Fifth graders generally have achieved skill levels in basic academic and artistic work that allow them to meet new challenges with enthusiasm and energy. Physically, their bodies move with balance, grace, and agility. The harmony and integration of the child at this age will soon be challenged by the demands of adolescence. The fifth grade curriculum meets this golden age through a balance of academic, artistic, and movement work.
The mythologies of India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece are taken up this year. Students study geography and how the landscapes of these places have influenced ancient civilizations. The year culminates with the study of ancient Greece, representing an appreciation for the balance between physical skill and beauty, art and science, earthly life and ideals. In the spring the children participate in a five-event Greek Pentathlon with students from other schools inspired by Waldorf education. This competition involves the discus, javelin, wrestling, long jump, and running, and is held in the same spirit of truth and beauty that the Greeks initiated.
The focus of botany at this age lies in the balance between scientific observation, and an appreciation for the poetic qualities of the plant world’s beauty.
Fifth graders are enthusiastic about learning, eager for new challenges, and capable of hard work and creativity. They stand perfectly balanced at a point in their development that places them at ease in the world, harmonious in themselves and in their environment.
- Mythology, Geography and History of Ancient Civilizations (India, Persia, Egypt, Greece)
- North American Geography
- Freehand Geometric Drawing
- Arithmetic/Decimals/Fractions
- Botany
- Reading, Grammar, Composition
- Singing
- Recorder Playing
- Ensemble Orchestra
- 4-Needle Knitting
- PE/Greek Pentathlon
- Speech and Drama
