Resources for the Lower Grades
updated March 29, 2010

Morning Verse for Grades 1 - 4

The Sun with loving light
Makes bright for me each day,
The soul with spirit power
Gives strength unto my limbs,
In sunlight shining clear
I revere, Oh God,
The strength of humankind,
Which Thou so graciously
Has planted in my soul,
That I with all my might,
May love to work and learn.
From Thee stream light and strength
To Thee rise love and thanks.

Rudolf Steiner

by Pamela J. Fenner

First Grade

What's Taught?
The Waldorf School Curriculum - Grade 1 by Eugene Schwartz

see also
• Waiting Until the Change of Teeth - my personal experience with my daughter, Leah
• Form Drawing - article by Waldorf Curriculum

• First Grade: Capital Letters
• Determining Your Child's Temperament - article by Waldorf Curriculum
• There's also a wonderful -- and LONG -- description of each of the four temperaments and how to deal with them in times of conflict in the Introduction to Games Children Play: How Games and Sport Help Children Develop (highly recommended)
• Learning to Knit - journaling page by Waldorf Curriculum
• *NEW Picture Books featuring Knitting, Spinning, Weaving, Yarn
• Suggested Course of Study for First Grade by Waldorf Curriculum
• When Should My Child Begin Music Lessons? - article by Sarah Baldwin
• Books for First Grade from the Baldwin Project
• Find authentic fairy tales in the nonfiction section of your library -- check 398 in the Dewey Decimal System
• Rainbow Bridge ceremony for homeschool families with children beginning First Grade

• ECOlogical Calendar - a wonderful resource for the Four Seasons block and/or for the schoolroom wall!
• Samples from the First Grade Curriculum by Live Education!

  Fairy Tales and Storytelling from The Art of the Fairy Tale

  Writing the First Reader from From Moving and Speaking to Writing and Reading

  Beginning with the Primal Colors of Yellow and Blue from Lessons in the Arts for the Elementary Grades

  The Letter B from From Imagination to Form - The Letters A to Z

  Introduction to Multiplication from World of Numbers

  Castle Ramparts from Beginning with Form Drawing

  Marching in a Ring from Beginning Recorder, Drama and Poetry

• Musical Instument:
  to introduce the flute, read The Greatest Treasure by Demi

  the Choroi pentatonic flute is available at A Child's Dream Come True, along with many pentatonic songbooks
  submitted by Rhoda

• Fairy Tales:
  The Red Bird by Astrid Lindgren
  submitted by Rhoda

  The Baldwin Project has the entire text of many classics in children's literature available online for free including The Blue Fairy Book and The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang.
  submitted by Tonya

• Teaching the Alphabet:
  P - parrot
  The Horrendous Hullabaloo by Margaret Mahy

  W - web (spider web)
  Spiders Spin Webs by Yvonne Winer
  The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
  Be Nice to Spiders by Margaret Bloy Graham
  Charlotte's Web by E.B White
  etc.
  submitted by Rhoda

• School Materials for First Grade:
  Slate Board Set - from Rosie Hippo's
  submitted by Rhoda
• Form Drawing:
  Form Drawing in the Waldorf School - article by Eugene Schwartz

  form drawing mirror examples from Raphael House

  sample pages from Form Drawing for Beginners by Donna Simmons
  submitted by Rhoda

The following is exclusive content for Waldorf Curriculum members (subscription required):

• *NEW* First Grade Science block - January - 4 Seasons (pdf)
• First Grade Lesson Notes:

  • Form Drawing

  • Watercolor Painting
  • Handwork
  • Capital Letters
• Fairy Tale Notes - a list of fairy tales to tell plus songs and puppetries to accompany them
• First Grade Curriculum Overview with 138 pages of notes and background information on what and how to teach in first grade (my own personal compilation of notes and ideas).
• I also offer my thoughts on a First Grade Booklist: essential books which, combined with the Kindergarten Booklist, will give you everything you need to teach First Grade with confidence.

Second Grade

What's Taught?
The Waldorf School Curriculum - Grade 2 by Eugene Schwartz

see also
• Suggested Course of Study for Second Grade by Waldorf Curriculum
• *NEW* Blog Posts - Fables Unit
  • The Ant and the Grasshopper
  • The Crow and the Jug
  • The Milkmaid
  • The North Wind and the Sun
  • The Fox and the Grapes
  • The Mice in Council
  • The Hungry Coat
  • The Fox That Wanted Nine Golden Tails
• Notes on Second Grade Grammar blog entry - Rhoda
• Saint Patrick's lessons blog entry - Melisa Nielson

• Learning to Crochet - journaling page by Waldorf Curriculum
• Books for Second Grade from the Baldwin Project
• Samples from the Second Grade Curriculum by Live Education!

