First grade is the bridge between kindergarten and grade school. The students still carry within them much of the imaginative consciousness of early childhood, but they are becoming more aware of the world around them. Nature stories and fairy tales provide the context out of which learning in language arts and arithmetic grows. The letters of the alphabet are introduced through stories that aid students in making the cognitive transformation from seeing pictures to seeing symbols. At first the letters become actual characters with which students have a relationship rather than abstract symbols. In arithmetic students first experience the qualities of numbers, after which they are introduced to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division each with its own character.

Main Lessons:

The alphabet, form drawing, arithmetic, nature stories and fairy tales

Special Subjects:

Spanish, physical education, choral music, handwork, Eurythmy, drawing, painting, modeling, drama, flute