History can be one of the most thrilling subjects to explore whether or not you do a Waldorf approach to your Homeschool. Some of the most fantastical stories are true! But what stories to tell and when to tell them depends on your educational approach.

The classical approach to history will cycle through historical periods every four years, each time reviewing and going in depth as a child matures. 

The Waldorf approach to history is entirely based on the child’s emotional, intellectual, physical, and most importantly, spiritual development. 

In Grade 1, the young child of seven years old steps into the world of learning. This is their first formal introduction to classroom and academic learning. At this age, the heart is still fully immersed in wonder, imagination, and whole picture thinking. Children are not ready for abstract thought, critical thinking or analytical, explanations.

At this age, history is not yet taught in a formal sense. Instead, it is taught through the rich world of fairytales, nature stories, and folk legends. The block that will later become history, begins with fairytales. This may seem strange as fairytales are not history; however, though they are not historical, they are still instructional. The Grade 1 student is fascinated by, and in need of strong, moral dichotomies: clear differences between right and wrong, good and bad, truth and falsehood. They have a deep sense of these moral values to begin with and need to see them represented in characters and storylines. Fairytales and legends are drawn from cultures around the world and are filled with archetypal images of good and evil, courage and kindness, transformation and redemption. These are all themes that the Grade 1 student needs for their development. This is in complete contrast to the grade 9 student for instance who is in need of characters and historical figures who tread the fine line between good and evil, exposing the gray area that most people live in. The Grade 9 student revisists dualism and contrast from the post puberty lense.

Through these stories, the Grade 1 student encounters moral truth and life patterns in an imaginative living way. These are the strongest lessons as they set up the moral foundation for the students for the future. If you’ve ever heard the old axiom, “everything I needed to know in life, I learned in kindergarten” then you’ll understand the importance of fairy tales in Grade 1. 

By Grade 2, the eight year-old child begins to sense the complexities within human nature. Proverbs from fables and Saint stories are the next block to building the moral foundation for developing child. These stories provide a mirror for the children’s own internal growth. In the fables, animals portray human traits: cleverness, greed, loyalty, and foolishness. This is where we build the constructs of “the wise owl”, or “the loyal dog”, or “the clever fox“. Observing characteristics or qualities in animals is a theme repeated in many lessons. The qualities of numbers was explored in Grade 1. The qualities of colors is experience throughout the grades. And the quality of animals is explored beginning in Grade 2.

Later in the zoology block, the student will learn that the human being embodies all the traits and characteristics of the animal Kingdom whereas each animal possess a trait of the human.

In the legends of Saints and cultural heroes, students will see how these individuals modeled virtue, sacrifice and love. These abstract concepts are not understood in the absence of story showing human struggling with these virtues. Students are not yet ready for the complexities of human nature that the grade 9 student will explore and they still need to see the polarity of light versus shadow or love versus hate or righteousness versus evilness in the stories portrayed in Grade 2. 

While some stories in Grade 1 and Grade 2 may seem grotesque or horrific, the Grade 1 and Grade 2 students do not envision the stories with an adult mature mind. Instead, they gather the moral lessons through the delivery of fairytales and fables. For sure there will be intellectualized students who may not tolerate these stories.

In Grade 3, the nine year-old child is at a turning point in his development. With a growing sense of self and a separation from the whole, the child of nine is going through the Nine-Year-Change. The Nine-Year-Change can be chaotic, disrupting, and anxiety inducing for the student. For this reason, the curriculum supports the development of the child by exploring the stories of Musa (Moses). These stories can be found in the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. While the Grade 3 student is going through the nine-year-change, the time when they are coming out of the innocence and eternity of childhood and the world of fantasy and imagination into a world governed by time and reality, the curriculum mirrors that transition with the stories of Moses and his people being lost in the desert for 40 years. The time of loss, uncertainty and an unsettled feeling is similar to the experience of the nine-year-old child. To relieve the anxiety of this time, the stories provide a reflection of these feelings. The curriculum supports this time with lessons and shelter building, farming, and clothing to give the child a sense of stability as she finds her place and purpose in the world.

