Parzival is an important main lesson in the Waldorf high school humanities curriculum. This year, it's taught LIVE by master teacher, David Sloan.
Still spots left for 11th and 12th Graders to study this classic tale, Parzival, by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The study of Parzival opens high school students up to pondering deep questions about life and its meaning.
Parzival is often considered one of the most important main lessons in the Waldorf high school humanities curriculum.
This year, we are offering it LIVE on Zoom with Master Teacher, David Sloan, who has four decades of Waldorf teaching experience. The depth of his familiarity with this epic tale makes this LIVE course truly special.
Dates: This 4-week course will run from September 27 to October 29, 2021 (with an October 9-17 vacation) and will consist of live 60-minute (Zoom) classes, four days per week (Wednesday is the day off).
There will be two sections – each class is capped at only 12 students.
Option #1: Class starts at 7am MT (which is 9am ET, and 6am PT).
Option #2: Class starts at 10am MT (which is noon ET, and 9am PT), except for Fridays, when it starts one hour later.
Who is it for?: Normally, this course is taken in 11th grade, but it would be equally valuable for any 12th grader who didn’t take the course in 11th grade.
Cost: $380
Course Description:
For decades the story of Parzival has been a signature course of Waldorf eleventh grades around the world. At first glance, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival is a medieval tale of knightly valor, composed in the early thirteenth century. However, if we plunge beneath the surface, we may discover mysteries and revelations much more relevant to modern life — to our own life — than we might imagine. The substance and direction of this course will arise almost completely out of students’ daily questions and the discussions they stimulate. Key themes may help shed light on a number of contemporary questions:
With all the uncertainty in today’s world, how do we find our true selves?
What factors contribute most centrally to an individual’s identity? Family background? Gender? Race? Environment? Strivings?
What do young people need from the world today, and what does the world need from them?
How can we learn to foster healthy relationships: between parents and children, between friends and romantic partners?
How do we develop empathy for others?
What can we learn about the nature of conflict and conflict resolution?
Students will keep daily journals for their reflections about the book and the questions it generates. They may also write a final essay and create an artistic project related to one aspect or another of the story.
About David Sloan:
David Sloan has been teaching humanities in Waldorf schools for over four decades. After graduating from Harvard College, he received his Waldorf teacher training at Emerson College in England, and an MFA in Poetry from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Program. A long-time faculty member at Green Meadow Waldorf School in New York, he also helped to found two other high schools: Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder, CO, and Maine Coast Waldorf School (then Merriconeag) in Freeport, ME. He has written two books on Waldorf pedagogy: Stages of Imagination: Working Dramatically with Adolescents, and Life Lessons: Reaching Teenagers through Literature, as well as two collections of poetry: The Irresistible In-Between, and A Rising and Other Poems. He currently lives in Brunswick, Maine with his wife Christine, sharing their appreciation of the ever-changing seasons and the joys of grandparenting. He continues to teach in the Center for Anthroposophy’s High School Teacher Training Program, as he has for over twenty years.
Our Math Academy Enrollment is Open. Sign your student up now for our high-quality, active, Waldorf math program created by a master teacher and Waldorf math educator and author, Jamie York, at https://www.jamieyorkpress.com/math-academy/
Here's what a parent of one of last year's students had to say about our math program:
My daughter started the year as a reluctant math student. I was a bit sad that she really didn’t love math and groaned each time a math main lesson came along.
She loves math so much now. Your enthusiasm, your curiosity, your calm, steady energy have been the biggest blessing in our home this year.
Her math progress over the past year is astounding. But, she has learned something else that is even more important - she can do AND enjoy hard things.
Every student deserves the joy of a teacher who they adore and who changes them deeply. I feel so so so lucky that Alice will have one of her’s - YOU - for math all the way through school.
A.H., Math Academy Parent, USA.
Jamie York Math Academy starts with grade 5 and goes through grade 12.
We also have TEACHER-ONLY options in which teachers participate and learn and then teach their student(s) themselves.
And NOW we are offering science courses too.
NEW Science Academy Physics (Grades 6-11,) and Chemistry Courses (Grades 7 and 8.)
and NOW we have added even more with Grade 5 Botany, Grade 6 Minerology and Geology, and Grade 6 Astronomy
Each one of these courses will be a four-week main lesson block.
What is Waldorf Science?In this short video, our Middle School Science Teacher, Andi Pearl, reveals the essence of the wonderfully effective, phenomenological approach in Waldorf, and how it meets the needs of middle school students.
This video is an excerpt of a Meet the Science Teachers zoom event held June 14, 2021. Register now for science courses.
