Students Studying History With Geography

Students at the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School celebrated Election Day by studying history and geography. As part of the curriculum for geography students, historical figures were studied to give a specific look into the nation’s history.

Culminating the fifth and sixth grade lesson block on North American geography, the students created a living museum. Students divided the country up into five regions and worked in teams to research, write, and draw geological, economic, political, and historical facts about their section of the country. They were free to pick and choose the dates and figures that stood out to them and explain why. On Election Day they had the chance to present their work to the students in all grades, as well as faculty, staff, and parents. Most shared regional recipes and sample dishes.

Nearly all of the students chose at least one historical figure to speak about as part of their presentation. Waldorf schools teach history through the biographies of famous people, emphasizing their role and relationship to their surroundings and the political, social, moral, and economic climate of the time. Isaac Kochman, a sixth grade student whose team researched the South, emphasized the connection between the influence of Martin Luther King, Jr, and this year’s historic Election Day where the first African American man is running for President on a major party ticket.