Waldorf Education weaves the arts, music and movement into the fabric of every student’s daily life. Waldorf’s rich and varied curriculum includes rigorous academic work as well as engaging artistic and practical experiences, all of which are appropriate to the age of each child. Beyond the morning main lesson with their main classroom teacher, students study a variety of special subjects to engage the intellectual, physical and emotional development of every child.

Handwork

Handwork plays an important function in helping to develop the will of the child, in fostering self-esteem and an appreciation for beauty.  It also plays a part in helping to establish critical thinking and activates pathways in the brain that link the left and right side of the brain. The hands are the primary instrument…

…that growing children use to inform themselves about the world in which they live. What the hand feels the brain knows. Starting with knitting in first grade, the students will continue to learn more complicated stitch patterns and projects throughout the years. They will learn spinning and natural dying then move on to crocheting, embroidery and cross stitching. In the older grades the students will make stuffed animals and learn textile arts as well as machine sewing. By the end of the eighth grade, the students have a good grounding in textile arts but, more importantly, they have learned perseverance, an appreciation of beauty, and a sense of  satisfaction that comes from accomplishment.

Music

Music is an essential part of the curriculum and permeates the school day in every class. Music not only enlivens the spirit but also increases a child’s capacity for learning. Through the study of music, they learn to sensitize their hearing, allowing them the ability to really hear the sounds of the world and each other.

In first grade, the children sing and usually, after winter break, begin to play the pentatonic flute. In second grade, children continue to sing and play the pentatonic flute for the entire year. Third grade students learn how to sing in rounds and usually after the winter break transfer their skills to C-flutes (diatonic). In the fourth grade, students learn more complicated rounds, and they also continue work on the C-flutes. The children begin to play the violin this year, as well.  Students in fifth grade may continue the violin or they can choose to play the cello.

Chorus

Beginning in the Early Childhood classes, singing is incorporated into the day with circle time…. In the Grades, singing is not only a part of their lessons with their main class teacher but with a weekly music class that incorporates choral singing, folk dance, singing games, listening exercises, and improvisation activities. Beginning in the fifth grade, the vocal work takes on a variety of styles.

Spanish & Japanese

Spanish and Japanese instruction begins in the first grade in a purely oral form through verses, songs, rhythms, poems, games, fairy tales and stories.  The teacher uses gestures, pictures, puppets and other props to convey the meaning of the material.

This allows each child to develop a sense of, and an enthusiasm for, the culture and language in a natural way, similar to the way in which native speakers acquire language.  Vocabulary goals start simply with numbers, colors, and items in the child’s everyday life along with common verbs and prepositions. Vocabulary will expand throughout the grades with the goal of reading through writing more complex constructions. Grammar is introduced through active exercises, especially all regular and a few irregular verbs in present tense, and the use of prepositions, and adjectives.  In the upper grades, the programs continues to build on the students’ knowledge of basic sentence structure, vocabulary, and fluency through the use of dialogue. Vocabulary is also expanded by reading poems and stories appropriate to the students’ reading level. Cultural aspects of life in a Spanish speaking countries and Japan are also shared in English, and students read excerpts from books.

Games/Movement

Our school’s movement program for grades one through eight is taught developmentally, presenting the skills that each age specifically needs.  In the first grade, story or singing games, string games and basic hand-clapping games are shared.

Basic gross motor skills like running, jumping, swinging and galloping are practiced and students learn how to throw and receive, walk on a balance beam and skip rope.  Many versions of tag are played, along with imaginative and nature games. The second and third grades practice these same activities with the movement teacher, although more intricate games and exercises are added. Imaginative animal stunts are practiced as a basis for tumbling in later grades.  Blind and backspace games are introduced in grade three as the children grow in spatial awareness. Fourth grade activities build upon earlier practices. Tag games and relay games become more complex with more props. Ball handling skills are enhanced through games. Students develop movement memory as they imitate a sequence of movements in rhythm.  Javelin and discus throwing, long jump, running and wrestling of the ancient Greek times are introduced in grade five. Emphasis is on beauty, form, grace, style and symmetry. The class competes together with students from other Waldorf schools in mock “city-states” for the annual one-day Pentathlon. All other movement activities become more complex. Sixth grade moves from the Greek to the Roman culture.  The students experience their muscle strength in a new way and the movement teacher meets this with stretching and strengthening exercises. More sport-specific skills and games are introduced. Roman law finds its way into rules and goal-oriented sport and games. Gymnastic work is formally introduced, beginning with simple technical skills. Archery and rod fencing are also brought to the students as preparation for the Medieval Games, another annual one-day event that brings Waldorf students together.  Now that children have clearly passed the nine-year change, juggling, balance and resistance play a strong theme, testing the burgeoning individual in spatial relationship to others. The seventh grader is easily drawn toward levity at this pubescent time. Movement classes play with this exploration of levity and gravity, flexibility, and agility as well as working on cooperation and communication in games. Outdoor activities offer great challenges as individuals begin to form a team and develop the spatial relations among team members.  The eighth grader, contrary to the seventh grader, leans towards gravity. Focus in eighth grade is on uprightness of posture, deepening technique of previously learned skills and sports, and building a team through cooperation, communication, consciousness of others, and challenge activities.

