Seventh Grade

The arts weave through main lesson topics, but with greater complexity than in the lower grades. Alto and tenor recorders add three part harmonies. Choir and/or orchestral experiences demand greater cooperation and skill. Classes continue in woodwork, handwork, eurythmy, physical education, and gardening. A dramatic production related to the historical periods they have studied offers the opportunity to live into other times and cultures.

In sixth grade, the students begin to participate in the Outdoor Education Program each week for the last two periods of each Friday. Through this program, they participate in environmental education, adventure programs, and artistic activities that enhance their understanding and love of the natural world, leading them to become effective stewards of our precious natural resources.

All of these studies help the children to develop a healthy interest in the world. This interest is their greatest protection from the possible pitfalls of early adolescence, intensified by a popular culture that encourages premature sexuality, use of mind altering substances, and self-centered preoccupation. Rather than stuffing the children with information and predigested ideas, the curriculum is designed to foster development of capacities – for feeling, imagination, and wonder – that will form a strong basis for thinking as they continue to mature through the grades.

Seventh Grade

As seventh graders enter puberty, they are adventuring across a threshold that leads to selfhood. They bring an inexhaustible curiosity to the world around them. This curiosity is sparked by an inner shift that is occurring physically in their bodies, as well as spiritually in their souls, and promotes self-awareness and the ability to think critically. Capacity for judgment develops out of striving to know who they are. They tend to question authority and begin to explore the intricacies of social relationships. The inner turmoil of the 13-year-old is beautifully guided and mirrored by the seventh grade curriculum.

The historical time period that reflects the quest for self is the Renaissance. Individualism, as personified by figures like Joan of Arc and Galileo, overcomes feudalism. Human capacities seem limitless, as epitomized by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. The spirit of adventure and discovery is illustrated through the lives of explorers such as de Gama, Columbus, and others. As these historical exemplars stood in the face of adversity and dared to say what they believed to be true, so too must each adolescent. Their doubt of authority and their resistance to outer direction mark a giant step toward self-re-creation and individual thinking.

The language arts block of “Wish, Wonder, and Surprise” involves creative writing and literature, but its horizons extend much further. It is designed to bring consciousness, balance, 40