In Waldorf schools students spend the first couple of hours each morning working in depth on a single subject from the curriculum. For example, Third Graders have a block on farming, Fifth Graders have a block on geometry, Eleventh Graders have a block on the medieval story, Parsifal. These periods of in-depth study are generally known as Main Lesson blocks, and last between three and five weeks.

There are no text books used in the elementary grades of Waldorf schools, and even in high school their use is sparing. Instead, the teacher presents material, such as a story about Valley Forge and how bad the conditions were for George Washington's troops. The students listen and absorb what the teacher presents. The next day they will recall the previous day's presentation, each contributing to its retelling. More details might be added, and then the students would work on a composition, or dictation, or creative story to put into their Main Lesson books. The following day a beautiful picture will be drawn, or perhaps a map, illustrating the narrative. These Main Lesson books are, in effect, the textbooks used in Waldorf schools, the difference being that they are created by the teacher and students. Only the best and most beautiful work is put into Main Lesson books. This approach continues through high school, and many a Waldorf graduate has referred in college to the books he or she created in high school.

During the course of each Main Lesson block, the children are actively involved with different ways of approaching the topic. In Fourth Grade Man and Animal, for instance, they might work on a verse about lions, recited together as a class. Each child might carefully form a bull out of beeswax. They might write a poem about cuttlefish. And they will certainly paint and draw and work on composition.

Main Lessons are a wonderful way to approach learning, as they give the teacher - or parent-educator - a comfortable arena in which to creatively work with subject material. Differing learning styles and different age groups can be appropriately catered for. Other topics, perhaps not obviously relevant to the Main Lesson, can be woven in. For instance, during the Third Grade farming block one can also work with measurement: how many pecks in a bushel? how many quarts of oats do the horses eat?

We at Christopherus believe that the Main Lesson approach is a great way to homeschool! Instead of breaking up one's studies into a half hour of history here and 45 minutes of math there, one can take a more holistic and in-depth approach to learning. Other homeschoolers have developed a similar approach called Unit Studies. In the interest of reaching those not familiar with Waldorf terminology, we have adopted this term also.

At Christopherus, we feel that parent-educators, like Waldorf teachers, should be free to create their lessons as they see fit. To assist homeschoolers interested in this approach we are creating a series of Christopherus Unit Studies. Some of our Unit Studies are presented so that children of various ages can be involved.  We seek to illustrate how, why and when a Waldorf teacher might approach each given topic (including those not usually taught in Waldorf schools) and how this might work in various homeschooling situations.

Each Unit Study will have ideas on how to:

• work with subject material - presentation, composition, drawing

• incorporate crafts, projects, cooking, music as appropriate

• create a Main Lesson book

• work with various age groups together or separately

• find necessary resources

• put the whole thing together and not go crazy!

The first  titles in the Christopherus Unit Studies series are Roman History, Botany, Medieval History,  Saints and Heroes and Animal Legends.