Educational Program

A foreign language is taught beginning in first grade, giving the children insights into and facility with other cultures. In first and second grade this is done through oral work such as songs, games, poems, and dialogues. Beginning in third grade, foreign language reading, writing, and grammar are added. At the discretion of the teacher, a foreign language may be introduced in the kindergarten.

The Sciences are taught experientially. That is, the teacher sets up an experiment, calls upon the children to observe carefully, ponder, discuss, and then allows them to discover the conclusion - the law, formula, etc. Through this process, rigorous, independent thinking and sound judgment are trained.

Which begins in second and third grade with mythology and legends, takes the children through the full sweep of their cultural heritage. The Old Testament in grade three, Norse mythology in grade four, the ancient cultures of India, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Greece in grade five, provide the background for the study of history. By living into these cultures through their legends and literature, the children gain flexibility and an appreciation for the diversity of mankind. By the close of eighth grade, the students have journeyed from Greece and Rome to medieval history, the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Age of Exploration, up to the present day.

Letters are learned in the same way they originated in the course of human history. People perceived, then pictured, and out of the pictures abstracted signs and symbols. First graders hear stories, draw pictures, and discover the letter in the gesture of the picture. This process is accompanied by much phonetic work in songs, poems, and games that help to establish a joyful and living experience of language. Through the grades, texts taken from the rich humanities curriculum - Genesis, the Bhagavad Gita, the Kalevala, etc. - provide material for reading practice.

Is a two-hour period in which the main substance of the day is presented, begins each school day. For example, the Main Lesson subject may be algebra, Greek history, botany or acoustics, taught for a three or four-week block often to be continued later in the term. This approach allows for freshness and enthusiasm; concentrated, in-depth experience; and gives the children time to "digest" what has been learned.

The remainder of the day is spent in subject classes, such as handwork, art, music, and games. The children are taught to play a wooden flute or recorder beginning in first grade. Choir is offered for older children. Other subjects, such as dramatics, painting, handwork, form drawing, clay and beeswax modeling, speech work, and movement are taught by the class teacher and add to the child's joy of learning. Variations in special subject offering may occur from year to year.

Crafts and handwork, are an integral part of the required curriculum from kindergarten through eighth grade. The children learn to knit in first grade and crochet in second, creating many functional and colorful objects like cases for recorders or pencil boxes, pot holders, dolls, etc. Decades before brain research could confirm it, studies that led to this educational model recognized that brain function was founded on body function. Learning to knit and crochet in the early grades leads to motor skills, which metamorphose into lively thinking and enhanced intellectual development later on. Coordination, patience, perseverance, and imagination are also schooled through practical work. Activities like woodworking, house building, gardening, and sewing, included in the elementary school curriculum, give the children an understanding of how things come into being and a respect for the creations of others.