This session introduces the Waldorf model’s unique woven structure. It introduces the vertical and horizontal threads of the curriculum, which blend to offer a cohesive educational experience from kindergarten through to upper school. The session also introduces additional unique elements of Waldorf education, including movement and handwork, and daily lesson blocks that tie a single theme to many subject disciplines.
The session was led by Kath Bransby (Education Coordinator, Waldorf UK).
Key Points Summarising Session 1
Vertical Curriculum: Subject Progression
Waldorf’s vertical curriculum describes subject knowledge progression over time, from kindergarten through to upper school. It ensures age-appropriate content while building on prior knowledge as students advance. For example:
- English: Progresses from fantasy tales in class one to fables and creation myths in classes two and three. Later, students explore myths and legends, followed by biographies and historical narratives. The upper grades culminate in literary fiction and analysis, allowing deeper engagement.
- Social sciences: Begins with community concepts in class one, moral lessons in class two and early societies in class three. This leads to more complex historical studies and culminates in examinations of modern social structures in later year groups.
- Geography: Starts with local exploration, expanding outward through cultural studies. In class four students focus on local geography through map-making before expanding outward to global geography, such as oceanography or astronomy, in the upper grades.
- Science: Kindergarten begins with experiential learning about nature. As students develop, they engage with basic scientific concepts, moving to formal studies of biology, chemistry, and physics in the upper grades.
- Maths: Begins with playful numeracy activities in kindergarten, building complexity through practical application. After establishing basic numeracy skills, students explore geometry, algebra, and real-world problem-solving.
Horizontal Curriculum: Thematic Connections and Lesson Blocks
Supporting Waldorf’s vertical curriculum is a horizontal curriculum. This encompasses thematic connections that link multiple subjects. The horizontal curriculum guides both content and pedagogical approaches and forms the structure for Waldorf’s all-important lesson blocks.
Lesson blocks tie one theme to as many subject disciplines as possible. Taking place every day for about two hours – and lasting 3-5 weeks – each lesson block enables in-depth exploration of a given theme, providing students with meaningful connections to different study areas. While supplemented by additional subject learning, lesson blocks form the basis of Waldorf’s education model, reinforcing interdisciplinary learning and bringing context to what children learn. For example:
- In class one, the theme ‘home surroundings’ encourages exploration of children’s immediate locale, for instance through stories (literacy) and local environment (geography).
- In class two, themes of moral behaviour from fables (literacy) link to discussions about character traits and cultural norms (social studies, history, economics, society and culture).
- In class three, ‘practical life and living’ explores creation myths (literacy and culture), and skills like measurement and technology (maths) as well as nature exploration (sciences).
- By class five, myths transition into historical studies, connecting with ancient cultures (geography) and Olympic sports (physical education).
- Many themed lesson blocks apply throughout the curriculum, and they are always interwoven. For instance, literary studies might focus on the historical contexts or geographical settings concurrently being explored.
Additional Unique Elements of Waldorf Education
Alongside its novel structure, Waldorf employs additional unique elements, such as:
- Movement and Eurythmy: Physical activity is integral to Waldorf education. ‘Eurythmy’ is an expressive art form combining physical expression with speech and music, promoting cognitive success through movement.
- Play-based learning: Linked to Eurythmy, Waldorf encourages self-directed, imaginative play as a way for children to explore, learn, and develop essential cognitive, social, and emotional skills. It starts with free play and progresses into cooperative games, group and strategy games and team sports.
- Handwork: Children develop practical skills through handworking. In kindergarten, this begins with fibres and fabric, before progressing throughout the years to projects involving wood, metal, ceramics and leather.
- Drawing and blackboard work: Teachers use blackboard drawings to illustrate key concepts during lesson blocks. Children also regularly combine art and maths with pattern-making.
- Modern languages: In kindergarten, modern languages are taught primarily through oral immersion, prioritising conversational skills over reading and writing. This also develops grammar and intercultural understanding.
- Kindergarten approach: Waldorf kindergartens feature mixed-age settings that promote family-like environments, with formal learning starting later than in mainstream schools. This approach means they are exempt from parts of England’s Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.
Later sessions in this webinar further illuminate Waldorf’s model, providing practical examples of how children develop their understanding of economics over time. The sessions highlight how the curriculum is applied while demonstrating its increasing complexity and how a single theme can interconnect through subjects like history, geography, literacy, math, craft, science, and careers.