Program Requirements

Grades children are expected to be at school 5 days a week from 8:15am to 2:45pm. 
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Our First Grade program requires children should have turned six by September 1st.

We enroll children for our 1-5 Grades program throughout the year based on space and acceptance into our program through an interview and observation. Applications submitted should be accompanied by a teacher recommendation form.

Unique Aspects of our Grades Program

Class teachers accompany a class for seven consecutive years and teach all core subjects. The close relationship that develops between the class teacher and students benefit the child's growing confidence and self-esteem. 

Academic work each day in the grades begins with a 2-hour Main Lesson that addresses core subjects in great depth. Blocks last three to four weeks to provide time for students to fully digest and assimilate the material. Children do not receive homework until Grade 4 and do not participate in testing. Children are rather assessed by their teachers and parents through a series of observations and conferences throughout the year. Each child's personal growth and development is looked at, while considering the whole child - emotionally, cognitively, creatively, physically, mentally, instead of just academically.

Rather than standardized textbooks, students create written and illustrated Main Lesson Books from their teachers' presentations and blackboard drawings. This creative process enables them to "own" their learning and allows the children to experience a subject on a far deeper, richer level than the intellectual one. The opportunity for children to create their own lesson books allows children to connect to their environment on a personal level, giving them a better chance to later retain the information they have learned. Each page of each lesson book is accompanied by a student's drawing, making the lesson book as creative as it is academic.

Between the ages 7 and 14 children learn most naturally through beauty. That's why stories and art are used as teaching vehicles. The stories chosen for language arts and history blocks match closely the developmental stage of the children. For example, stories of saints & heroes and fables appeal to the developing sense of right and wrong of second-graders.

At Bayou Village School we aim to create an environment that respects the natural stages of childhood, generates a joy for learning that lasts a lifetime, that is creative, experiential and artistic. Our teachers strive to educate the whole child-the heart, the hands as well as the head. We are committed to developing capacities as well as skills so that our students will become self-aware, compassionate individuals with a sense of responsibility for the earth and the greater community.

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Curriculum Overview

Primary Grades 1-3
Pictorial introduction to the alphabet, writing, reading, spelling, poetry, and drama. Folk and fairy tales, fables, legends, Old Testament stories. Numbers, basic mathematical processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Nature stories, house building, and gardening.

Middle Grades 4-6
Writing, reading, spelling, grammar, poetry, and drama. Norse myths, history and stories of ancient civilizations (Rom, Greece, India). Review of the four mathematical processes, fractions, percentage, and geometry. Local and world geography, comparative zoology, botany, and elementary physics.

Upper Grades 7-8
Creative writing, reading, spelling, grammar, poetry, and drama. Medieval history, Renaissance, world exploration, American history, and biography. Mathematics, geography, physics, basic chemistry, astronomy, and physiology.

Specialty Subjects

Handwork
Knitting, crochet, sewing, cross-stitch, basic weaving, toy making, and woodworking

Music
First and Second Grade: Singing, pentatonic flute, and recorder.
Third and Fourth Grade: Singing and violin.

Foreign language 
Our Grades students are currently studying Spanish. In the future we will introduce a second foreign language.

Art
Watercolor painting, form drawing, beeswax and clay modeling, perspective drawing.

Movement
Eurythmy, group games; team sports for the older grades.

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Meet The Teachers

Ms. Bashir
Grade 2
Natasha Bashir was born in Srinagar, Kashmir and completed her B.A. in Communications  and M.A. in Library Science at the IIUM in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Natasha taught kindergarten and first grade for four years at the Madinah Academy of Madison, WI. While living in Atlanta, GA she was introduced to Waldorf education via the Waldorf School of Atlanta where her oldest daughter attended grades one and two. Natasha was then inspired to learn more about the Waldorf philosophy of  education, in particular its integrative approach to the social, emotional and educational development of the whole child. Natasha began teaching at Bayou Village School in 2014 and in the summer 2015 Natasha attended a 1-week intensive at Sunbridge Institute on teaching Waldorf 1st grade and during the past two summers she completed virtual courses on teaching Waldorf 2nd and 3rd Grade. ​

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Ms. Guna
Grade 3
​Bharathi started her journey at Bayou Village School as a Nursery Assistant in the Sunflower Garden Classroom in 2015 and is excited to lead first grade this year. Growing up in different countries, she developed a passion for travel and values the learning that comes from connecting with people from different backgrounds and cultures. Her career in education started in 2008 as she sought for opportunities in social work in India, her home country, which resulted in a year of teaching life-skills training and English to marginalized youth. This experience informed the decisions she made since. She believes that the most important social change starts within and in how we educate our children. This led her to Waldorf Education and in finding our school when she moved back to Houston. 

Bharathi has served as a volunteer with Americorps and has taken on roles in various non-profits in Texas, Chicago, and India, working with inner-city children as an educator as well as with the most marginalized population in the community as a Community Organizer. She recently attended an Introduction to Waldorf Early Childhood summer intensive at Sunbridge Institute and aspires to start her Waldorf Grades Education Training in the coming year. In her spare time, she enjoys practicing yoga, cooking, learning new languages, and exploring the city, and the world with her family. Bharathi is also a certified yoga instructor. 

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​Ms. Claybon
Grade 1 and 4
Marcada was born in Italy while her father worked in the Navy, and raised in Houston, TX and Florida. She graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Art History and Fine Arts. During her studies she worked at the Blaffer Art Museum as an Administrative Assistant and a Teaching Assistant for the Blaffer Summer Arts Program, where she discovered a passion for teaching. After the birth of her daughter Sophia she found a home at Bayou Village School and was intrigued by Waldorf-inspired teachings. She worked at our school as lead aftercare teacher and assistant during the 2016-17 school year and during the summer 2017 started the Waldorf grades teacher training program at Sunbridge Institute. Marcada loves being creative and enjoys painting, drawing, crafting, handwork, and writing.

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