*Rolling admission available year-round! Enroll your child at one of our upcoming start dates.*

December 2nd, 2024 | January 6th, 2025 | February 3rd, 2025 | March 3rd, 2025 | April 14th, 2025 | May 12th, 2025

2024 - 2025 Class 8 Main Lesson

in order to begin Class 8 in the fall, the student must have turned 13 by May 1st of that year.

Our Class 8 size is 12 students, allowing the teacher to get to know each student and creating a school-family environment during class.

“Of all stages of human development, adolescence is probably the most dramatic. Not only do adolescents change physically, they also experience a profound transformation of their soul. In terms of outlook, behavior, and capacities, the adolescent can sometimes seem like an entirely new person.” - Robert Trostli

The Eighth-Grade student needs inspiration through visual art, music, poetry, history, science and mathematics. This helps the child develop a safe haven within themselves when they can find a reflection of their feelings in things that are real and beautiful, contributing to a healthy well-being. The Waldorf curriculum for the 8th grade year is intended to bring to the student inspiration that meets them where they are -- between childhood and adulthood.

Rudolf Steiner said, "The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility — these three forces are the very nerve of education.” At Lotus & Ivy, our teachers put great emphasis on supporting the 13 & 14 year old student as they grow into wonderful human beings. Through our inspiring history, language arts, science, and math lessons, we support the 8th grade student in finding their truth and gaining a sense for how they want to be of service to the world.

History & Geography

Class 8 is the culminating year before high school. Thirteen- and fourteen-year-old students are eager to assert themselves more in the world. To match this fervor, they study Revolutions in the fall. The American and French Revolutions and the Industrial Revolution, events that led up to the revolutions and the consequences of each.

Class 8 students then study an overview of United States History from the time of the Civil War through the 1800’s. They are encouraged to form their own opinions about events and a range of biographical figures including Napoleon, King Louis of France, Jefferson, Lincoln, Fredrick Douglas, Harriett Tubman, Lewis & Clark and Sacagawea, Crazy Horse, and more. The students are supported in writing about these people as some of these figures will inspire, and some will cause the adolescent to begin to ask “Why?”.

Students study the Geography of Asia this year, focusing on major landmarks, cultures, and geographical features of the many countries of Asia.

Science

In science, we continue the studies of Chemistry and Physics along with Human Anatomy. Students are immersed in hands-on phenomenological science demonstrations and experiments. They are allowed to experience the phenomena before an explanation is given so concepts are felt on a deeper level and do not remain abstract.

In Chemistry, we study the properties of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, and in Physics, we study electricity, electromagnetism, and motors. We make a telegraph machine and explore buoyancy along with other phenomena. The Anatomy block focuses on bones, joints, and major systems of the body. Study skills are taught during this Anatomy block as students are learning to take tests and prepare for high school and college.

Math

Class 8 Math Main Lesson time is devoted to the Geometry of Solids. Students explore the wonder of the Platonic solids, creating paper and clay models, and determining volumes. Exact geometric drawing is experienced.

For a complete math curriculum, Lotus & Ivy recommends a Class 8 Math Class, which meets two or three times a week (2 class options), in addition to the Main Lesson Classes, and dives deeper into algebraic topics including equations, the Pythagorean Theorem, number bases, the square root algorithm, and mensuration. We offer Algebra I OR 8th Grade Math so you can choose which class is best for your student. Our Class 8 Math Lessons are live, interactive, and students are invited to interact with the teacher and ask questions as part of class time.  Students meet with their assigned workgroup for an additional time each week.  This time is determined by the group members.

Ms. Boynton, Lotus & Ivy 8th Grade Math Teacher, provides instruction and practice following the Jamie York Math Academy curriculum. 

Lotus & Ivy math aligns with Jamie York’s principles in that we strongly believe, “Math is NOT a collection of blind procedures to solve meaningless problems.”  We agree that the onus is on the teacher to teach math in the belief that it is interesting, in and of itself.  Discovery, exploration, and art are integral to our math classes. For a full list of Class 8 Math Topics, click here.

Language Arts

Literature in Class 8 covers the classic short story by authors such as Tolstoy, Poe, Doyle, and others and a full Main Lesson on Shakespeare. Grammar and spelling practice are incorporated into every main lesson as part of the morning warm-up and at-home assignments, and composition is part of every main lesson block whether it be through essay-writing, research paper, paragraph writing, creative writing, journaling, or lab reports.

In addition to the Main Lessons, students may enroll in in Class 8 Language Arts, which meets once a week with Ms. Nicholson. In this class, students will study reading comprehension, literary analysis, outlining and notetaking, research and citation, composition skills, grammar and vocabulary, and public speaking and presentation skills as they work toward the culminating project for this class — the 8th Grade project. Lotus & Ivy 8th Graders join with Waldorf 8th grade students world-wide in this crowning achievement to mark the end of their lower school journey.

The fall semester will be spent brainstorming ideas for which the student has a passion or interest, researching the topic, and writing a research paper on their topic. Students will submit work to the teacher at specified milestones along the way for feedback.

The spring semester will focus on public speaking and their presentation. An artistic piece is required as part of their project. Students will work with the teacher to write a 5-minute speech on their topic and prepare to present virtually to peers, parents, and faculty on our 8th Grade Project Presentation Day in April. Seventh grade students will be invited as well.

EXPECTATIONS

Our teachers send home assignments for the week for students to work on outside of class time. Class 8 students can expect to spend 3-5 hours outside of class time on assignments each week.

Our classes are recorded and can be watched later for students who miss a class. The recordings are not sold or shared with anyone outside of the class.

Complement Classes

Lotus & Ivy also offers Complement Classes in addition to our Main Lesson, Math, and Language Arts classes. Our Complements for 8th Grade include Spanish, German, Cyber Civics, Practical Arts, and Drawing & Painting. Students meet once a week with their teacher for these Complement Classes. Students may enroll in as many Complement classes as they like.

Students may enroll in Lotus & Ivy Main Lesson Classes, Math, Language Arts, or Complement Classes or any combination of the three.  Lotus & Ivy recommends that students take all offerings for the most comprehensive Waldorf-inspired experience, providing hands-on, nourishing, and experiential learning at its best.

For more information about our Complements classes, click here.

SCREEN TIME: HARMFUL OR HEALTHY?

We have carefully considered screen time for all of our classes to ensure the screen time is interactive, not passive or one-sided. Our teachers, along with other health & education experts, have for many years encouraged parents to avoid screens for children because, when the screen time is one-sided, like with television and video games, it is harmful to the child’s brain. Live and interactive online classes make good use of technology and allow us to bring this whole-child education to a much larger audience by ensuring that screen time is two-sided and teachers may respond in real-time to the child.

COGNITIVE FOUNDATION

True to our curriculum, our classes provide plenty of opportunities for artistic and creative work.

According to an article published by the Waldorf Research Institute entitled Waldorf Education is Developmentally Appropriate – What Exactly Does this Mean?, “recent MRI equipment has illuminated the fact that in young children, artistic work, full body playing, and sensory stimulation all light up the whole brain. Focused academic work, on the other hand, only lights up small parts of the brain. That ‘lighting’ up points to the development of neurons, making the child’s brain replete with neurons which end up looking, at their best, like a gorgeous, mature tree crown. Once myelinated, these neurons communicate for clear thinking, flexible problem solving, executive function, and creativity.”  (https://www.waldorflibrary.org/articles/1249-waldorf-education-is-developmentally-appropriate-what-exactly-does-this-mean)