Overview (PDF)
by Jamie York

Word Problems in Grades 1 through 8 (PDF)
by Jamie York

Jamie York has a BUNCH of free resources on his site including sample math MLB pages for grades 1-11, and lesson plans and assessments for grades 1-5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Waldorf Science Newsletter - issues available in PDF format
page 13 of Vol.1 has a Science Curriculum in the Waldorf School Grades 1-8 overview / one page handout, and page 14 has the same for the Waldorf High School Grades 9-12

World Geography and Waldorf Education
blog post - Switzerite

When Should My Child Begin Music Lessons?
article by Sarah Baldwin

The Spiritual Gifts of Handwork
blog post - Knitting with Children

"Foundations of Waldorf Education" Series Notes
FREE links to all 25 volumes in this series of educational writings by Rudolf Steiner

DO NOT MISS The Online Waldorf Library's tremendous selection of Waldorf education books converted into PDFs and available for FREE download! You can literally save $1000's of dollars!


Curriculum Planning



Little Bluestem Homeschool Co-op
2019-2020

This was the main lesson block plan for our first grade class:

    September - Form Drawing

    October - Capital Letters

    November - Quality of Numbers

    December - Class Play with 3rd/4th graders (Hawaiian Mythology)

    January - 4 Elements (Archetypal Professions)

    February - 4 Seasons (Nature Study)

    March - Fairy Tales (Lowercase Letters)

    April - 4 Operations (Math Gnomes)

    May - Native American Legends



Resources & Recommendations Specific to First Grade


Class Plays


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