Earth Science – A Preview

Posted by Donna Simmons

  by Donna Simmons The following are a few excerpts from the Teacher’s Guide to the earth science component of our Christopherus Science Course for Students 12 – 14. Earth Science will be available for purchase in the Fall, and…

The Christopherus Geography Curriculum

Posted by Donna Simmons

by Donna Simmons   From one point of view, you could say that a study of geography is the heart of the Waldorf curriculum—it is the discipline that connects and enlivens much of the rest of the curriculum. History, science…

Christopherus’ Middle Grade Science Curriculum — Coming this fall…

Posted by Donna Simmons

By Donna Simmons I am now in full spate, joyfully writing several science publications for the middle grades. I am very excited about all of this—I had wanted to create science publications for a long time but it seems that…

Physics – The Science Curriculum for the Middle Grades Begins

Posted by Donna Simmons

By Donna Simmons One of the reasons why it has taken me so, so long to write middle grades science resources is because I have had to work really hard to understand science in a living way and not merely…

Why do Calligraphy?

Posted by Christopherus

by Barbara Benson Sometime early in my homeschooling, a Waldorf resource mentioned doing calligraphy in 6th and continuing through 8th as both an art form and a lovely embellishment for main lesson books, particularly in history. Over the years, I…

Charcoal Drawing in 6th Grade

Posted by Christopherus

By Barbara Benson There is not any discussion of charcoal drawing in the Rough Guide to Sixth Grade. As an artistic activity, I found it to be a very helpful exercise for my girls and this type of drawing is…

Classical Physics

Posted by Donna Simmons

By Donna Simmons For science this semester, we are focusing mainly on physics. For a number of years I have been aware of the Teaching Company, an organization which produces lecture series on every topic imaginable, delivered by hand-picked college…

Highlights and Challenges of 6th Grade: The Science Main Lesson in Geology

Posted by Christopherus

Sixth grade is a wonderful time to begin the exploration of the earth in a science main lesson. As Donna notes in her book, From Nature Stories to Natural Science: ” Geology is usually taught in Waldorf schools in the…

Managing Multiple Main Lessons

Posted by Christopherus

It takes organization, dedication and some flexibility to homeschool multiple children. The simple fact is that you are not going to be able to follow each syllabus thoroughly with each child. As a parent of five children who were all…

Highlights and Challenges of Homeschooling in Sixth Grade

Posted by Christopherus

If you have been working with the Christopherus curriculum for a number of years prior to sixth grade, it can be disconcerting to go from a comprehensive yearly syllabus to a free rough download for the middle school years, reinforced…

Composition – when?

Posted by Christopherus

Many people ask when is a child old enough/ready to write on his own. The following are some of my thoughts on this, based on a discussion with someone about her 9 year old and writing….. If a child is…

Spelling and Composition

Posted by Christopherus

(this entry originally appeared from me in response to  list members’ question on our Waldorf_At_Home list) It sounds to me like you have done a lot of research on this and that you have a lot of tools to work…