The subjects in Elementary at Waldorf Los Caracoles are, in general terms, similar to traditional education worldwide, although the approach is very different and involves deep exploration of each topic.
In Waldorf Education, experience is valued over conceptualization, approaching the subject matter through the senses. For this reason, each subject is studied in depth in blocks of three to four weeks. These main lesson blocks take place during the first two hours of the morning, but each day begins with a rhythmic part that includes rounds (dances, from third grade ahead), songs (according to the season of the year), verses, games, physical movement, and the recorder (pentatonic up to second grade; diatonic from third grade).
The arrival of seven-year-old children to Waldorf Primary marks a transition. It is the passage between the “golden childhood” and the beginning of a structured path that culminates at age 14. The curriculums of first, second, and third grades welcome children gradually, providing elements that allow them to encounter the world and others. Between ages 7 and 10, the child’s personality and self-definition begin to emerge. For this reason, the main lesson of the day concludes with a story told by the class teacher: Fairytales in first grade; fables and saints in second grade; narratives from the Old Testament in third grade, as a way humanity explains its arrival on Earth and its social structure.
With the arrival of fourth grade, students at Waldorf Los Caracoles begin to receive and participate in a greater number of academic and artistic activities. The curriculum enters a new stage, becoming broader, more complex, and deeper. In fifth and sixth grades, mathematics, language, exact sciences, natural sciences, and social sciences are studied in greater depth, opening a wide range of experiences and knowledge guided by teachers specialized in this stage of human development. Narratives progress from Norse and Local Mythology in fourth grade, to Ancient Civilizations in fifth, and to Medieval European stories and legends in sixth.