From Mary Fettig, Class 2/3 Support Teacher: In Waldorf Schools worldwide, Grade Three and the nine-year-old change that most students experience at this time is met by asking the children to begin to look out into the world beyond their own surroundings. We can meet this need by having students study different trades, explore how food is grown, and by looking at structures and shelters.
After learning about primitive shelters around the world and how they are related to the environments they are constructed in, each class 2/3 student chose a shelter to build as a model using natural materials. Students have been busy, first designing and then constructing and decorating their shelters.
Here at OVWS with our combined classes, it can be a dance to ensure that all students are receiving what they need at the time it is brought forth into the classroom. This Spring the 2/3 class is exploring shelters, and in the fall as a 3/4 class they will take on a building project and provide the school with a structure they will make by hand! Previous classes have built the playground shed, the bridge, the clay oven, and a sheep shed. As to what this intrepid group will undertake, stay tuned as more will surely be revealed!
