Eighth Grade

The culmination of their time at Madrone Trail, eighth grade is rich and dramatic. The history studies explore Revolutions, the founding and expansion of the United States, the Industrial Revolution, and Civil Rights. Language Arts studies include literary analysis, short stories, opinion essays, and research projects, culminating in a major 8th grade project. Mathematics delve deeper into algebra and geometry, including platonic solids, proofs, and theorems. Science studies include organic chemistry, physics (hydraulics, aerodynamics, and meteorology), and human anatomy and physiology. Asian geography and other continents may also be explored.  A class trip and the end of the year strengthens bonds and celebrates their journey together, as they prepare to launch into their high school careers.

“A basic tenet underlying the teaching of History in the Waldorf curriculum is that the period studied should serve as an “objective correlative” to the developmental changes occurring in the body and the soul of the student. With the advent of adolescence, eighth graders are undergoing a re-formation of the bodies and a transformation of their souls.  As they experience the sometimes tumultuous clash of forces within and without, it is appropriate for us to study the periods of European history demarcated as “the Reformation” and the “Age of Revolution.” ~Eugene Schwartz