I have had some requests to share work from our Waldorf-inspired second grade home school. I became much more comfortable teaching this year, and because of this and the wonderful subjects we studied, we had a lot of fun!
Saint Elizabeth of the Roses
In the second grade traditional Waldorf curriculum children can really start to sink into reading and writing. This happens when the child summarizes and illustrates stories that have been told to them. From these stories they create their own lesson books.
Robin Hood
One of the blocks in our second grade curriculum was “Saints and Heroes”. I’m not sure who liked these stories more, my daughter or me…regardless, they definitely fed my soul.
Saint Francis and Saint Clare
There was such richness in these stories, and I could feel Sofia soaking them up. My great great aunt Ruth was one of the heroes we studied…bringing it home.
Ruth Muskrat
I loved the Hiawatha story so much that we dedicated a whole 3 week block and lesson book to him.
Hiawatha in his Canoe
Through their lesson books children learn grammar, spelling and composition. These subjects are internalized through the work they create in their books.
Peace Talks
She learned about character and humanity, history and humility…all through retelling of stories, and lots of writing.
Portrait of Hiawatha
Creating illustrations brought the stories to life and made learning fun.
The Iriquois Confederacy
Math blocks and other subjects, such as animal legends and trickster tales were also sprinkled throughout the year. All of these stories were carefully chosen to soothe and validate a 7-8 year old’s emotional and internal development.
Number Wheel
The goal is to have every subject brought with beauty and care. With a mother and human as my child’s teacher, this didn’t always happen. We have to try though, right?
Color coded multiplication columns
We always used visuals and art to learn math as well.
Factor trees
When learning is fun, it is much more likely to happen, right?!