Pasadena Waldorf School Third Grade Shelter Project

The third grade at Pasadena Waldorf School began the spring term by presenting their shelter projects to the school. Class teacher Mrs. Campbell had given her students the task of researching the many types of shelter used throughout human history and recreating their own miniature model. The project also taught the students traditional research techniques, requiring them to go to the library and use the Dewey Decimal System, rather than merely an Internet search engine.

Students were expected to do the work on their own, from research through model creation. Each child had to pick a type of shelter to pursue, learn about the people who would have lived in it and about the materials that were used to construct it. This led to an inquiry on the civilization from which the shelter came. Projects ranged from relatively modern structures like the White House to primitive, ancient dwellings like the Cappadocian Cave Homes. All of the model shelters were on display in the lobby of Scripps Hall on the Pasadena Waldorf School lower campus throughout January. This type of project poses a solid example of how the Waldorf curriculum combines elements of numerous disciplines to teach subjects such as history, geography, archaeology, sociology and architecture in a single, seamless unit.

Pasadena Waldorf School, founded in 1979, offers an inspired education to students from Early Childhood (Parent-Child, Preschool, and Kindergarten) through Grade Eleven (and Grade Twelve in 2015-2016). With over ninety years of experience and over 1000 schools worldwide, Waldorf education is one of the world’s fastest growing independent school movements.

Pasadena Waldorf School, 209 E. Mariposa St., Altadena, (626) 794-9564 or visit www.pasadenawaldorf.org.