The Madrone Trail Public Charter School will be using the following Waldorf inspired distinctive teaching techniques:

1. The rhythm of the day is organized so that there is a balance of thinking, feeling and doing. For this reason, the core academic subjects are taught first thing in the morning when the children are most focused. For the remainder of the day, the children are engaged in special classes, practice periods and games classes.
2. The core academic subjects are taught in block periods. Each school day begins with the main lesson subject such as algebra, botany, acoustics etc., and each subject is taught for a three or four week block. This approach allows for freshness and enthusiasm, concentrated in-depth experience, and gives the children time to digest what has been learned.
3. Textbooks are not typically used in the elementary grades. The teacher creates a presentation and the children make their individual books for each subject taught, recording and illustrating the substance of their main lessons.
4. The Class Teacher or Main lesson teacher accepts extended responsibility for the children as their main instructor and stays with the same class for more than one year. The practice called "cycling," "teacher-student progress," or more often "looping" will be used. One loop will take the children from class one through class five. The other loop will take the children from class six to class eight. Teachers who would like to take a class from 1st through 8th will also have this option. For the teacher, this means time to develop long term, trusting relationships with the children and their families. The unique challenge of working with a new curriculum each year keeps the teaching enlivened and promotes enthusiasm. For the children, the security of a long-term relationship with the teacher fosters stability and continuity of guidance. Another educational advantage to looping is: Students will not need to spend the first several months of the school year trying to adjust to a new teacher with different expectations and styles.
5. Reading and writing follow the course language originated in human history. The focus in the kindergarten is on oral language development. First graders hear stories, draw pictures and discover the letter in the gesture of the picture. Exposure to phonics is accompanied by the use of songs, poems, and games that help to establish a meaningful and living experience of language.
6. The Humanities Curriculum exposes the children to the full sweep of their cultural heritage through legends, literature and excerpts from original texts. By the close of eighth grade, the students have journeyed from the ancient cultures of India, Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome to Medieval history, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Exploration, up to the present day.
7. Science is taught through observation and experience. The teacher sets up an experiment and then calls upon the children to observe carefully, ponder, and discuss. The students are then encouraged to discover the conclusion-a law or formula. Through this experiential process, rigorous, independent thinking and sound judgment are trained.
8. The daily lessons following the main lesson are typically taught by special subject teachers to the children in all eight grades. All children learn handwork, such as knitting, crocheting, sewing, wood and metal work, and bookbinding. Other arts, such as beeswax or clay modeling, dramatics, puppetry, and painting add to the child^s joy of learning. Not only are coordination, patience, perseverance and imagination fostered through practical work, but intellectual development is also enhanced-a fact confirmed by recent mind/brain research.
9. A foreign language is taught beginning in the first grade. In the early grades, the children learn songs, poems, and dialogues primarily by imitation. The foreign language expands to include reading, writing, and grammar.
10. Multicultural content is woven throughout the curriculum by means of biography, story telling, history, crafts, practical work, arts and music.