Woodworking

In woodworking the will is put to task as arms are strengthened and hands become skilled.  In completing a woodworking project, students gain the experience that they can make things happen, that they have the power to be a creative and transformative force.

Regular woodworking classes begin with the fifth grade when the children have grown strong enough to work with a tough, dense material.  The first project is a wooden egg, a simple, archetypal form. Created only with rasps and files, the project requires patience and determination.  The work is steady, rhythmic. All of the essential elements of woodworking are contained in the egg: a rough piece of wood is converted to the shape its maker intends, polished smooth, and given a finish that protects and enhances the wood.  Next, students carve wooden spoons. This project is about making a tool that is useful and beautiful. The convex form of the egg is shadowed by the spoon’s concave bowl. The students learn to use saws and carving gouges. Their confidence and ability are expanding.  Various projects have been undertaken in grades six and above. Most attempt to reflect something from the curriculum. Mechanical toys involve an understanding of physics. Interlocking cube puzzles are a wooden equation that demand clear thinking and precision. In grades seven or eight, as the students are learning about the Industrial Revolution, a few basic power tools, such as drills and jigsaws, are introduced.

Throughout all of the classes, students are taught the safe and proper use and care of tools, as well as an appreciation for the gifts of the forest.  Social skills are also exercised when students assist each other, tending to the occasional cut finger, or cooperating in group projects. More than anything, woodworking provides an opportunity for the students to learn to direct their incredible energy and creativity.

Eurythmy

Eurythmy is an expressive art that makes language and music visible through movement.  The children participate through individual expressive gestures and by moving in accordance with particular forms as a group. 

Eurythmy develops balance, coordination, hemispheric lateralization of the brain, and spatial, rhythmic and musical awareness.

The eurythmy program begins in kindergarten and continues through the eighth grade.  In the early years, the students imitate the teacher’s sound gestures as the teacher recites imaginative stories and poetry.  The first and second graders combine simple geometric floor patterns, beginning with a beautiful circle and then following the circle through various forms such as the spiral, with the sound gestures of spoken poetry.  Music is introduced in the first grade and continues to eighth grade. The children clap and step the musical rhythms, follow the rising and falling of a melody with their arms, and learn simple dances incorporating elements of what is known as tone eurythmy.  Rhythmic activities, which lift the children off the ground, like skipping, galloping, and dancing, are balanced with grounding skills such as stamping and exact stepping. The third through eighth grade curriculums build on this work, delving into more complicated forms and rhythms.  Stepping exercises requiring increased concentration are introduced along with forming more complicated geometric figures, such as the five-pointed star. The movements are accompanied with drumbeat, music and poetry. Movement with copper rods is also introduced. This involves the rhythmic passing of rods in a circle, exercises involving fingers and hands, rolling rods on one’s own arms and into the arms of a partner, and balancing the rods on the top of the head.

Throughout these years the students become conscious of the meaning of specific gestures and movements in eurythmy, learning the movements for the tones of various scales or for the alphabet sound gestures, for example.

Specialty Teachers:

Brie Wakeland Muszynski 
Handwork Teacher Grades 1-3

Brie Wakeland Muszynski has been specializing in outdoor, cooking, and art education since 2016. She served as a program lead working with the…

…non-profit Garden School Foundation for 8 years, providing science-based garden lessons and nutrition-focused cooking lessons to children grades pre-k through 5th grade within LAUSD. She worked at Highland Hall Waldorf School as Farm Manager and Garden Teacher, and she is completing her handwork training through Waldorf Handwork Educators. Her background includes over 10 years of experience as a yoga and mindfulness instructor to both children and adults. She holds degrees in Spanish, Traditional Sign Painting, and Recycling & Resource Management. Brie is currently training to become certified through Lifeways and is also a mom to two adventurous nature lovers, River and Winston.

 

Jen Tan
Handwork Teacher Grades 4/5-8

Jen Tan is a Southern California native and has been an educator for over 15 years. She earned a BA in Anthropology from the University of…

…California, Los Angeles, and her MA in Literacy and Language Arts from Loyola Marymount University. She is both a Multiple Subject and Art Subject Credentialed Teacher. She will soon receive her Waldorf Practical Arts Certificate through the Waldorf Institute of Southern California (WISC). 

