The
Chennai
Waldorf School

THE FALL FROM GRACE

Establishing the self, and reconnecting with the world Third grade is a big year of transformation. Kids begin to feel a separation and loss of the kingdom of early childhood as they enter into a more conscious state of who they are as separate from the people and places around them. These changes may have already begun in second grade, and may also not come around until fourth grade. It is a time of awakening, the second time in the child’s life that he discovers “I.” The first time was around the age of three when he first used the word “I” to refer to himself. The third grade Waldorf curriculum gives the gift of meeting the world that he has come to acknowledge with the tools he will need to live in his new home, the earth.

 

1. LANGUAGE ARTS:

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THE ANCIENT SCRIPTURES OF INDIA is introduced first under Language Arts where days of creation are done using slokas from TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD. Besides, children are exposed to Dasavatar stories, Thiruvilaiyadal (Divine plays of Lord Shiva), Harichandra and stories of Alwars. Kids engage in daily recitations and speech work. They learn numerous poems and speech exercises from a variety of sources. The children hear many Stories of Wonder (famous folktales from all over the world) and are asked to read aloud. They are also encouraged to read quietly in their own books, which are chosen according to their particular reading levels and interests.

 

• Grammar:

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Kids begin their journey into the world of grammar with a delicate and beautiful introduction to identifying the parts of speech. Nouns become “picture words” and verbs are “doing words.” They create sentences that are written on the board and copied into their main lesson books (MLB). There is joy in the classroom when kids volunteer to perform some of the “doing words” and a guessing game ensues. They begin to see how a series of sentences can be grouped and connected to form a paragraph. They create and play games, write sentences, and come to a clear understanding that many words sound the same but have very different meanings.

 

2. MATHAMETICS:

In second grade, kids learned about place value to the hundreds place; this year ( in Third Grade) they will expand their understanding to the lakh place. Throughout the year the class continues to work with all four processes: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They continue to work regularly with the times tables and the complexity of problems advances within each of the processes. Some of this work is enhanced by the introduction of the abacus. Each student constructs his/her own abacus, and they regularly practice “reading” the numbers from the new tool. The class is introduced to long division and practices multiplying large numbers. They use practical applications of these skills as much as
possible.

 

• Weights & Measures:

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In the study of measurement, the children come to know our world much better by “doing” Mathematics. There is often great delight as they make measuring tools and hear stories of fictitious kings and queens who learn to measure things using parts of the body: horses are measured in “hands”; the distance from elbow to fingertip becomes the “cubit”; the “feet” of a person become an accurate but slow method to measure a building’s length; and three feet become a “yard.” Having new tools, they move about the classroom measuring each other and themselves: the doors, the blackboard and the room itself. Besides, they learn about the concepts of time, money, estimation, rounding off numbers and the tricks of zeros in 10’s, 100’s and 1000’s.

 

3. SCIENCE:

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•  Weather:

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Weather blocks provide the kids with an opportunity to nurture their senses. These blocks encourage and stimulate sensorially-rich observation by the kids. Children maintain a weather log; they observe the weather everyday and make an entry. Different types of clouds, weather folklore, observing the wind speed using the Beaufort scale and wind vane, phases of the moon, sea breeze and land breeze, rainbows, importance of the moon for the sea tides, shadow and the direction of the sun are covered under this block. All these topics are presented to the kids through stories, songs, painting and activities.

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• Practical Projects (Building and Farming):

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Children try their hands in carpentry work, take measurement independently, cut the log and work on the project. The first of the farming blocks in a series called ‘Life on Earth’. The third graders learn about life on the farm, the cycle of the seed, and how minerals, plants, and animals come together to sustain life. Both on paper and with their hands, the children discover the “beginnings” of the food that eventually reaches our tables. Through this block, the children learn how difficult it is to work the land and they come away with a greater understanding of the food we eat. Kids will start a vegetable garden and maintain it regularly.

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• Housebuilding:

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Kids learn about dwellings that were built in different regions. Types of Houses that are introduced in this block:

- Log Cabins
- Moroccan or Bedouin Sheepskin Tents
- Eskimo or Inuit Igloos
- Yurts
- English Thatched Straw House
- Adobe and Pueblo
- Teepees of the North American Plains Indians
- Sod Houses of the North American Plains
- Stone Castles of Europe (or stone block houses)
- Stilt Houses in South East Asia
After researching many different dwellings from all over the world, the children choose the shelter they wish to make a project.

 

4. SOCIAL STUDIES:

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• History:

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Stories of great freedom fighters are narrated to the kids. They are encouraged to take the role of different freedom fighters and enact the roles in monologues. Patriotic songs are taught, meaning of the Indian flag and the significance of the Independence Day and Republic Day are also discussed. In addition to this, kids learn about the three great Tamil kings (Chera, Chola and Pandya) through pictures and stories.

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• Geography:

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Kids learn about the political and physical features of India. Landforms (gulf, cape, archipelago, systems of lakes, isthmus, etc.) are taught to the kids through songs, drawing , craftwork and diorama. Each of the 29 states are discussed namely the capital, languages, crops grown, traditional attire, food, festivals, dance and famous tourist spots.

 

5. LANGUAGES:

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(Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi and French)
Songs, stories, puppet shows and various other activities are introduced to the kids in all languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi and French. Besides Spoken Sanskrit, grammar (future tense, possessive case, infinitives, etc.), story book reading, listening comprehension, synonyms, make sentences and dictation are covered. Similarly, more focus is being given in Tamil to enhance their reading, writing and comprehension skills through story book reading, sentence making, synonyms, antonyms, story writing and other activities. THIRUKURRAL, AATHICHUDHI, BHARATHIYAR poems are regularly done in Tamil blocks. Constant exposure is given to develop their spoken skills in Hindi and French.

 

6. FORM DRAWING:

The children become more aware and even critical of the adults they adored before. It is the time when they finally lose their connection to the cosmic enveloping forces and are “driven out of paradise’, the round lines are gradually transformed into angular, straight lines. But this can also be in a reverse process; by angular shapes to more round shapes.  All kinds of variants are possible. Again the child is stimulated to move inwardly. Mirroring the forms creates a breathing process between centre and periphery. Three- and four-sided symmetry, inverting from inside outward, geometric forms – drawing a circle freehand, crossing the vertical and horizontal midline, symmetrical forms from left to right or from above downward; bringing two different forms into relation with one another. Finding harmony and balance in their forms is a challenge the children love at this age.

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7. HEALTH & SAFETY:

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Separate schedule is set aside for Health & Safety for it is obviously a very important subject. Topics include:

•  Knowing names, address and phone numbers

•  Basic hygiene

•  Traffic awareness

•  Safety around animals

•  Stranger danger

•  Healthy eating habits

•  Respect towards others

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8. SPECIALITY SUBJECTS:

The Waldorf method of education, through the arts, awakens imagination and creative powers, bringing vitality and wholeness to learning. No other educational movement gives such a central role to the arts as does Waldorf education.

 

 VISUAL ARTS:

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• Watercolour painting

•  Drawing

•  Pottery

•  Class play

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 FINE ARTS:

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•  Recorder

•  Classical dance

•  Classical vocal

•  Performing arts

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 HANDWORK:

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•  Felting

•  Quilling

•  Sewing

•  Knitting

•  Origami

•  Macrame

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 PHYSICAL EDUCATION:

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•  ATB (Awareness Through The Body)

•  Cooperative games and sports

•  Gymnastics

•  Yoga

•  Pranayama

•  Tai-chi

 

AKSHAR gives lots of importance to the traditional games of Tamil Nadu and KOLAM is also taught to the kids.