curriculum
highlights
Grade 7
History through biographies (1400 to 1700), Age of Exploration, the Renaissance
and Reformation, Shakespeare class play, African geography, physics (mechanics),
physiology, astronomy, inorganic chemistry, poetry composition, grammar,
spelling, literature, arithmetic, introduction to Algebra and the Golden Mean.
All grades also include music (singing and
recorder, strings, orchestral), Eurythmy,
Spanish, handwork, form drawing, painting,
Grade 8
Modern history, civics, world literature, short story reading and writing,
clay, woodworking (Grades 6-8), gardening,
world economic geography, physics (density and weight), organic chemistry,
drama, speech, physical education and
physiology, and algebra.
curriculum-related field trips.
Grade 9
English/Literature: tragedy-comedy, mythology, the novel,
grammar, essay writing. Drama: improvisation. Mathematics:
Waldorf Early Childhood programs provide children and families with a warm
All 9th Grade students—counting theory. Science: physics
Childhood
and nurturing experience. Free play alternates with group activities, such as
(thermodynamics), chemistry (organic), biology (anatomy),
Program
circle time for songs, finger plays and games, movement, painting, beeswax
geology. U.S. History: Revolutionary War (class trip to Boston).
modeling, crafts, cooking, storytelling and puppetry. Children experience all the
World History: Latin America, Revolutions, history of art.
activities with a sense of joy, yet each develops capacities, including fine motor
Visual arts: black-and-white drawing, clay, historical drawing,
skills, hand-eye coordination and language. Daily outside play encourages
basketry, woodworking.
Early
children to engage in larger, more active movement. The seasons of the year are
observed and celebrated with festivals.
Grade 1
Grade 10
(Grapes of Wrath), the analytical essay, writing lab. Drama: 10th
Grade play. Mathematics: conics sections. Science: physics
Fairy tales, folk tales and nature stories, pictorial and phonetic introduction
(mechanics), chemistry (acids and bases), biology (physiology).
to letters, form drawing, reading approached through writing, qualities
U.S. History: civics. World History: ancient civilizations, world
of numbers, introduction to the four processes in arithmetic and lower
religions. Visual arts: watercolor painting, clay instruments,
multiplication tables.
Grade 2
weaving, woodworking. U.S. History: civics. World History:
Legends of saints, multicultural folklore, animal fables, reading and writing,
ancient civilizations, world religions. Arts/Crafts: watercolor
elements of grammar, cursive, and arithmetic, including times tables, place
painting, clay instruments, weaving, woodworking.
value, carrying and borrowing.
Grade 3
English/Literature: Greece and the Odyssey, poetry, novel
Grade 11
English/Literature: Dante’s Inferno, Shakespeare,
Introduction to history through stories of the Hebrew people, study of practical
Parzival, eco-literature. Drama: Shakespeare monologues.
life through farming, housing, and clothing, Native American tales, reading,
Mathematics: projective geometry. Science: physics
spelling, writing, composition, grammar, punctuation and parts of speech, cursive
(electricity and magnetism), chemistry (atomic theory and
writing practice, higher multiplication tables, weights, measures and money.
periodic table), biology (botany and cell biology). U.S. History:
Colonial period to World War I. World History: Rome to
Grade 4
Grade 5
Local Native American studies and California history and geography, Norse
Renaissance, historical geography of Africa and the Middle
mythology and sagas, descriptive writing, composition and letter writing, study
East, music history. Visual arts: portrait drawing, veil painting,
of the animal kingdom, and fractions.
clay portraits, coppersmithing, book arts.
Ancient India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece, North American
geography related to vegetation, agriculture and economics, botany, Greek
letters, grammar, composition, spelling and reading, arithmetic, including
decimals, ratios and proportion, introduction to the Pythagorean Theorem.
Grade 6
Grade 12
English/Literature: Russian literature (19th and 20th century),
world literature, Transcendentalism, critical reading and
analysis. Drama: senior play. Science: physics (optics),
chemistry (biochemistry), biology (zoology), astronomy.
U.S. History: WWI to present. World History: economics,
History of Western civilization from Rome through the Middle Ages, rise of
symptomatology, history of architecture. Visual arts:
Islam, Arthurian legends and medieval tales, geography of South America and
stone sculpture, figure drawing, acrylic painting, textiles,
Europe, mineralogy, physics (acoustics, magnetism, optics and heat), botany,
architectural model building. Senior Project: independent,
astronomy, composition, grammar, spelling, biographies, geometric drawing
year-long explorations of individually selected topics.
with instruments, and business math.
Written and oral presentation.
For full chart of our curriculum, visit waldorfpeninsula.org
Mathematics:
9th-12th Grade
track classes
(offered by skill
level) include
Algebra,
Geometry,
Algebra 2,
Pre-Calculus,
Calculus 1–3
Spanish 1–5
track classes
offered by skill
level.
Each high
school year
includes
choral and
instrumental
music,
Eurythmy,
Wellness
& service
learning,
and PE.