Human Being and Animal World (4th Grade Christopherus Curriculum)

Waldorf Homeschooling in the Lower Grades (1-5)

The Human Being and the Animal World
(Two 4th Grade Main Lessons)

by Donna Simmons

In-depth guidance and lesson plans to put together 2 Man and Animal main lessons.
57 pages, 8½"x11", spiral bound - $26

Please note: this volume is an integral part of the Christopherus 4th Grade Curriculum but also stands completely on its own for those not using the full curriculum.

Usually referred to as Man and Animal, this classic main lesson appears in all Waldorf 4th grades around the world. We have created material for you to use at home to create two different main lesson blocks for your child: the first focusing on the threefold human being and the animal world; the second being more akin to a standard zoology block. (For more about this main lesson, see The Homeschool Journey blog.)

Guidance is given to the parent to help her understand the threefold nature of the human organism and how this relates to the animal world. Parents wishing to work deeply with this are encouraged to pursue further study and we give guidance about where to look.

For the second main lesson block, we give a detailed explanation of how one might take a phenomenological and holistic approach to the animal world, thus preserving an element of the Goethean science which underlies a main lesson such as this.

Included in this book are narratives; notes; lesson plans; suggestions for what to put in main lesson books; help with artistic activities; sample drawings and paintings; recommended books; a selection and poems; and ideas for field trips - including a scavenger hunt! The book has black and white illustrations and one full-color picture. See below for the color versions of the illustrations.

Chapter headings:

The Man and Animal Main Lesson (sample page)
How to Proceed (sample page)
Block I: The Threefold Human Being and the Animal World
Block II: The Animal World
The Mouse
The Lion
The Cow (sample page)
How Coyote Stole Fire / Prometheus and Epimetheus
Sea Creatures
Insects and Similar Land Creatures (sample page)
Fish
Amphibians and Reptiles
Birds
Mammals
Poems
A Trip to the Zoo
Other Field Trips

Images from the book:


Click on the images for an enlarged view

Customers who wish to mail their order to us should send a check or money order in US$ made out to Christopherus Homeschool Resources to the following address:

Christopherus Homeschool Resources
P.O. Box 231
Viroqua, WI 54665

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Audio Downloads: these are downloaded directly to your computer and naturally there is no shipping and handling charge!

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If you receive your books and decide that one or more of them was a mistaken purchase, please contact us within 7 days to arrange to return your unwanted purchase. Obviously, any book will need to be returned in the condition in which you received it and we will fully refund the cost of the book but not the shipping and handling charge. We regret that we are unable to accept returns from customers outside of North America.