A Time For Imitation And Play

In this secure and intimate environment, the children learn about themselves and. their world. Their days are filled with artistic and practical work , imaginative play and fairy tales, puppetry and music, circle games and healthy outdoor play.

Toys in the nursery are made from nature's gifts: wood, sea shells, stones, pine cones, lamb's wool. The simpler the toys the more active can the children's imagination be - the ground is better prepared for a fertile mind.

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ENGLISH: Traditional fairy tales from world literature told, re-told and dramatised by the class. These stories, together with poems, provide the main material for writing, development of memory and imagination. Writing is developed out of movement, painting and drawing, and reading out of writing and sounds. Each child writes his own first reading books. Awareness of sounds. Speech formation.

MATHEMATICS: Rhythmic counting through movement, up to 100. Simple application of the four operations, from the whole to the parts.

ENVIRONMENT STUDY: Nature stories and seasonal festivals awaken in the child a more conscious interest in the world around him. Second and Third

LANGUAGES : Afrikaans and Xhosa. The child learns through, the spoken word. Games, songs and poems bring to the ear of the child the rhythm, melody and sound of the language. Simple conversation stimulated.

ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY : Singing and playing recorder in the pentatonic scale. Eurythmy. Drawing of rhythmical forms and balanced patterns to develop judgement, accuracy and harmony. Water colour painting. Boys and girls learn to knit for well-knit thinking in later years. Beeswax modelling.

PHYSICAL EXERCISES, SENSE TRAINING: Games in the round for social awareness. Exercises and games to develop skills, balance and bodily control.

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ENGLISH : Fables, animal stories and legends of saints from world literature told, re-told and acted, written and read. Nature lore. The child is led over to small letters, then to cursive writing. Children's own writing provides most of the reading. First readers introduced. Awareness of sounds. Speech formation. Poetry.

MATHEMATICS : The four operations lead into a wider realm of numbers. Tables learnt by heart. Much mental arithmetic done to develop facility and strengthen memory.

ENVIRONMENT STUDY, SECOND and THIRD LANGUAGES, ARTS and TECHNOLOGY, PHYSICAL EXERCISES, SENSE TRAINING:

Class 1 work contd.

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ENGLISH: Old Testament stories. Simple composition and dictation. The child writes down what he has seen, heard or read. Reading related to main lesson. Introduction of grammar: the sentence, punctuation marks, verb, noun, adjective. Speech formation. Poetry.

MATHEMATICS : The four operations applied to simple problems of practical life. Linear -measurement, money, time, mass.

ENVIRONMENT STUDY: Study of farming and house-building through stories, outings and practical activities. Experience of practical life fostered through learning about and performing basic human occupations.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES : Afrikaans and Xhosa continued. First writing and reading. Poetry, speech, rhymes and singing.

ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY : Writing of music begun. Recorder playing. Singing. Eurythmy. Painting and drawing. Varied crafts. Crochet, simple sewing.

GYMNASTICS : Children begin gymnastics: rhythmical ring games and round dances included.

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ENGLISH: Deepening and enrichment of feeling through Norse and Celtic myths and hero tales from world literature. These provide material for writing, reading and dramatising. Descriptive writing and stories. Letter writing. Verb tenses; parts of speech; study of sentence formation. Poetry.

MATHEMATICS: Simple fractions. Mass; capacity; story sums.

ENVIRONMENT STUDY: Study of the child's immediate environment leads over to history and geography of the neighbourhood.

NATURE STUDY: Transition from imaginative treatment of the kingdom of nature to more objective study. Elementary study of man. Characteristic animals discussed in relation to man.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES: Afrikaans and Xhosa continued. Writing and reading of simple prose.

ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY: Painting and drawing. Embroidery, including cross stitch and design. Clay modelling. Eurythmy. Theory of music. Recorder playing. Singing in rounds.

GYMNASTICS: With and without apparatus.

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ENGLISH: Myths and epics of Greece provide the subject matter for telling, reading, writing and drama. Active and passive voice. Direct and indirect speech. All parts of speech. Sentence building. Speech formation.

