2024 - 2025 Class 6 Complements
Click one below to learn more:
The American Democracy
Ukelele
fiber Arts
Doll Making
Cooking
Painting & Drawing
Introduction to Latin
Theatre & Speech
World language: Spanish, & German
Our Class 6 size is 14 students, allowing the teacher to get to know each student and creating a school-family environment during class.
The American Democracy with Ms. Domokos
In this course, we’ll explore the foundations of the United States, from its diverse landscapes to its vibrant democracy. In this class students will hear stories about the most iconic landmarks of the United States, from the Statue of Liberty in New York City to the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
They will learn about the history and significance of these national treasures. They will explore the rich biodiversity of the US, from the towering Red Woods of California to the majestic bald eagle. They’ll hear about the importance of preserving native species and habitats. We’ll also cover climates and time zones, immigration and diversity, and discover the rich cultures and traditions of some Native American tribes. Students will learn about good citizenship and the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a community.
Ukelele with Ms. Gemignani
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
Fiber Arts with Ms. Ljubic
In this class, students will explore a diversity of fiber arts, including:
Felt work (needle felting, wet felting & nuno felting)
String work (weaving & macrame)
Fabric-dyeing
Printmaking
Flexibility of fiber as a medium offers much ground for artistic expression, and we will be balancing between fine art works and creating practical goods that are functional in everyday life.
Piecing together playful textures, colors and patterns is soothing and nourishing, and yet it also tactility connects learners to the history studies that they embarked on in the Main Lessons of the year. Exploring fiber arts and finding new ways to create in this medium fosters a respectful and sustainable approach to uses of materials around us.
Doll Making with Ms. A. Brown
Making a doll as representation of the growing and developing human being, is taught to Waldorf students as they move through the heart of childhood. Here we will utilize our hand-work skills in representing the creation of a human being.
Working with natural cotton and woolen fibers, each child will make two dolls, starting with a soft sack baby where we will learn to form the head, and practice stitching techniques; followed by making a 14-16” limbed doll and clothing.
Doll making is an exercise in creating something three dimensional from a flat sewn piece. In stuffing and forming their doll, the student experiences giving it life, i.e., “ensouling” it; this is a heart-warming activity.
In this disciplined, step-by-step process the student must make many judgements: Is the stuffing too soft? Are the arms and legs proportional? Are the eyes placed correctly? Asking the question, “What is needed here?” cultivates and exercises the capacity for judgement in a safe manner, which may have social implications in other situations. As steps are introduced in class, a certain amount of “homework” will be necessary to maintain continuity through the process together. This could amount to as much as 2 hours/week. Keeping up will be important, as we move along each week.
Painting & Drawing with Ms. deLeca
MONTH ONE: Chalk Pastel Color Theory & Cloud Study
Chalk pastels are an excellent way to introduce more advanced techniques in color blending. Additionally, it creates a comprehensive visual for color theory. Cloud studies begin work in highlights and shadows using soft and flexible forms.
MONTH TWO: Sanded Glass Tile/Porcelain Collage & Mosaic
Mosaics create a parallel to 5th and 6th grade geometry lessons. The use of colored tiles and porcelain provides a creative platform to construct revolving patterns and abstract forms.
MONTH THREE: Watercolor Flora & Fauna
Watercolors are a familiar medium in the Waldorf curriculum. The subject of flora and fauna introduces concrete forms and ideas that build on the more abstract painting of prior grades.
MONTH FOUR: Acrylic on Wood Landscape
Acrylic paints allow students to experience a more substantial form of paint. This medium provides a wide variety of creative liberties that can be expressed on wood, canvas, and many other foundations. These lessons will work on the basics of acrylic paint and the artistic renditions of natural landscapes.
MONTH FIVE: Acrylic on Canvas Abstract
Abstract work is foundational to developing an artist’s profile. This subject provides an opportunity for self-expression and creative freedom.
Theatre & Speech with Mrs. Rezzelle
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.
Our class will meet weekly for 18 weeks (except during school-wide breaks) and will culminate with a presentation of skills through monologues, choral speech, and scene work.
*Please note, this does not take the place of specialized Speech Pathology courses. This will aid students in these areas.
Cooking with Ms. Smith
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.
Introduction to Latin with Ms. deLeca
In the Class 6 & 7 Latin language class, the students will be learning to pronounce, spell and translate over 150 Latin words. They will be memorizing 4 Latin verses, declensions, conjugations, and several Latin sayings, deepening their appreciation for the evolution, history, and beauty of language. They will create a beautiful Latin main lesson book. The class ends with the students writing and illustrating their own Latin short story book.
Studying Latin can drastically improve language learning skills as it aids in the study of many other languages. There are many languages that draw from Latin, particularly English, French, Italian and Spanish.
Studying Latin in Class 6 & 7 enriches and complements the study of ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, which the students are learning about in their main lessons.