Hours: 8:15am - 3:15pm

2008-2009 Annual Tuition: $15,965

The sixth grade is a firm, intentional step into the outer world. It is an arrival upon this earth. As children approach twelve, changes begin in their physical bodies. One of the subtlest is a hardening of the bones. Boys and girls are more aware of gravity and weight. With the increasing awareness of their physical bodies, the time is right for the study of the physical body of the earth. Geology turns to the structure of the earth, proceeding from prior study of flora and fauna of the geological ages to minerals, metals, and finally gems and crystals; this leads to the study of the functions of mineral and metallic substances in the human organism. The study of minerals, rocks, mountains, rivers, volcanoes and the forces of nature that create them, awakens great interest and enthusiasm. Here the students can experience a reflection of their own process, and inwardly they are eager to embrace earth-life and explore physical existence.

In the sixth grade, the children are introduced to the basic concepts of physics. As with all subjects in a Waldorf school, the approach is first through art. Acoustics, or sound theory, lead to familiar experiences in tone and speech, such as observing how music is made, to experimentation with sound phenomena of other kinds. The sounds in music and nature lead to experiments where the children discover harmonies of relationship made by subdivisions in strings. From these experiments, the children proceed to problems of tone conduction and then back to the human organism. They discover that they also have a musical instrument within them, the larynx.

Optical studies begin, like acoustics, with familiar experiences in the realm of beauty. Study of colors in the world begins with the sun, giver of light. Each color is studied for its own special attributes and then observed in relation to other colors. Experiments in the classroom with artificial light and shadow lead to rainbows and prisms, then to experiments determining laws of light refraction. In all these studies, the principles underlying the various light and color phenomena are arrived at as end products generalized from concrete experiences, rather than stated theoretically before the experiments are made.

Sixth grade history follows the transition from ancient to modern history. Because 11 year-old children are involved in such a transition, they begin to move from poetic consciousness to a search for truth in the form of scientific concepts. They are now able to grasp history as a temporal sequence of cause and effect relationships. The children study the rise and fall of Rome and the effects of the Greek and Roman cultures on European civilization up through the Middle Ages.

In a historical sense, the Roman epoch epitomizes what the children are experiencing in their bodies. Of all ancient peoples, the Romans most strongly dominated the physical world. All their accomplishments - cities, roads, aqueducts, the Roman army and their conquest of the Western world - match a feeling of omnipotence that the sixth grader has: "I can do anything!" Yet equally important for the children is the example of how the excesses of the Roman period led to the fall of the Empire and the Dark Ages. The life of Christ is presented as well as the life of Mohammad. Christianity is compared with Islam, and the cultural stagnation of Medieval Europe is compared to the enlightenment of the Medieval Middle East.

The world continues to expand in geography, the study of the physical body of the earth. Sixth graders are introduced to the earth's configuration and contrasts: distribution of oceans, seas, continents, mountain masses and climate studies. These are applied specifically to North and South American geography. The study of the Earth and its relation to the other bodies of the solar system is introduced through astronomy.

Mathematics continues to exercise the disciplines learned in previous classes, then moves on to the study of percentage and ratio and the relationships between things. Sixth grade geometry is an ideal place to bring all the years of circle movement, eurythmy, and form drawing into exact constructions, using compass, rules and right angles. These forms can be treated with all the visual artistry that has been so much a part of the curriculum in drawing and painting. Now, however, there is the discipline of precision and the use of tools. Whereas in the prior grades geometric shapes had been drawn freehand as artistic exercises, in the sixth grade families of geometric figures are constructed and studied for the numerical laws they embody. These designs are now done with the utmost accuracy.

Shadows, landscapes and color contrasts are taken-up in painting. Handwork relates to form and structure as the children design and create a carving, creating objects that serve the human or animal world. Singing focuses on two and three part choruses, songs of the minstrels and Middle Ages, recorders in descant, alto and tenor voices, and Roman and Islamic music. Eurythmy expands to include simple tone eurythmy whereby students learn gestures that correspond to musical forms. A greater depth is sought in eurythmy with geometrical forms and transformations.

Sixth grade English continues with more emphasis on reading, writing and grammar. Foreign language (Spanish and German) continues with reading of simple texts, humorous stories and free translation.

The sixth grade is the gateway to pre-adolescence and idealism. In the study of Rome, the children are grounded so that through their physical awareness they can begin to discover what "I" means for them. In the Middle Ages, they begin to venture out toward the unknown to find what they are asked to address. The stories of the Grail offer an introduction to their quest in life. This year is both an ending and a beginning.

Curriculum: Roman and medieval history, Mohammad and Islamic culture, and Arthurian legends; North/South American geography, geology and selected units in physics; composition, grammar, spelling, biographies; geometric drawing with instrument and astronomy.