Curriculum & Programs
Overview
Children need an education that prepares them for the future; a future we cannot yet see but one that will take courage, sensitivity, and perseverance. For over 100 years, Waldorf schools have created an education filled with thoughtful, rigorous academics, artistic development, and a nourishing community.
At the Corvallis Waldorf School, our curriculum integrates each student’s developmental needs with intellectual and artistic skills. Our deeply committed faculty work together to foster each student’s sense of self-reliance, concern for community, and moral purpose. The Waldorf curriculum and view of child development are inspired by a visionary educator, scientist, and philosopher Rudolf Steiner. In 1919 he was asked to create a school for the children of the workers at the Waldorf Astoria factory in Stuttgart, Germany. There are now over 1,000 Waldorf Schools worldwide, with more than 150 in North America alone.
The curriculum plan of the Waldorf schools has been described as a long ascending spiral. Many topics are taught in blocks that are approximately three weeks in length, and the topic of each block is woven throughout the class day with artistic, practical, and academic threads. Topics are revisited as a class progresses through the grades leading to a cohesive and multi-faceted understanding of the world around them. As the children’s capacities change throughout the years, the curriculum responds. Use the navigation points to the left to focus on particular age levels. Explore what inspires parents in our community and across the world.