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To understand, share, and compile the literature researched in the first interim year of independent study
To use this research as a basis for discussion, lesson design, and learning by cooperative presentation
To be able to create courses which reflect a three-folding of content for grades 10 and 11
To introduce students to the themes of classics in literature and history, especially as they relate to grade 10
To practice a "Socratic" methodology appropriate for the tenth grade
Various curricula have been adopted for the Waldorf ninth grade, ranging from events and ideas from European history to those of modern world history or those related to the history of the United States, all of which have merit. While the specifics of the curriculum suggested by Rudolf Steiner clearly need adjusting to the needs of modern American adolescents, the underlying themes and questions are just as relevant as ever. Likewise, in the tenth grade, curricula will vary from school to school, though the general theme of "the ancient or classical world" holds center stage in this year.
We identify the central issues of these two grades, look at appropriate subject matter, and practice making classroom presentations. During the first two weeks, each student gives a presentation on a particular event or trend in American history, modern European history (post 1450) or recent world history appropriate for the ninth grade curriculum; in the latter two weeks, we include student presentation related to the ancient world.
Themes of the Ninth Grade Year:
issues of the modern age
expanding horizons, rise of nations, new political forms, rights of the individual
revolutions and other movements for social reform
American history seen in relation to the themes of this grade
Themes of the Tenth Grade Year:
a glance at the Mbuti culture of Africa; Ancient India and the origins of Hinduism as described in the Bhagavad-Gita; Persia's forces of darkness and light; Egypt's gods and grandeur;
in literature, the evolution and art of poetry -- review of epic, lyric, and dramatic genres; introduction of metrical and sound devices in ancient and modern poetry to understand "how" a poem means;
the Golden Age of Greece -- the Persian Wars, the seeds of democracy, the origins of drama, the Athenian versus the Spartan ideal, Socrates' life and death;
in literature, a special look at the Odyssey as a mirror of the tenth grade experience.
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