First Grade Math Course

In Waldorf Education, we strive to bring our lessons out of stories and other imaginative sources. In these ninety lessons we will derive math activities and written work from the stories that are presented in the First Grade Storytelling Course. Unlike the Language Arts Course, the Math Course does not utilize the artwork as much. Instead this course will demonstrate over and over the ways that we can bring mathematical activities for the students to practice working with math patterns in ways that are connected to the stories they have heard and imagined. That connection of the activities and the written work to something they have lived into gives the lessons more meaning and more enjoyability.  

The ability to count forward and backward by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, 10's, and 11's are very important skills to master in first grade. We will work with such patterns in all of the processes: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. As we do this, we learn to see the same patterns according to the view of certain characters. We will meet Prince Plus, Minister Minus, the Magician of Division, and Timothy Times. These characters give the child an imaginative access to seeing patterns differently. At the same time, the students learn to express these patterns differently as well. Each character sees and expresses things in different ways. With repeated examples of this, the students become more familiar with each process and they learn how the processes relate to one another.  

So, along with these lessons, you will receive some math tips and tricks specific to first grade so that you will have things to help with the practice of skills outside of main lessons.  

Important Note: A wise old Waldorf teacher once said that all subjects can be allowed to "go to sleep" for a while--all except math. Other subjects can sleep for a few weeks and then re-awaken. However, math does not re-awaken. If it "goes to sleep", then math dies. I have to admit that my teaching years have verified this statement. What does that mean on the most practical level? We must practice math everyday. It does not get the weekend off. It does not go on summer vacation. This message is included to emphasize just how important the addition of tricks and tips will be for you and your student(s). The ninety lessons included in this course are for main lessons. However, there is much more to do in order to develop the habits, the memorization, and the skills that need to be mastered by the end of first grade. If you develop a daily habit of twenty minutes of practice, this will be every bit as valuable to them as anything learned in the main lessons.  

You will see, as you work through the lessons, that there are times that a couple of lessons are derived from one story, rather than each lesson corresponding to each story presented in the First Grade Storytelling course. As you will hear it presented, sometimes the teacher must consider the benefits of returning to a story for another lesson because the number work fits so well and weigh those benefits against the benefits of moving on to a new story. This only happens a handful of times in this course. For the most part, each lesson is derived from a new story. Still, it is important to see that there is some flexibility for the teacher to find lessons.