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|Music | Visual Arts In a Waldorf school, all students study drawing, painting, and the rudiments of clay modeling. In grades one through six, visual arts are taught by the class teacher. Drawing is part of the main lesson, while painting is taught in a separate period, although the themes are generally taken from main lesson subjects. The finest materials are always used, including high-quality watercolor paper, beeswax crayons, and artist’s colored pencils. The overall purpose of the visual arts program is not only to teach students to draw and paint, but also to teach them how to observe carefully. In the first three grades, the class teacher draws many pictures on the blackboard. The younger children copy these pictures using block crayons. In third grade, shading is introduced into the drawings, and block crayons begin to give way to more precise stick crayons. Color and gesture are emphasized, while stick figures and outlines are discouraged. Form drawing, a precursor of geometry, is taught in main lesson blocks, starting with simple straight and curved lines and moving on to mirror images and four-fold symmetry in second grade. Third graders practice continuously running forms in preparation for learning cursive writing. Students also learn watercolor painting. Using wet paper and large brushes, the young children first experience the quality of each primary color individually. Later, as they learn to blend two colors, secondary colors arise from the painting. By second grade, they begin to see forms in the colors, and in third grade they are able to develop these forms themselves. In addition, all children model small figures out of colored beeswax, first warming it in their hands, and then creating forms based on nature or on main lesson stories.
Every main lesson throughout the elementary school begins with music. The children may sing or play the recorder. Often they work on songs that relate to the material they will be studying in the main lesson itself. In addition, there are two or three weekly music lessons taught by the music teacher. By fourth grade, all students participate in the instrumental music program. Older students often join the InterSchool Orchestras of New York City or sing in the choruses of the Metropolitan Opera or the New York City Opera. In first grade, the focus is on pentatonic melodies and echo songs, to train pitch and retain the child’s “high” voice. The children also begin learning to play a wooden pentatonic recorder. They learn to listen carefully, to match pitches, and to follow hand gestures. The overall intention in this year is to create a love for music. Second-grade students have three music periods each week. Folk songs are added to their repertoire, as are simple rounds and harmonies. The teacher expects better concentration and works to develop memorization skills through more complicated and longer songs. Third graders learn the rudiments of music theory and begin to read music, making their own music books. They switch from the pentatonic to the diatonic recorder. They learn musical notation, rhythmic values, and time signatures. Performances at school events give students a focus for their efforts.
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