Class 4 Complements
Click one below to learn more:
HANDWORK
DiATONIC FLUTE
Needle felting & PRACTICAL ARTS: Felted Friends of Forest, Field, & Sea
THEATRE & SPEECH
Cooking
PAINTING & Drawing
World Languages: Spanish & German
Exercise, Adventure, & Circus
Seasonal Crafting
Beginner Ukulele
Cursive
Our class size is 14 students, allowing the teacher to get to know each student and creating a class community environment during class.
Handwork: Embroidery & Cross-Stitch
Handwork is a lifelong skill from which one can create beautiful and useful items while benefitting in deep and lasting ways. Creating beauty in perfectly imperfect handwork is a fundamental element of the Waldorf curriculum throughout the grades and informs our daily living in surprising and delightful ways.
Through practical and meaningful handwork activities, younger students develop strength and coordination in their hands and fingers. In addition, improved fine motor skills build healthy foundations in students for writing, drawing, maths and artistic work in grade school.
Learning to skillfully use their hands not only develops the child’s sense of self-reliance and confidence, but hand skills also awaken creative powers, promote a sense of reverence for craftsmanship, and instills respect for the creative artisans of the world.
Handwork is an important component of development which aids the child in acquiring the following benefits, traits and skills:
patience and perseverance to work on projects which require weeks to complete
expanded skill sets involving in-depth experimentation with techniques and materials over time
enlivening of the senses and nourishment for the soul through use of natural materials and colors
rhythmicity of repeated movements which creates calm for the nervous system as an antidote to anxiety and over-thinking
confidence and independence in creating beautiful and useful items
creating new neural pathways to the brain which strengthens the brain-body connection
problem-solving skills which builds future decision-making abilities
goal orientation based on understandable outcomes from immediate, step-by-step, tangible results
strengthening of soul forces - example: encouraging thinking in the dreamy child, feeling in the overly intellectual child, and activity in the weak-willed child
“The density of nerve endings in our fingertips is enormous. Their discrimination is almost as good as that of our eyes. If we don’t use our fingers in childhood and youth, we will become ‘finger-blind,’ and this rich network of nerves will be impoverished which represents a huge loss to the brain and thwarts the individual’s overall development.“ - Matti Bergstrom, Neurophysiologist
Embroidery & Cross-Stitch
Third and fourth grade students will learn the basics of sewing learning to do the running stitch, back-stitch, whip-stitch, blanket stitch and increase their knowledge of embroidery stitches including stitches such as the lazy daisy, satin stitch and more according to the student's curiosities. Projects could include a beautiful needle book, a hand-embroidered candle mat or sewing place mat and more. Students will also be introduced to cross-stitch and will be invited to make a cross-stitch needle book, a pencil case or a cross-stitch pouch for their sunglasses or glasses.
Diatonic Flute
Playing a flute or recorder is not only fun and creative, it has many educational and health benefits as well. Engaging in breathwork is a very important part of singing and playing the flute/recorder. Breathing is essential in keeping the body regulated and oxygenated for optimal use of the body and brain. Learning to read musical notation creates and strengthens the neural pathways to the brain from sensory experience and paves the way for language acquisition and the understanding of math symbols and operations.
Establishing a whole-body experience of elements of music such as beat and rhythm affects the mind/body systems profoundly, bringing order and ensuring optimal functioning of our organs, our thoughts, our emotional life. It is well-known that music learning enhances skill acquisition in every other subject area of student learning. Singing and playing the flute/recorder also creates an inner vibration in the body that stimulates warmth, heart connection, empathy and creativity. Self-expression through the arts, especially through singing and making music provides students with creative ways to think and be as they shape their self-identity. Each class will be individualized for the experience of the group. For example, If one child already reads music, they will receive additional challenges while the rest of the class learns music notation.
Learning to play the Choroi Diatonic flute is a long tradition in Waldorf Schools and age-appropriate for children of 9-10 years old. The class will sing, play songs, invent new songs and learn symbols for each note to begin understanding musical notation. Whole-body movement exercises along with playing rhythm sticks, use of bean bags, and creative expression in color will be some of the ways in which we will engage in our learning of the music. No previous experience in musical instruction is necessary.
(The Diatonic Flute is also called a soprano flute or C flute.) We will be playing the instrument with Choroi fingering tuned to 440 Hz (Important information to have when ordering!) We have many musical adventures ahead as we learn basic music skills and how to play the flute!
Needle Felting & Practical Arts: Felted Friends of Forest, Field, & Sea
Felted Friends of Forest, Field, & Sea is a needle felting class in which students shape soft wool into form using gentle, repeated felting motions with a special needle, creating animals and creatures inspired by woodland, meadow, and ocean life. Projects are introduced in a gentle progression, allowing students to build skills and confidence over time. As the seasons change, the themes occasionally reflect seasonal festivals, helping to keep the work engaging and connected to the natural world. Alongside developing coordination and focus, students experience the quiet satisfaction of creating thoughtful, handcrafted pieces.
