Class 5 Complements
Click one below to learn more:
UkUlele
Needle Felting & Wet Felting: Creatures & Flora
Cooking
Painting
Form Drawing to Cursive
Theatre & Speech
Drawing
World language: Spanish & German
Circus Arts & Movement
Handwork: crochet
Extra Lesson
Our Class 5 size is 14 students, allowing the teacher to get to know each student and creating a class community environment during class.
Ukulele
Playing the ukulele offers a myriad of benefits that positively impact both mental and physical well-being. Engaging in the rhythmic strumming and precise finger movements required to play chords and melodies enhances hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The melodic and harmonic aspects of playing the ukulele promotes relaxation, and reduces feelings of stress and anxiety. Learning and practicing music stimulates various areas of the brain, improving cognitive function, memory, and concentration.
Regular practice sessions instill discipline and perseverance, contributing to personal growth and development. Please encourage your child to play every day until it becomes a habit.
In this class, students will embark on an exciting musical journey, learning the fundamentals of playing the ukulele while exploring various rhythms, chords, and songs.
To begin, we will start with the basics, teaching everyone a foundational rhythm pattern (DDUUDU) and three essential chords (C, F, G). With these chords and rhythm, students will learn to play songs, laying a strong groundwork for their ukulele skills.
As we progress, we will expand our chord repertoire by introducing two minor chords (Am and Em), enriching our musical palette and broadening the range of songs we can play. Students will continue to practice and refine their technique, gaining confidence in their ability to strum and switch between chords seamlessly.
While we will be learning chords, the class will be focused on playing music. Blending chord practice and playing songs will make for a wonderful, full learning experience and will excite the children. During class, students will be listening to me, and playing along, or I will play a group of chords, and they will “repeat after me” in a choral manner. There will also be times where students are the ones leading and playing off mute.
Next, we will delve into the world of bar chords, learning the D and Bm chords. These chords will unlock new possibilities, allowing students to comfortably play songs in the key of G (G, C, D, Am, Bm, Em). With a focus on mastering different rhythms, students will learn to play songs with varied time signatures, adding depth and complexity to their musical repertoire.
As students progress, they will have the opportunity to explore advanced chord variations and their own musical choices. For those ready to challenge themselves further, advanced chord shapes such as Dominant 7th and bar chord versions will be introduced, encouraging exploration of the ukulele's fretboard.
In the final stages of the class, students will learn to play in the key of F, mastering chords such as Bb, Gm, and Dm. With a diverse range of chords and rhythms at their disposal, students will be well-prepared to tackle a variety of songs and even consider performing in gigs.
Throughout the class, emphasis will be placed on creativity, expression, and collaborative learning. By the end of the course, students will have developed a solid foundation in ukulele playing, equipped with the skills and confidence to continue their musical journey with passion and enthusiasm.
If you’d like some reading about music in Waldorf schools, this is a wonderful read: Music as a Threshold Experience
Needle Felting & Wet Felting: Creatures & Flora
In this engaging fiber arts class, students will explore the techniques of needle felting and wet felting to bring to life a variety of creatures—both real and fantastical—along with botanical designs and inspirational historical figures. Through hands-on projects, students will deepen their connection to the natural world as well as the themes explored in their main lessons.
The class will begin with an exploration of the natural world, shaping real-world animals and plant life. This initial focus on botanical forms and animal figures allows students to observe and interpret the textures and beauty of nature, creating a foundation for their craft. As they refine their skills, their projects will evolve to incorporate more imaginative elements, including figures from myths and legends, as well as themes inspired by history and culture.
Wet felting will introduce a new dimension to their work, giving students the opportunity to experiment with layering colors and textures to create organic, flowing forms. This tactile process encourages creativity and exploration, and will be complemented by needle felting to add intricate detail. Students will use both techniques to craft textured landscapes and botanical scenes, enhancing their projects with the fluidity and depth that only wool can provide.
These artistic landscapes, whether forested scenes, fields of flowers, coral reef, or abstract representations of nature—will often take on a functional form, evolving into beautiful table runners, curtains, or wall hangings. This blending of creativity and practicality allows students to see their artistic endeavors come to life in everyday surroundings.
Throughout the year, projects will be inspired by nature, seasons, and the stories from their studies, offering students a chance to connect their craft to the broader educational journey. By integrating techniques such as wet felting and nuno felting, students will not only enhance their technical skills but also develop a richer understanding of the art form’s potential to tell stories and reflect the beauty of the world around them.
