The Class Three Child
Class Three in the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum is the equivalent point of entry into Stage Two in the NSW Board of Studies Curriculum. In Class 3, the pupils enter their tenth year. At this point, noticeable physiological, psychological and cognitive changes take place in the child. These changes, referred to as the ninth/tenth-year threshold, may begin as early as 8.5 years or as late as 9.5 years and may last from between six months and one year.The child develops a firmer, more balanced gait; speech sounds are increasingly formed in the middle of the mouth and articulated more directly and the child focuses on the ‘middle distance’. The child’s constitution is noticeably stronger. The heart increases in size and is capable of receiving a larger volume of blood and a new breath/blood pulse ratio is established in the region of one breath to four pulses. Growth begins to focus more on the limbs and metabolism and there is a growth in the breadth of the trunk. In some children this developmental phase is marked by symptoms including weariness, tummy and head pains, nausea, dizziness, a variable appetite, asthma, eczema and disturbed sleep patterns. Steiner talks about a metamorphosis in the child’s feeling life. At seven years, there is a metamorphosis in the child’s thinking. In Class 3, the child experiences a duality in perceiving the world in his or her feeling. A process begins to unfold through which the child experiences with increasing strength, a sense of objectivity, alongside growing subjectivity. Subjective inner experience and objective world reality stand at odds within the child’s soul. Questioning, doubt, aloneness and a dawning tendency to criticise are emergent features in the child’s psychological landscape. Sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later, but for most children a very significant step in self-awareness occurs during this year. It is experienced as an awareness of being separate from the surroundings both human and physical, and of a distinction between an inner and an outer world. Contrasting emotions of the sense of loss of the previous unity with the world and a sense of wonder at seeing the world in a new way often lead to confusion and insecurity. These can be expressed in marked changes of behaviour that vary considerably according to temperament and personality. The images of the Old Testament, its laws and guidance foster inner security during the unsettled period and the Main Lesson blocks on farming, building etc. help the children to engage in a new relationship with their surroundings. |
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Class Three Main Lessons |
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| Middle & Afternoon lesson overview download here (18kb) |
