At the heart of the Waldorf approach is the recognition of the physical and emotional changes that occur as a child matures.

In the primary grades our teachers take care to introduce skills, subjects, and concepts at a time that is appropriate to the child’s physiological, emotional, and spiritual development.
We use a multisensory approach, integrating the arts into each subject to engage the whole child in the learning process rather than simply imparting intellectual information.

We do not teach students “a set of facts” they will need for secondary. We help each child to develop a set of skills learned in relationship to that child’s individual experience. Anything learned purely through memorization is not enough. Real learning and understanding occur when you have internalized the experience and made it your own. We strive to support our primary school pupils in the unfolding of their emotional lives by nurturing their growing sensitivities and feelings through every step of our curriculum.

The following guidelines are for information only; each year's curriculum will be adjusted according to the needs of the class and students.

The teacher retains the same class for the first 6 years.

Through this long and intense co-operation teachers acquire a profound knowledge of each child’s personality, which is essential for their work.

In the classroom, each teacher will choose the form of teaching subjects that seems most appropriate for the children.

The teacher will adapt the curriculum according to the needs of the class and individual pupils. The level of learning might vary to suit all children.

The curriculum is divided into 3 equal parts:

• language & social sciences
• Mathematics & natural sciences
• Arts-crafts & movement

In addition, one or several topics are taught by teachers of different subjects.

As a general rule, pupils have 5 units of 105 minutes in their main course, 7-9 units of languages (FR & EN), 4-5 units of crafts and art, 3-4 units of movement /sport, 2 units of music

With the years the units change and vary.

For the school hours click here

The Waldorf curriculum aims to provide each age group with content that is adapted to them, to choose carefully from the many topics available and to conduct lessons in a lively and concrete manner.

In our school current state schoolbooks are not deemed adequate. For this reason pupils make their own books by writing down the conclusions of what they have learnt: In language classes, literary works can be used and pupils receive exercise sheets.

Since there are no schoolbooks, parents are encouraged to stay informed through parent evenings in order to follow their children’s progress.

Lighting the mind and soul with storytelling

Children are ready to begin to work with memory and thinking in a more concentrated way.

They carry within them much of the imaginative consciousness of early childhood, but are becoming more aware of the world around them.

In the first and the second year of Primary our school uses the principle of “Bewegtes Klassenzimmer” which means that classes are literally held in movement, not subjects but languages for example are learned in movement which nurtures the learning through the ‘senses’.

For more information about the 12 senses by Rudolf Steiner please follow this link:
http://www.movementforchildhood.com/uploads/2/1/6/7/21671438/12sensesmfc.pdf

Developing the sense of community and building the community are equally important in primary grades

The Main course is held in German which is the vehicular language and consists of form drawing, introduction to alphabet, literacy through poetry and stories, writing, pictorial and phonetic introduction to letters, reading approach through writing, speech formation Mathematics is also part of this main class.

Mathematics: Basic arithmetic operations up to 20, counting up to 100

Natural & Social sciences: Nature stories, fairy tales and ancient legends

French, English: Round dance, singing, proverbs, games and dialogue, learning in movement through listening and orally building passive elementary vocabulary

Art and Crafts: Knitting, free-hand drawing, watercolour painting

Music: Pentatonic flute and singing

Sports-movement: Games, rhythmic movement, outdoor activities going for walks / hikes to the nearby woods, jumping with rope

Eurythmy: Round dance, movements based on simple shapes in space, ‘body geography’ (top, bottom, shoulders, head, hands, knees, toes, etc.)

Heroic tales and ethical fables

Children begin to become more aware of different strengths and abilities in themselves and others.

The Main course is held in German as vehicular language, writing, reading, poetry, rhyming, speech formation, continues with form drawing. All of these are as in year 1 but extended and developed.

Mathematics: continuation of basic arithmetic operations up to 100, multiplication tables

Natural & Social sciences: Nature walks, field trips, fables, legends, saints and ani-mal stories

English, French: Songs Proverbs, dance, games and dialogues. Lessons in movement, expanding vocabulary

Art and Crafts: Knitting and purling, crochet, sewing, free-hand drawing, water-colour painting

Music: Pentatonic flute and singing

Sports-movement: Cooperative games, rhythmic movement, outdoor activities going for walks / hikes to the nearby woods, jumping with rope

Eurythmy: Simple shapes in space, body Geography are further developed and more challenging

A new outlook towards the world

Children start to challenge the limits of authority and attempt to take more responsibility for themselves.

They begin to experience themselves as individuals and wrestle with the question: “Who am I?”

In this year there are two projects that run through the entire year: theme one ‘from grain to bread’ and ‘building a house’ they physically build by creating a stone wall, for example.

In addition the third theme is ‘craft and craftsmen’.

The Main course is held in German as the vehicular language, literacy, basic elements of grammar (spelling, grammar, punctuation), speech formation (noun, verb, adjective, adverb), independent reading, story writing, continues with form drawing. All of these are as in year 2 but extended and developed.