Form Drawing to Cursive
Form Drawing is a unique subject to Waldorf Schools. Young children learn to write by first observing the straight line and curved line, finding it in nature, in their bodies and then creating it on the page. In first through fourth grade form drawing offers a therapeutic practice by crossing the midlines, left/right, above/below and front/back.
The three-fold nature of the human being, according to Steiner, includes our will, our feeling life, and our thoughts. Form drawing meets the child where they are in each aspect of their three-fold nature. It is a form of art, which develops an artistic, confident hand. It nurtures childrens’ spatial reasoning and strengthens their fine motor skills and coordination.
As a precursor to cursive, it is a bridge between the written language and art. Learning cursive writing through form drawing seems to make the process effortless for most children. There is also a meditative effect when finding mirror forms or forms that transform from one shape to another. The fifth grader encounters a block called freehand geometry, where again they discover the symmetry, reflection and rhythm in drawing forms from a circle.
In this class, we will hear stories, move forms through our bodies using body percussion and various movements, and develop childrens’ spirits and abilities that will benefit them in every area of their lives. They will walk away with a lesson book filled with different forms which have strengthened and nourished their spirits, as well as a full grasp on cursive writing.
Materials include: main lesson book (12.5 X 14.5), colored pencils, stick crayons, sand tray
*here is an article explaining what learning cursive does for the brain*
Painting
Coming soon!
Drawing
Coming Soon!
Theatre & Speech
In our weekly drama class, students will explore the power of storytelling through drama. In class we learn how to bring characters to life through characterization, movement, and voice. Steiner-inspired speech exercises will provide a backdrop to work on speech concepts such as articulation, diction*, prosody (expressiveness of speech), and flow.
By working with familiar themes and stories inspired from their Main Lesson classes and the classics, students will learn core acting skills that will help them bring the stories and characters to life. Despite being online, ensemble-building will be a crucial component of this course. Theatre games and choral work will build our group together through laughter and imagination! No experience necessary.
LOTUS AND IVY DRAMA SCOPE AND SEQUENCE THROUGH THE GRADES
K-1 Creative Drama and Voice:
In creative drama, our students learn foundational acting skills. We focus on using our bodies expressly and representationally to act out different animals, people, and emotions that we feel. We use charming seasonal stories to act out, explore, and create different production elements to bring the story to life at home and online together such as puppets, masks, and simple scarf-based costumes and sets.
Grade 2-3 Theatre and Speech:
In Creative Storytelling and Drama, we pick up where we left off in Creative Drama, but focusing on how we use our voices and imagination to tell stories, poems, and speak with people in our everyday lives. Storytelling focal points include finding levels in our voices to show different levels of emotional states, using our imagination to turn abstract objects into other objects, and most importantly having fun!
Grade 4-5 Theatre and Speech:
Fourth and 5th Graders will continue their knowledge of theatre training by focusing on character building in this course. We will still explore the foundational acting “tool kit” of voice, body, and imagination, but we will focus more on how our bodies can reflect a character, how our voices can reflect that all on the Zoom screen! This class will work on a play to be presented at the end of the semester.
Grade 6-8 Theatre and Speech:
Improvisation, Scene Study, Physical Theatre, oh my! Our middle school Theatre and Speech class is all about using our whole-selves to create theatre magic! We will be exploring physical theatre techniques such as pantomime, improv skills through improvisation games and scene, and character work within scene study. This “all-round” class offers a great introduction to performing to students who have never taken a theatre class before and skills practice to those who are involved with local theatres or have taken a Lotus and Ivy Theatre and Speech class in the past.
Through Creative Dramatics, students will practice speech concepts such as visualization and articulation, while working with others and harnessing their imaginative skills.
Our class will meet weekly for 18 weeks (except during school-wide breaks) and will culminate with a demonstration meeting in which families and siblings are invited.
*Please note, this does not take the place of specialized Speech Pathology courses. This will aid students in these areas.
Cooking
Encouraging children to help prepare healthy meals for their families is an excellent way to teach them essential life skills. They gain a deeper understanding of the effort and time required to create tasty dishes and develop a stronger connection to the ingredients they use. This connection often makes children more open to trying foods with new flavors and textures. By expanding their palate, they can develop healthy eating habits that benefit them for life. By encouraging independence and instilling competence, children will gain the confidence to make any recipe they discover and adapt recipes to suit their tastes. The sense of accomplishment that comes from feeding loved ones can also lead to self-confidence in other areas of life.
