Second Grade
A Year of Rapid Growth
Second Graders deepen their skills in language, reading, writing, math, music, nature, and art through vibrant interdisciplinary lessons. The Second Grade curriculum includes diverse stories of heroes, leaders, and noble people from across the world and throughout history, connecting with the Second Grader’s growing understanding of morality and justice while fostering a broad interest in and exposure to world cultures.
Second Graders take up new challenges, like learning to write in cursive, memorizing times tables through 12, and using place value in math to solve more complex problems. As in First Grade, academic topics are approached with an engaging and multi-sensory blend of direct instruction, book work, art, games, rhythmical movement, group activities, and hands-on projects that ignite our students' natural curiosity and joy in learning.
Second Graders at San Francisco Waldorf School learn:
- Math: Continue with four operations of arithmetic; story problems; counting by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12; multiplication tables
- Literature & Grammar: Reading, elements of grammar (naming, describing words); animal fables and legends from around the world; recitation
- Science: Garden observations; nature walks and studies
- Gardening: Weekly gardening class in our school garden
- Music: Singing; pentatonic flute
- Physical Education: Cooperative games and movement activities
- Eurythmy: Movement to music and poetry
- Art: Form drawing; watercolor painting; beeswax modeling
- World Languages: Spanish and Mandarin (plays, songs, poetry, games, and simple conversation)
- Handwork: Knitting and purling (pattern recognition and perpetuation, concentration, fine motor skill development)
- History & Social Studies: Native Peoples and multicultural stories
- Theater: Annual class play based on main lesson story curriculum
Daily Schedule (Grades 1-3)
8:30 am-2:30pm, Monday-Wednesday, Friday
8:30 am-2pm, Thursday
The Grades After School program begins immediately following dismissal and runs until 5:30pm daily.