Every Wednesday our members get to ask Waldorf teacher Diane Power questions about their homeschooling experience, Waldorf education and more. These Q & A sessions are posted on the member blog every week so you have access to all the past Q & A sessions. Become a member of Earthschooling to get your questions answered personally every week.
Question: Hi Diane. We will be doing 6th Grade this year. I wanted to ask if there is a suitable alternative to studying the Roman Empire. We have done some Roman history in the past and this year my daughter will be doing more with her Latin teacher. I don’t want to bore her or cover similar material to what she already has done or is doing in her Latin class. For a little bit of context; we are new to the waldorf method, so we haven’t done 5th Grade civilisations in detail, although we have covered them briefly via a coop class. If that helps. Also we are Muslim and of Persian/Indian origin. Would an in-depth study of a Persian/Asian empire and culture/literature be a good alternative? Is it even possible to have an alternative? Do you have any other suggestions/advice? Thank you. – Irum
Answer by Waldorf Teacher Diane Power: Hi Irum! Welcome and thank you for your question. If your child was placed in the 6th grade in a Waldorf school, the history curriculum would follow the transition from ancient to modern history – students study the decline of Greece, the rise and fall of Rome, and the effects of these two great cultures on European civilization up through the Middle Ages. Steiner felt that for the 11-year-old, the Roman epoch epitomizes in a historical sense what the child is experiencing in his or her body. It’s the feeling of omnipotence that they can do anything contrasted with the example of the excesses of the period that led to the fall of the Empire and the Dark Ages.
Having said that, with your situation you have a few options: as homeschoolers, you can just follow along with the standard 6th grade Waldorf curriculum and think of some of the material as review. Or you could follow the standard curriculum but bring in the 5th grade Greek curriculum to begin, review the Roman, and then spend more time on the end of Empire, the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages. Or you could do as you suggested and give the 5th grade Ancient Civilizations curriculum.
Keep in mind that the 7th grade curriculum will focus on the Renaissance and Reformation. Depending on your choice, you need to have brought the information from the fall of Rome through the Middle Ages before you can properly begin the Renaissance.
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