She spent her early years at both the UCLA Lab School and at the Chadwick School. Her introduction to Waldorf education came through her three children, where she discovered a deep connection not only to its deeply held traditions and values, but to Handwork- a way of bringing an awareness of the whole child, while strengthening the intellect and academic capacities, through beauty. Her teaching is rooted in empowering young people with the idea that, through their own will, they can create something meaningful. After all, once you’ve had the experience of working with head, heart, and hands, what can’t you do? The possibilities for the future are limitless!

Jen lives and breathes handwork around the clock, also teaching at Ocean Charter School and nurturing her small business, Handwork Club. When she isn’t busy making, she enjoys cooking and hiking with her family of seven, including her two German shepherd huskies, Clover and Opal. 

Jen is honored to be welcomed into the Maple Village community.

 

Patrick York
Games, Woodworking & Djembe Teacher

Patrick York was born and raised in Long Beach. He is a Multiple Subject Credentialed Teacher, which he earned from Cal State Long Beach…

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…and he has a degree in Liberal Studies from Cal State Dominguez Hills. Patrick has worked in education and with children for the last decade; as a teacher, an instructional-aide in a special needs classroom, a tutor, and as a camp counselor at the Alpert JCC. Before he changed paths to pursue education, he worked as an EMT and was on track to become a firefighter.

Patrick enjoys working with his hands and creating items both practical and artistic. He has completed many woodworking projects over the years and continues to hone his craft. He is excited to share his passion for woodworking and creation with the students of Maple Village.

Patrick is new to Waldorf Education, but is eager to learn all that he can. He is under mentorship and guidance from the Maple Village staff, and is studying Waldorf theory. When not at Maple Village Patrick enjoys spending time with his wife, Sé, and daughter, Indigo. He also enjoys camping, drumming, surfing, and playing board games and D&D.

 

Rika Ferguson
Japanese Teacher

Rika Ferguson was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and spent nearly a decade working…

…as a registered nurse in the ER, ICU, and home health in Tokyo.

Inspired by her fascination with cultures worldwide, Rika relocated to the United States in 2017. Embracing a new language and way of life deepened her appreciation for child development and motivated her to shift her focus to supporting young learners. While caring for children in her community, Rika noticed their curiosity about Japan and the Japanese language. This sparked her decision to pursue formal pedagogy studies at the University of Michigan and become a Japanese teacher. For almost ten years now, she has joyfully shared Japanese language and culture with students of all ages. Rika is passionate about recognizing each child’s unique learning style, identity, and cultural experiences—values she finds beautifully reflected in the Waldorf approach.

Lisa Taylor
Chorus Teacher

Lisa Taylor (she/her) received a Music Therapy degree from Chapman University and worked with children with disabilities for 12 years.…

…before moving to Hawaii, where she taught music at Malamalama Waldorf School. After 9 years on the Big Island, she moved to Long Beach and has been working at Waldorf School of Orange County as their Choir teacher.  She sings in a big band, a jazz combo, an Eastern European folk band and has appeared in several community theatre musical productions.  She is also a seasonal vocalist at Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm and teaches ukulele, guitar, piano, recorder, and voice to students of all ages and abilities.  She is looking forward to teaching in her home community and being a part of Maple Village Waldorf School.

Korina Williams
Strings Teacher

Korina Williams started playing the violin at five years old. She studied classical music and later learned to improvise and grew confident…

… playing several genres ranging from fiddle tunes to hip hop. She started teaching private violin, viola, and cello lessons in college and fell in love with sharing her knowledge and joy for music with others. 
Korina earned her bachelor’s degree in Classical Violin Performance from Cal State Long Beach and her Master’s degree in Contemporary Performance and Production from Berklee College of Music. In addition to teaching private and group classes for over a decade, she has performed with several artists including J. Cole, Ariana Grande, Smokey Robinson, and Anderson Paak; played at festivals such as Coachella and the Nublu Jazz Fest; has been seen on television playing for the Academy Awards, the Ellen Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live; and has performed in 8 different countries and 30 states. All of these experiences have come with many lessons and have drawn Korina back to teaching and guiding her students through the infinite ways to express themselves through music. She aims to show her students that music is not about competing to be better than your peers but expressing the best version of yourself wherever you are today.
When she is not playing music, Korina loves to read, create tea blends, and spend time with her family. She is so excited to join the Maple Village community and connect with the students through music!

 

Phoebe Bessler
Gardening, Class Support/Floater & Preschool Aftercare 

Phoebe Brown has worked in education and childcare for over a decade, spending years nannying before becoming an instructional aide for special needs students…

…Upon having her own daughter and finding a position as an aide to a student here at Maple Village, she was captivated by Waldorf education and determined to join the community. Seeing how impactful the Waldorf routine was on her student and her daughter has only spurred her curiosity and led her to study children’s literacy and literature alongside Waldorf philosophy. She is excited and honored to be assisting in the early childhood program and continue connecting with the community.

Phoebe enjoys reading, spending time in her garden, embroidery, and making candles.