The Waldorf Middle School Garden Curriculum

By Anastasia Sinclair

Immense gratitude goes to master Waldorf school teachers Isabel Tabcot, Irene Francois, and Renee Querido for sharing their research and inspiration in this field.

Further guidance in curriculum may be found in Rudolf Steiner’s Curriculum for Waldorf Schools by E.A. Karl Stockmeyer

 “From the ages of fifteen to twenty: lessons on everything to do with agriculture, trade, industry and commerce will have to be learnt. No one should go through these years without acquiring some idea of what takes place in farming, industry and commerce” (R. Steiner, 9 lecture 1)

“The child should have acquired some general idea at fifteen and sixteen of the way a soap factory or a spinning mill is run.”( R. Steiner)

Middle school students are going through many changes in hormones, physical and emotional growth. There is a strong focus on social structure. Student’s intellects are emerging, and they are more easily able to think conceptually. Now is the time to bring in economics, scientific thinking and physiology/nutrition. The gardening classes can support these blocks by giving practical examples of economic considerations through agriculture and trade, through applications of scientific thinking on crop production and pest control, and through food choices. Middle school students are nearly always hungry, so they respond particularly well to learning about nutrition through cooking and eating.

In grade 6, the students respond to ideas of lawfulness in all of its forms. Teachers can bring in the different polarities of biomes around the world, of different climatic zones and the agriculture which may be found in these biomes. Classes can compare the desert climate to the tropics, the savanna or chaparral. Students will respond best to concrete, practical lessons brought with humor and composure. These lessons in lawfulness and polarities support this passionate, turbulent time of adolescence.

Garden soil brings wonderful opportunities in lessons through the grade 6 geology Main Lesson block. As the students begin to explore the geological foundations of their environment, a foundation will be laid for grades 7 and 8 when soil PH tests can be done. Soil tests can lead to discussions about how the native rock dust of a region can profoundly affect the fertility of  the soil; soil PH directly influences the availability of nutrients for plants.

In grade 6, the students are physically capable of handling the larger and more complicated tools. We are able to introduce the larger saws, pick ax, and under some circumstances, the machete. Along with the advantages of these tools come added responsibility, safety practices and tool care. Students enjoy challenging tasks and love to use their newly developed physical strength to chop or saw down trees and thickets; they benefit from the teamwork of tackling large projects as a class, such as rescuing a hillside from overgrown weedy trees.

The garden curriculum gives an opportunity to apply geometry lessons to real-life. In one school garden, the grade 6 students laid out garden paths in a large circle, using ropes and stakes for a compass. They measured circumference, diameter, area and perimeter in feet and inches. Then students applied the Pythagorean theorem to make cross-paths in the four directions.

Grade 7 students study the Age of Exploration; the Medieval and Renaissance periods of human history. Students respond to practical lessons using accurate measurements, charts and scientific descriptions. In the garden, classes can practice mapping and planning crop rotations. Studies on soil health can be conducted, with a focus on soil PH and nitrogen fixing cover crops. Students are studying physiology and human reproduction during main lesson blocks, and lessons in the garden on soil fertility and botanical reproduction can be both supportive and relevant. Students in grade 7 are generally very focused on social interactions, and they can be both very peer-related and self-conscious or self-centered. It is an important time for students to be supported in looking outside of themselves and their small social circles. There are many ways in which classes can offer service to the greater community; interactive service work is ideal, and grade 7 students are often transformed by assisting others in garden-related activities. Work with younger students, elderly, disabled and disadvantaged youth are ways in which the grade 7 student can feel empowered and less focused on inner struggles of the age. Growing food for a food pantry, hosting volunteer days in the garden, and traveling to help create gardens in communities of need are all ways for the middle school student to interact in a positive, outward form.

In grade 8, with the culmination of the grades program, students generally reach a kind of harmony again. Lessons center around the whole earth, and ideally bring everything together. Garden lessons can strongly support the meteorology main lesson block, with ongoing observations of the effects of weather and climate on the local environment. Students can practice phenomenology in the garden, by observing changes in the sky, clouds, temperature and humidity. A Goethean barometer filled with fluid can be used to predict atomospheric pressure changes, and a daily weather log can support students in understanding how a drop or rise in pressure affects the weather in the days following. A rain gauge, wind gauge and sun dial are also helpful additions to the garden lessons. Observing, or even building a traditional German “weather house” which acts a basic hygrometer is also an interesting lesson for grade 8.

Grade 8, or sometimes 9, brings a Main Lesson block on “revolutions”. This is an ideal time discuss world revolutions in agriculture, food policy issues and climate change. Students in grade 8 and higher can begin to learn delicate pruning and grafting techniques on fruit trees. A discussion about “chill hour” requirements for fruit trees can be instrumental in learning about immediate effects of climate change; in some areas of the world, the climate has already warmed to the point that fruit bearing trees are directly affected.

*In high school, it may not be possible to have on-going gardening periods in a busy schedule, but students can be exposed to the lessons of sustainable agriculture in a number of ways. A deeper understanding of sustainability can be acquired through the study of a “closed system” self-sustaining farm, which is the foundation of Biodynamic Agriculture as well as Permaculture. Some schools choose to have a one week intensive on agriculture, in which the students work on a local farm or have all day on-site lessons.  Grade 9 and 10 are good times to bring in the principles of sustainability, and study Permaculture in-depth. The history of agriculture and how it relates to modern society should be brought in, and a study of the foundations of agriculture during the high school economics block is highly relevant.