Second Grade
updated March 22, 2025
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 Two in Waldorf Education
Mission Statement - Consulting Services - Lending Library
Second Grade Immersive Experience
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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.
We did both Lowercase Letters and Native American Legends in grade 1. If you are doing those this year, maybe choose between Aesop's Fables and the Jataka
Tales, or do what Donna Simmons does and combine them into a block of Animal Fables. You can also follow her lead
in combining Saints & Virtuous People into one block.
You could also do 3 Math, 3 Language Arts, and 3 Cultural blocks this year and just have Nature Study as an ongoing theme.
In our mixed age homeschool co-op, 2nd grade did Saints / Fearless Women for their
Cultural topics when the 5th grade did U.S. Presidents / U.S. Geography for theirs (we did the U.S. Presidents because 2020
was an election year). Studying Fearless Women in March was very balancing for both groups, since they had been studying male saints and male presidents.
For Science, grade 2 has another year of Nature Study, so I had those students join the 5th grade Botany work and they studied
Herbal Medicines in January and helped with Planting a Tallgrass Prairie in May.
Perhaps you might consider an order like this...
Column Algorithms; Saints; Fables; Nature Study; Shapes & Number Patterns; Virtuous People;
Jataka Tales; Nature Study; Math Fun: Puzzles & Games
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 Second Grade Curriculum by Live Education!
Sanjaya and the Elusive Wind Antelope
from The Jataka Tales - Legends of the Buddha with Animal Fables
The
Universal Saint in Every Culture
from Teaching the Golden Legends - Lessons in Composition, Phonics, Cursive Writing, Painting and Modeling
Animal Science, Grammar, Speech, and Poetry
from Teaching Fables - Lessons for Animal Science, Grammar, Speech, and Poetry
So-son-do-wah and the Morning Star Iroquois
from Nature Science and Native American Legends
Formation
of Clouds
from Nature, Arithmetic, and Form Drawing with an Introduction to the Second Year
Three Archetypal Forms
from Drawing Simple Animal Forms
Owl and Moon
from Drawing Simple Animal Forms
Rumi and the Caged Bird
from A Collection of Golden Legends
The Hedgehog and the Hare
from Animal Fables from Around the World
Ruzuku Stand-Alone Courses
Why Ruzuku Courses?
My Professional Background
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
2020-2021
This was the main lesson block plan for our second grade class:
September - Column Algorithms
October - Saints
November - Fables
December - Class Play (Puppetry of Aesop's Fables)
January - Herbal Medicines with 5th graders (Nature Study)
February - Shapes & Number Patterns
March - Fearless Women
April - Jataka Tales
May - Planting a Tallgrass Prairie with 5th graders (Nature Study)
Resources & Recommendations Specific to Second Grade
Class Plays
The following is exclusive content:
Is there a subject you're having a hard time finding resources for? Please
contact the Yahoo Group for suggestions from our members or consider
hiring a consultant.
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