Math
There is a deep human need to understand, explain, and predict the natural world. Math is the system that allows us to do that. Few children today really understand math - why it works and how it is connected to the real world. Since they have only memorized ways to solve specific problems, they struggle when the look of a problem changes slightly or they’ve forgotten one step in the process. In contrast, math in a Waldorf school is characterized by an individual experience of the truth of numbers, and an exploration of mathematical concepts that will yield confident and competent problem solvers.
We start math in the Early Childhood program with an exploration and observation of the qualities of numbers in nature and in stories, developing an inner sense of many and few, large and small. In 1st grade, students explore the concept of one and wholeness, laying the groundwork for later work with fractions. They learn all 4 processes (add, subtract, multiply, and divide) by bringing tangible objects together in groups or trading them with friends to really understand what it means to add together or divide into equal groups.
Only once they have had many opportunities to see quantities shift in these physical transactions do they learn to use numbers and equations to represent those interactions. In this way, math is grounded in the real world rather than a set of abstract concepts and rules to be memorized.
In 2nd grade, these processes are revisited with the goal to perform all of them as mental math and then in 3rd grade they are learned again with shortcuts (borrowing and carrying, long division, multiplication tables). By approaching the 4 processes together and returning to them each year with a different way to understand them, we give the children the chance to understand on a deeper level how numbers interact, setting them up for success when more complex mathematical concepts are broached in later grades.
Throughout the grades, we keep this focus on feeling and experiencing math to build connections and meet a variety of learning styles. Although math is typically thought of as a left-brain activity, by bringing movement and artistic representation into the experience of mathematics, we are able to engage the right hemisphere and enhance cross-brain connections. We build on a child’s natural connection to rhythm by pairing activities such as clapping and jumping rope with counting and times tables. For geometry, 6th graders use real compasses and rulers to make intricate designs of overlapping shapes, turning their math explorations into beautiful works of art. 3rd graders measure the length of the hallway by laying elbow to elbow and 8th graders use the Pythagorean Theorem to predict distances in our large field. As the students age we increasingly draw out into broader and more abstract applications of mathematics, but because of the strong foundation built in the early years, our students are more able to understand those abstract applications and why they work.
The overarching theme of mathematics in Waldorf Education is to develop adults who can solve problems rather than simply compute numbers. Teachers present the students with a question and challenge the students to think of as many ways as possible to answer it. Freed from the constraints of memorized rules, students are able to bring a true understanding of math to develop their own approach to solving the problems. They leave here with the belief that problems are solvable, phenomena are explainable, and they just need to think through it to come up with an answer.