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.
Lotus & Ivy’s Speech Arts & Drama classes draw on Rudolf Steiner’s dramatic gestures to enhance the students’ connection to the spoken word. We explore a world of incredible richness, depth, and beauty in one of the common places – our speech. These practices improve students’ conversational speech, performance arts, English and grammar education, and it can be therapeutic.
Main lesson themes are reflected in the curriculum for each class which speaks directly to the developmental well-being of the student.
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.
Painting & Drawing
In this drawing and watercolor class, grades 3 and 4 students will hear stories that provide nourishment for their specific stage of development. These stories align with main lesson blocks for these grades, deepening their understanding through color and imagery.
Students will build core drawing skills through a Waldorf-inspired progression of form, texture, proportion, and light. Beginning with form drawing, learners strengthen hand-eye coordination and explore symmetry through fluid lines and patterns. As the year progresses, they develop techniques for texture, perspective, and shading—bringing animals, landscapes, and human figures to life. With a balance of creative expression and technical practice, students gain confidence, deepen their observation skills, and learn to represent the world with clarity and imagination.
Students’ painting compositions will reflect the earth’s richness, farming and botany, and the changing seasons. Exploration of form and flow will tie into geography, as we paint landscapes, rivers, and natural formations. Themes and colors of growth, warmth, and renewal will come to life as we paint together, fostering imagination and a deep connection to the natural world.
Students will learn to honor their inner artist with words of encouragement, kindness, and love as we work our way through meeting the primary colors, then secondary colors, and beyond. In working with wet-on-wet in the lower grades, we are focused on the colors and the process, not the outcome. We are calling on their super-sensible senses to hold the experiences of color and form—not just the basic senses, but also the senses of life, movement, balance, warmth, and thinking.
Wet-on-wet watercolor means that we will use liquid watercolor pigments and pre-soaked watercolor paper. These liquid pigments make the experience of painting very fluid. Color and form mix in beautiful, sometimes unpredictable ways. It is a wonderful way for the children to learn through direct creation and observation how colors are created. We will occasionally use plasticine to explore three-dimensional forms, as well.
We are not just making paintings and drawings; we are making artists, human beings able to see the world from multidimensional perspectives and who are free to create anew.
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.)
Fruit leather and mint tea
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Pickled Garden Veggies
Vegetable Soup
Viking Flat Bread and Blueberry Jam
Cheesy Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Italian Ice
Garlicky Green Beans and Honey Glazed Carrots
Pumpkin Bread
Salad made with home-grown greens (beet, carrot, garlic) and
Homemade Dressing
French Toast
Cranberry Sauce and Baked Acorn Squash
Harvest Granola
Potato Latkes
Flourless Chocolate Chip Brownies
Sweet Potato Casserole
Rosemary Focaccia Bread
Design Your Own Baked Pasta
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.
Exercise, Adventure, & Circus
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.
Seasonal Crafting
In this joyful, hands-on class, children are invited into the living rhythm of the seasons through Waldorf-inspired crafts and festivals. With humble materials such as recycled cardboard, colorful kite paper, soft yarn, and natural elements, they shape each season’s mood and beauty with their own hands. As we journey from the golden richness of autumn to the quiet awakening of spring, creativity unfolds naturally, skills grow with ease, and a deeper connection to nature and its rhythms begins to take root.
Beginner Ukulele
This class is for children who are brand new to ukulele and for students who aren’t quite ready for advanced ukulele. If you took ukulele with me previously, this class will be right for you if: a) holding a steady strum and singing at the same time are still tools in your belt that need sharpening, b) you’re still working to memorize and create basic chords (C, G, F, Am, Em, G7, A), c) you’d like to take the beginners class again to deepen your skills before moving onto more complicated chords and rhythms.
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. 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.
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
Cursive
This is a full year class for children in grades 3 & 4 who wish to explore the art of cursive writing. Cursive writing begins in grade 3 in Waldorf schools because of the specific developmental stage of the 9 year old child. They are going through a shift in consciousness and becoming more aware of themselves as individuals. As cursive requires greater fine motor skills and coordination than print, it helps to establish deeper connection between hand and mind, reinforcing muscle memory, fluid thinking, and a sense of personal expression in writing.
Writing in cursive becomes an artistic writing experience rather than just a mechanical skill. They will see beauty in the curves and connections they make as they develop a new relationship to the letters they first met in grade one. The rhythm of cursive supports more natural, continuous movement, similar to drawing. Science has recently affirmed what we have known for a very long time: this continuous hand movement required to write in cursive engages both sides of the brain, which enhances memory, focus, and comprehension.