Mathematics: Continuation of basic arithmetic operations up to 100, first problems formulated in text, meassuring, weighing, time (the clock)

Natural & social sciences: Nature study, gardening, farming, baking bread, building, relationship between ancient and modern buildings.

History: Old testament, grains: nourishment and world cultures

French: Writing, reading, however, strong emphasis is placed on oral expression and learning through plays, songs

English: First grammatical exercises, simple conjugations, but the classes remain oral supported by plays , games, songs , rounds etc.

Art and Crafts: Knitting and purling, crochet, sewing, free hand drawing, watercolour painting

Music: Beginning diatonic flute, singing in rounds etc.

Sports-movement: Cooperative games, rhythmic movement, outdoor activities going for walks / hikes to the nearby woods, jumping with rope

Eurythmy: Complex choreography, coordination, geometric shapes in space

Revealing strength, courage and adventure

Children begin to form their personality in response to their experience in the world, consciously choosing the qualities that will become a part of their characters.

The Main course is held in German as the vehicular language and, as in year 1 to 3, includes language science and mathematics and, in addition, new subjects are introduced: biology (zoology), geography.

Language science: Writing, reading for comprehension, spelling, grammar and speech formation, paragraph development, dramatization, composition and letter writing, book reports

Mathematics: Fractions, multi-digit multiplication and division, problems formulated in text

Natural sciences: Study of humans and animals

Social sciences: Mythology with emphasis on Germanic folk stories, Saga

Geography: Local geography, map making, the four directions, geographic placement through movement.

English: Writing, reading: ‘My first English reader’, vocabulary, elementary gram-mar exercises

French: Writing, reading, vocabulary, elementary grammar exercises

Art and Crafts: Water colour painting, form drawing, advanced drawing techniques, Celtic knot illustration, cross stitch, embroidery, felting, knitting

Music: String orchestral instrument, C flute, singing (canons and rounds), choir, musical notation

Sports-movement: Cooperative games, rhythmic movement, outdoor activities going for walks / hikes to the nearby woods, skipping rope

Eurythmy: Partner exercises, stick exercises, coordination, throwing and catching

The “Golden” year

Children are enthusiastic about learning, eager for new challenges and capable of manual work and creativity

The Main course is held in German as the vehicular language and, as in year 1 to 4 ,includes language science and mathematics and, in addition, new subjects are introduced: biology (botany).

Language sciences: Independent writing, reading, vocabulary and grammar, spelling, speech formation/dramatics, composition/creative writing, novel study, plays.

Mathematics: Free hand geometry, continuation of fractions, introduction to calulations with decimals (decimal fractions)

Natural sciences: Botany, zoology

History: ‘From mythology and folklore to history’, ancient civilisations, Greek mythology

Geography: Regional geography and orientation (Luxembourg and its neigh-bouring states)

English: Developing memory, language, translative thinking, vocabulary skills, grammar extended

French: Developing memory, language, translative thinking, vocabulary skills, grammar extended

Art and Crafts: Water colour painting, form and freehand geometric drawing, sculptural modelling, woodwork, 5-needle knitting

Music: String orchestral instrument, C flute, singing, choir , musical notation

Sports-movement: Cooperative games, endurance, fighting, hand-ball, gymnastics, baseball

Eurythmy: Further developed building on year 1 to 4, creating a link to themes dealt with in history e.g. ancient civilisation (Egypt).

Emphasising the concrete world

Children develop their ability to form abstract concepts. Prior to this age, thought has been pictorial rather than conceptual in nature.

The Main course is held in German as the vehicular language and as in year 1 to 5 includes language science, mathematics, biology and history plus in year 6 physics is added.

Language sciences: Writing is expository, descriptive and narrative writing, conditional sentences, reading, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, composition report writing, speech formation, creative writing, literature.

Mathematics: Geometry with a compass, protractor and ruler, percentages, business mathematics (interest, discounts, monetary system)

Natural sciences: Physics (sounds, light and colour, heat, magnetism, static electricity) botany

Social sciences: Roman and medieval history, the crusades, medieval society, Ancient history

Geography: Europe, world geography, minerals and geology, geocentric astronomy

English: Developing memory, language, translative thinking, vocabulary skills, grammar, literature e.g. Dick Whittington

French: Developing memory, language, translative thinking, vocabulary skills, grammar, literature e.g. Louis Braille

Art and Crafts: Water colour painting, drawing, sculptural modelling, 3 dimensional work, woodwork/carving, pattern-making and sewing

Music: String orchestral instrument, C flute, singing, choir, musical notation and literacy

Sports-movement: Cooperative games, endurance, fighting, hand-ball, gymnastics, baseball, badminton, basketball

Eurythmy: Choreography at this stage is challengingly complex combining movement and rhythms in smaller shapes (groups), creating a link to classical and romantic music