Anticipated Recipe List:
(Recipes are subject to change according to dietary restrictions and accommodations needed within the class.)
Moroccan Couscous with roasted vegetables Morocco
Apple strudel Germany
Stuffed Grape leaves Lebanon
Design Your Own Tacos Mexico
Challah Bread Israel
Moist Healthy Chocolate Cake Ukraine
Swedish Pancakes Sweden
Pita and Hummus Egypt
Khichdi/Indian Fried Rice India
Brigadeiros/Brazilian Fudge Balls Brazil
Gyoza Dumplings Japan
Pumpkin pie North America
Quiche Lorraine France
Cranberry Hootycreeks Jar Cookies for gift-giving USA
Pasta al Limone Italy
Belokranjska Pogača/Traditional Slovenian Bread Slovenia
Hungarian Chicken Paprikash with Dumplings Hungary
Chicken Noodle Soup
Throughout the semester, the variety of recipes will reinforce technical skills, encourage innovative use of ingredients, and support interest in food culture. However, this class is about more than preparing tasty dishes.
Cooking offers hands-on experience with measuring, counting, fractions, tracking time, and temperature. For students in third grade and up, multiplication and division skills are needed to scale a recipe up or down. For students in fifth grade and up, additional math practice can come from calculating the cost of making a recipe vs. the price of a take-out version of a similar dish.
Following the step-by-step process-focused instructions of a recipe improves reading comprehension and shows that reading has practical benefits.
As foods are prepared, abstract concepts such as chemical reactions become relevant and understandable to children.
Cooking requires problem-solving and resilience to find solutions when a recipe does not come together as planned.
Many recipes we will prepare utilize basic ingredients that the student may already have in their pantry, demonstrating that home-cooked meals are manageable and can be fast and straightforward to prepare.
The kitchen is an excellent place for children to engage their senses experientially. They can knead, toss, pour, smell, chop, feel, and taste foods, all while having fun and learning without even realizing it.
Students will be encouraged to flavor dishes with herbs and spices and challenged to try their own variations, customizing recipes to suit their flavor and dietary preferences.
Cooking can teach children responsibility as they learn specific tasks to contribute to meal preparation and cleanup.
Acquiring ingredients from the grocery store, farmer’s market, or even harvesting their own herbs, fruits, and vegetables helps children understand where the ingredients that make up their favorite meals are sourced. Purchasing fresh, locally grown ingredients supports farmers in your area. For the Cooking 3/4 class: Students will be encouraged to visit a farmer’s market or pick- your-own farm to choose local seasonal ingredients.
Making a grocery list before shopping helps a child learn about planning and making informed choices about healthy foods. Choosing whole-food ingredients reduces packaging waste and instills the values of environmental consciousness.
Preparing recipes from other countries allows children to experience new flavors and textures. This exposure to diverse cuisines opens a child’s mind to different cultures, offers a geography lesson, and promotes awareness, understanding, and appreciation of culinary traditions and practices worldwide. For the Cooking 5-8 class: Each week, students will be encouraged to research two new facts about the recipe’s country of origin to share with the class.
Cooking allows children to learn more about their own heritage and family traditions through treasured recipes passed down through the generations.
Circus Arts & Movement
Classes will begin with a fun and challenging opening to get everyone up and moving. Then we will have a challenge section of class to develop balance, strength and coordination. This will be done through games and exercises. Moving into circus skills, the class will explore clowning and theatrical movement. Circus skills will include balancing, juggling, and plate spinning.
Students will learn to present their skills in Circus and theatrical styles. Social interactions will be part of the work, and focus put on students connecting and having fun. There will be a cool down and reflection to close class.
Handwork: Crochet
Fifth graders will be welcomed into the world of crochet where they will learn to do a variety of projects from coasters and a treasure pouch to net bags, wind spinners and hacky sacks. Students learning to crochet also will strengthen their handwriting skills as they build up hand dominance.
Students will learn the basics of crochet moving from a simple chain to learning single and double crochet stitches. As students advance they will learn to crochet in the round as they work on hats. They will also learn to change color.
Extra Lesson
The Developmental Support Program is based on the work of Audrey McAllen, an educator within the Steiner Waldorf tradition, who developed The Extra Lesson. This approach helps children overcome developmental challenges through movement, sensory integration, and artistic activities. Rooted in Rudolf Steiner's philosophy, the program aims to support the whole child—body, mind, and spirit—by focusing on foundational developmental skills. To learn more click here.