• Theme: Early Europe
• Percentages, business math (interest and discounts), statistics, geometry, Math Skills class twice per week
• Grammar and composition, letter writing (business and personal), drama, English Skills class twice per week
• Geology and physics, with lessons in acoustics, optics, heat, and magnetism
• History geography of Rome; Europe in the Middle Ages; North and South American geography
• Spanish
• Painting/drawing
• Physical Education/Movement/Games
• Violin (as available)
• Class Play

• Assume responsibility for self and work
• Maintain an organized assignment planner and complete homework assignments in timely fashion
• Work independently and quietly with focus on a task for up to 45 minutes
• Work collaboratively and do fair share of the task
• Work independently and collaboratively with minimum adult intervention
• Work neatly with desire to do best work
• Respect teachers, classmates, property, and materials
• Keep personal and school belongings well organized
• Have appropriate materials needed for class
• Be prepared and ready for class on time
• Maintain a positive attitude
• Work constructively with feedback from teachers and classmates
• Support classmates and the group
• Practice social inclusion and be included in social activities
• Use group process and discussion to work through social issues and class projects
• Participate in class discussion
• Participate in choral recitation and singing

Teaching changes significantly in the sixth grade to address new conceptual capacities that are awakening in the children as they approach adolescence. The curriculum, as well as the needs of individual students, becomes increasingly complex through the next few years.

The newly and often chaotically emerging individuality of the pre-adolescent yearns to find a place within the world that is unique and recognized and respected by others. The sixth grade is a firm, intentional step into the outer world. It is an arrival upon the earth. Changes in the physical body as the children approach age 12 become noticeable. There is an increased awareness of gravity and weight; hormones begin to affect the feeling and emotional life as well as physical maturity; and differences between male and female development become a source of interest. The themes explored over the course of this school year are chosen expressly to assist both the inner and outer questing of these young people.

The more traditional sciences enter into the child's experience as they begin to study physics. Parents are able to observe the true beauty of the 'phenomenological' approach of Waldorf Sciences as their children are taught to observe phenomenon through the scientific method, while also viewing everything in the world (and beyond) as an open 'living concept' full of evolving possibilities.

Language Arts

• Composition
• Reading 
• Spelling
• Grammar
• Poetry
• Speech
• Drama

Mathematics

• Ratio
• Proportion
• Profit/Loss- Discount- Interest 
• Percentages
• Graphs 
• Estimation
• Geometry

Science

• Geology and Mineralogy
• Astronomy
• Physics​: heat, light, acoustics, magnetism, static electricity.

Social Studies

• Ancient Rome: monarchy, republic, empire and fall
• Founding of Christianity and Islam
• The Crusades
• Medieval life in Europe
• South American or European geography

World Language

• Spanish

Fine Art

• Watercolor Painting
• Form and Freehand Drawing
• Modeling
• Pastels 
• Perspective Drawing
• Class Play

Music

• Recorder
• Singing in parts and in rounds
• Violin (as available)
• Reading Music
• Choir 

Physical Education

• Movement
• Team Games
• Cooperative Games
• Hiking
• Nature-Based Field Trips
• 'Rites of Passage' Outdoor Activities

​Medieval Games

As part of their study of the Middle Ages, our sixth graders spend the year practicing traditional medieval skills. Their work culminates in a three-day Medieval Games gathering in Lakeside, Arizona, where students from schools inspired by Waldorf education across the state come together for an immersive, hands-on experience facilitated by Arizona Medieval Games.

This long-standing tradition gives each student the chance to explore and embody the seven virtues, build trust and camaraderie with fellow squires, develop new physical capacities, and challenge themselves in meaningful and joyful ways. During the final knighting ceremony, students reflect on their experiences and are honored for the virtues they demonstrated throughout the event.

The Medieval Games serve as a rite of passage celebrated in many Waldorf communities worldwide. The pedagogical intention behind the sixth-grade Medieval Games carries through every stage of preparation. One aim is to support the emerging capacity of the twelve-year-old to see themselves in a new light, particularly in relation to virtue and personal responsibility for their growth. Another purpose is to give students from a small school the opportunity to connect with peers who are striving toward physical, academic, and moral excellence in a similar spirit. A third intention is to let students step, for a moment, out of our modern egalitarian culture and into a symbolic, trustworthy hierarchical world where noble leadership provides a healthy model to observe and internalize which is something quite different from many contemporary examples of leadership.

And of course, there are many other reasons for this work too, including the simple truth that the Medieval Games are wonderfully, exuberantly fun.