MATHEMATICS: Measurement. Fractions, common and decimal. Artistic introduction to geometry.

HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY: History introduced out of mythology. Ancient civilisations: India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece. Inter-dependence of the earth and man. South Africa before colonisation and first contacts between different cultures.

NATURE STUDY: Elementary plant study. Animal study continued. Gardening.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES : Afrikaans and Xhosa continued. Study of the development of writing through the ages. The Greek alphabet. Simple Greek sayings.

ARTS and TECHNOLOGY : Painting and drawing related to main lesson subjects. Theory of music. Recorder playing in parts. Eurythmy. Knitting small articles of clothing. Clay modelling.

GYMNASTICS: With and without apparatus.

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ENGLISH: Roman myths and legends. Stories from the Middle Ages. Descriptions of different peoples and how they live. Letter writing continued. Description. Phrases and clauses. Speech formation. Poetry. MATHEMATICS : Interest and percentage. Geometry developed out of drawing practised in previous years.

HISTORY: Roman history. Influence of the Greco-Roman cultural epoch up to the beginning of the fifteenth century. South Africa: British occupation.

GEOGRAPHY: Southern hemisphere: Africa compared with Australia and South America. The night sky. Climate. SCIENCE:

Elementary phenomena in acoustics, light and colour.

NATURE STUDY: Introduction to rocks and minerals. Animal and plant study continued. Gardening.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES: Afrikaans and Xhosa continued. Origin of English words in Latin.

ARTS and TECHNOLOGY: Painting. Soft toys, made to children's patterns developed from their own drawings.Music. Singing. Eurythmy. Woodwork : introduction to handling basic tools in carving simple practical objects.

GYMNASTICS : Exercises become more precise and conscious

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ENGLISH: Stories of races and folklore provide the material for reading and telling. Reported speech. Forms to express wish, wonder and surprise develop understanding for style and literary expression. Differentiating between one's own and someone else's opinion. Composition and business letters. Speech formation.

MATHEMATICS : Discount, profit and loss, area, volume, powers (ratio and proportion). Introduction to algebra. Geometry up to the Theorem of Pythagoras. Introduction of formulae. Perspective drawing.

HISTORY: Epoch of discovery and invention. The beginning of modem science from the fifteenth century and with it the beginning of modem civilisation. The great discoverers. South Africa: implication of discovery of gold and diamonds.

GEOGRAPHY : Northern hemisphere: Europe, North America, Asia. Economic aspects, cultural conditions. The night sky.

PHYSICS : Mechanics: levers, pulleys, machines. Heat, magnetism, electricity.

CHEMISTRY: Combustion-elementary examples. Crystallisation. introduction to acid, base, salt. Comparison of sulphur, carbon, phosphorus. Some familiar metals.

NATURE STUDY : Main physiological functions of the human body. Nutrition, health, hygiene. Ecology and conservation. Gardening.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES : Afrikaarns and Xhosa continued. Developing a feeling for the character of the language.

ARTS and TECHNOLOGY : Painting exercises in layer technique. Perspective in drawing. Music and singing. Eurythmy. Needlework : a simple garment made by hand. Woodcarving: bowls and toys with moving parts.

GYMNASTICS : More advanced exercises in control of movement.

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ENGLISH: Topics from the era of the Industrial Revolution and its consequences. Epic poetry and drama. Intonation, meter and quality of sounds. Simile and metaphor in composition and poetry. Further grammar.

MATHEMATICS: Formal introduction to Algebra: integers (negative numbers); first degree equations and problemsolving; roots; simple factorising; basic laws of exponents; ratio and proportion. Geometry: derivation of area formulae and the discovery of n; application of formulae; properties of triangles; exploration of other polygons; Theorem of Pythagoras; volumes of solids; Platonic solids; figure transformations (change of form with preservation of area); parallel lines.

HISTORY: The Industrial Revolution in Europe and South Africa.

GEOGRAPHY: Mountains, rivers and rocks. An introduction to Geology. Continental Drift. Structure and functions of principal economic areas in South Africa. Resources, economics and conservation.