In Grade 4, the 10 year-old child steps into greater individuality and strength with a “fall from paradise”. Now that the nine-year-change is over, the child settles himself in this world. Prior to this, the child experience time as eternity. The child also experienced fantasy and imagination as reality. The 10 year old child distinctly determines fantasy from reality and with that comes a sadness and a hope. The Grade 4 student learns about Norse mythology as it is the perfect mirror for the development of the 10-year-old. While there are other histories and stories that are suitable for this development, many choose to use the stories of Thor and Loki. The bold deeds of Thor and the cunning of Loki speak to the fourth graders’ inner awakening. The stories are dramatic and filled with conflict, mystery and fate. Yet, they are still grand and noble in spirit. They are otherworldly and in many ways are an exaggerated portrayal of cunning, mischief, strength, and betrayal. Alongside mythology, the student begins to learn about local geography and cultural stories of their homeland. This gives the student a sense of belonging, community and responsibility.

A Grade 5 student of 11 years old is at a turning point in the study of history. Grade 5, often brings a sense of balance and harmony to the child often referred to as “The Golden Age”of their development. The history blocks explore the ancient civilizations of India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece. These cultures are introduced through the myths, daily life, inventions and spiritual contributions. The final history main lesson block for the Grade 5 student is Ancient Greece, where students explore the beauty and grace of this ancient civilization through its democracy, philosophy and mythology. This provides an ideal reflection for the Grade 5 student as they strive to find their own truth, beauty and goodness in themselves and in the world.

The Grade 6 student of 12 years is embarking on the journey of adolescence and puberty. The Grade 6 student is seeking logic, structure, and justice as those are the things unfolding and their development as they approach puberty. Roman history and the middle ages are the focus for this year. Roman history exemplifies, democracy, might and law. Through its republic and empire students are exposed to order and governance. As Rome falls, students explore the rise of Christianity, the spread of Islam and the shaping of the medieval societies. While Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages, North Africa, Arabia, Asia and India, experienced a golden age as Islam spread throughout these lands. In studying Middle Ages in Europe, the romanticize stories of castles, nights, the feudal system, the cathedrals, and even the Crusades appeal to the 12-year-old student. Grade 6 history shows the rise and fall of civilizations, the spreading of ideas, and how humanity continues to evolve and develop. 

The Grade 7 student of 13 years old is experiencing a time of awakening and questioning. With adolescence comes a keen sense of awareness and an awakening of the individual as the adolescent wrestles with ideals. The Renaissance, Reformation and the Age of Exploration provide fertile ground for this discovery. Students will study scientists, explores, and inventors such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Copernicus, Martin Luther, and Magellan. For those students wishing to have a broader focus, they may study notable figures from other parts of the world like Ibn Battuta, Ibn Sienna, Zheng He, and Mansa Musa. In an aim to move away from Eurocentric lessons, teachers and homeschoolers may wish to include more diverse main lesson blocks in these years. Biographies are especially important to the Grade 7 student as they are inspiring and deeply human. The Grade 7 student sees a complete representation of a human being in spirit and struggle. Whereas students needed a clear representation of good and evil in Grade 1 with fairytales, students in Grade 7, 8 and 9 will appreciate the complexities of human nature expressed in biographies and in novels. Seventh graders appreciate that the human spirit is capable of great change and discovery. History becomes a mirror in which they see their own emerging strength and potential. They will also see the consequences of moral dilemmas. 

Finally, the Grade 8 student of 14 years stands on the threshold of adulthood. They are eager to take on the great movements of modern history. This includes the revolutions of America and France and that of the industrial revolution of the early 20th century. Each revolution shows how people reform and struggle. In some cases, the struggle is for freedom and in some cases the struggle is for a better life, or, a faster, more productive life, or a more efficient way of doing things. In Grade 8, we also encounter the lives of inventors, reformers, visionaries, and scientists who shaped the modern world. The themes of justice, innovation and personal responsibility have been growing since Grade 6. We see a continuation of these things as students rectify within themselves the concept of justice in a world in which justice isn’t always achieved. With Grade 8, an exploration of modern history, allow students to come face-to-face with events that did not happen centuries or millennia ago, but rather things that are still unfolding in a student’s life. They are old enough to communicate these ideas with members of the community who are generations older than they are. These conversations are empowering and enlightening as students recognize how history affects communities today and how the events that they are living in now will affect the future.