  Animal Study and Language Skills from Teaching Fables

  Some Fables from Lessing from A Collection of Fables

  Lessons in Modeling from The Golden Legends

  Owl and Moon from Drawing Simple Animal Forms

  The Main Lesson Book from Teaching Native American Legends

  Using Nature Stories to Teach Form Drawing from Nature Stories for the Second Year

  Rumi and the Caged Bird from A Collection of Golden Legends

• Live Education! recommends the following books to supplement the 2nd grade curriculum:

  Beasts and Saints by Helen Waddell
  

  Fables and Fairy Tales by Leo Tolstoy

• Saints block:
  Gmeyner, Elisabeth and Joyce Russell. ed. The Key of the Kingdom: A Book of Stories and Poems for Children.
  submitted by Rhoda

The following is exclusive content for Waldorf Curriculum members (subscription required):

• *NEW* Seasons in Poetry:
  Language Arts Unit (Winter)

  View the Complete Booklist for FREE
  Download Unit (subscription required)

• Fables Unit (Autumn)

• Saints Unit (Winter)
  Note: This block is meant to be taught in December. Please be aware that this block is written for families who celebrate Christmas; however, it can easily be modified.
• Column Algorithms (Spring)

Third Grade

What's Taught?
The Waldorf School Curriculum - Grade 3 by Eugene Schwartz

see also
• *NEW* Noah and the Flood - a play for 3rd grade by Eugene Schwartz
• Suggested Course of Study for Third Grade by Waldorf Curriculum
• Parenting the Nine Year Old from Waldorf in the Home
• Books for Third Grade from the Baldwin Project
• The Spring 1977 Issue of the Waldorf Clearing House Newsletter focused on 3rd grade
• Teaching Kids about Fibers and Spinning
• Samples from the Third Grade Curriculum by Live Education!

  Humanity's Shelters from Humanity on Earth - Shelter, Clothing, Farming

  Sundial from Time, Weight, Measure and Money - The Math of Practical Life

  Painting the Six Days of Creation from Time, Weight, Measure and Money - The Math of Practical Life

  Writing Letters from Literature, Grammar, Spelling, and Word Families

  Learning to Write Hebrew from Hebrew Myths and Culture - Prophets and Kings

• Live Education! recommends the following books to supplement the third grade curriculum:

  The Illustrated Story Bible by Pearl S. Buck
  

  Legends of the Bible by Louis Ginzberg

• Gardening Block/Telling Time:
  A Floral Clock Garden from Sunflower Houses: Inspiration from the Garden
  submitted by Rhoda

• Also for telling time, read The Sun's Day by Mordecai Gerstein and then have your child make a book showing the clock face (analog) at each time of day and a drawing of something that happens at that time.
• FREE clock face printout for practice drawing in hands

Linear Measurement:
Read first two chapters of Alice in Wonderland to begin Linear Measurement unit.

The following is exclusive content for Waldorf Curriculum members (subscription required):

• *NEW* Native American Legends
• *NEW* Farming & Gardening / Introduction to Fractions
  a bridge between Grade 3 and Grade 4
• Human Habitation
• Baking: Time, Temperature, Weight & Volume

*NEW* Bartering: Trade Goods & The Development of Currency

• Old Testament Stories
• See also the notes from my 2008 Summer Camps - camp topics included Farming & Gardening and Housebuilding.

Fourth Grade

What's Taught?
The Waldorf School Curriculum - Grade 4 by Eugene Schwartz

see also
• Discover Waldorf Education: The Cry for Myth by Eugene Schwartz
• Books for Fourth Grade from the Baldwin Project
• Samples from the Fourth Grade Curriculum by Live Education!

  The Block Calendar Rotation from Introduction to the Fourth Year

  The World Tree from The Norse Myths

  A Painting Activity from Beowulf

  The Finnish National Epic from The Kalevala

  Local Industry from Local Geography History and Industry

  The Land of Wylynn from Imaginative Math and Fractions

  An Exercise with Adjectives from Teaching Grammar with Imagination

  Three Archetypal Forms from Drawing Simple Animal Forms

  Animals Among the Elements from Human and Animal

  Octopus from The World of Animals

The following is exclusive content for Waldorf Curriculum members (subscription required):

• *NEW* Farming & Gardening / Introduction to Fractions
  a bridge between Grade 3 and Grade 4
• our older Introduction to Fractions
• Norse Mythology I
• Norse Mythology II
• Zoology I
• Zoology II

Share your ideas!

Community Bulletin Board is a unique feature at Waldorf Curriculum where people can make notes about things they would like to remember for the future. If you like the idea of never losing your teaching ideas again, submit them to the website and we'll keep track of them for you! (I can't even count the number of teaching notebooks and small pieces of paper I have lost -- the site is much more manageable). Simply join our Group; if you're already a Waldorf Curriculum member, contact me to submit your ideas.

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.