PHYSICS: Basic mechanics. Heat and power.

CHEMISTRY: The metals. Carbohydrates, sugar, protein and fats.

BIOLOGY: Skeletal anatomy of man. Biochemistry as related to human body with emphasis on sugar, carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES : Afrikaans and Xhosa continued with detailed exercises in grammar.

ARTS : History : The origin of Art. Prehistoric forms. The elements and terminology of Art. Practical: Black and white drawing. Perspective drawing. Clay modelling. Platonic forms and transformations. Eurythmy, singing and music.

TECHNOLOGY: Woodwork: Elementary joinery. Sewing : designing and making a piece of clothing using machine. Metalwork.. Copper beating. Basket weaving elementary exercises.

GYMNASTICS: Continue developing skills.

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ENGLISH : Classics with focus on Shakespeare and production of a Shakespeare play. Continuation of grammar. Literary aspects of romanticism, rationalism and sentimentalism. Humour. Presentations and declamation.

MATHEMATICS : Special products and factorising; more complex first degree equations and problem-solving; irrational numbers; scientific notation; consolidation of Class 8 Algebra; the Cartesian co-ordinate system; introduction to concept of infinity; projective generation of forms; duality; conic sections (circle, ellipse, parabola, hyperbola) as related to infinity; properties of quadrilaterals; parallel lines; congruency of triangles (leading to formal geometry).

HISTORY : History of Nationalism. The French and American Revolutions. Biographies of historical personalities in context. Nationalism in SA.

GEOGRAPHY : Geology and geomorphology. The forces shaping the earth tectonic and denudational forces.. Economic relations in Africa.

PHYSICS: Electricity and magnetism.

CHEMISTRY: Organic chemistry.

BIOLOGY: Anatomy and physiology of blood circulation and respiration.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES : Revision of grammar. Study setwork. Recitation and developing use of idiomatic expressions.

ARTS : History : Comparisons of differences between Greek and Roman, Northern and Southern Renaissance - the Fathers of modern Art. Practical: More black and white and basic exercises in free form colour compositions. Clay modelling. Concave/convex forms. Eurythmy, singing and music.

TECHNOLOGY : Woodwork : more advanced constructions. Metalwork : Iron forging. Basket weaving : more advanced constructions.

GYMNASTICS: Continued

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ENGLISH: Classic sagas and epics. Medieval lyrics. Renaissance. Etymology. Poetry and declamation.

MATHEMATICS : Factorising leading to complex algebraic fractions and equations: literal equations; inequalities; simultaneous equations and problem- solving; functions: linear, quadratic (parabola), circle and hyperbola; expansion of the laws of exponents; permutations and combinations; probability; use of scientific calculator; formal geometry; trigonometry and land-surveying.

HISTORY: Ancient civilisations. Archaeology and the rise of cities. Early African cultures. Developments from nomadic to settled existence.

GEOGRAPHY : Climatology, world pressure systems, principles of Meteorology. The 'living' qualities of the Earth. Sea currents. Crustal structure.

PHYSICS: Movement Mechanics of motion.

CHEMISTRY: Inorganic chemistry. Acid-base and oxidation-reduction reactions.

BIOLOGY: Nervous, excretory, endocrine and digestive systems. Explore threefold activity of thinking, feeling and willing.

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGES : Further development of competency.

ARTS : History : Explorations of periods from Gothic to Modem Art. The study of aesthetics. Practical : Figure drawing. Portraits. More advanced Perspective Drawing. Modelling. Exercises in metamorphosis. Eurythmy, singing and music.

TECHNOLOGY: Woodwork: fine joinery. Spinning and weaving. Production of yam and basic fabrics. Metalwork : relief work, and copper raising.

GYMNASTICS: Continued..

The children leave MIchael Oak at the end of class 10. Although our children are equipped to enter any High School and make the transition very successfully, we strongly recommend that they should continue with the same educational aims and ideals at the Constantia Waldolf High School. There the curriculum takes into full consideration the further development of the adolescent, as well as the achievement of a high standard in respect of matriculation requirements.

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