"Teaching as a Lively Art"
            
             Steiner believed that a child was finally ready for school after they begin breaking through their second set of teeth. This usually happens around age six, Steiner believed students would be ready to learn at this age. The typical class for a child of this age lasted about two hours instead of the traditional forty minutes. The children were exposed to painting, drawing, writing the alphabet, the numerical system, nature, foreign language, handwork, and making and listening to music. English or language was not taught at this age, because Steiner believed that they were exposed to it enough at this age through the everyday use of the language that it did not need to be included in the curriculum.
             By the time the students reached seven years of age the students have had the same teacher through out their entire schooling experience. They are becoming creatures of habit and begin to see their teacher more as a parent figure than a stranger. The children are not taught the rules associated with grammar yet and the telling of fairytales is discontinued. Instead they are told more realistic stories about animals. Math is taught in a way, which revolves around patterns and number relationships. The kids also start to develop their fine motor skills through crochet.
             By the age of eight the students are taught about their dominance over rocks, plants and animals. They take a field trip to a farm where they are able to learn about animal relationships as well as animal habitats. By this age they begin to play their own music as well as beginning to learn poetry. This was important to them because they were not simply repeating what they heard. Social Sciences and physical education also began around eight years of age.
             The 9 year olds start to learn about the study of animals. They explore
             the chest, limbs and head as the three main divisions. They also study the difference betw...