Steiner developed the Waldorf curriculum as a means of helping the child's spirit and soul to take proper hold of the body, to unfold fully the functions of thinking, feeling and willing and thereby to learn about the world and be active in it in a healthy and constructive way. Many elements are involved in this education through the grades, among which are the following:

1. Physical exercises which develop spatial orientation, balance, coordination and the sense of rhythm.
2. Exercise of the will through the completion of age-appropriate physical, artistic and academic tasks.
3. Deepening of the feelings through story, drama and practice of the arts.
4. Step by step development of thinking from simple, concrete sequencing to abstract reasoning.
5. Gradual exposure to the wonders of the natural world and the cultural history of mankind.
6. Affirmation of the child's innate goodness and creativity.
7. Affirmation of the basic human values, including mutual respect, courtesy, cooperation with and service to others, and the proper use of our language.
8. Acquisition of a fund of knowledge requisite for participation in one's time and context.

The Waldorf curriculum is meant to unfold according to the stages of development of the growing child, which can be summarized as follows:

The child's spirit first becomes active in willing through his/her limbs, then in feeling and thinking. Education at home and at school should support this gradual process. In the first seven years of life, the child gains control of the limbs. S/he is helped in so doing by imitating the activities of older people, especially practical and playful activities around the home and in the nursery/kindergarten setting. S/he learns best by 'imitative doing' at this age.

From seven to fourteen, the child lives strongly in his or her feelings. S/he learns and remembers best whatever has stirred the feelings. For this reason, Steiner encouraged teachers to teach children of this age through an artistic presentation of every subject which engages a wide range of feelings. The child will learn more if the teacher speaks and acts in this way than he will if the content is presented in a dry, intellectual manner or simply read out of a textbook. Most important for the child to experience, at this age, is a love, reverence and wonder for the world, and the teacher must strive to impart these qualities by his own example. The child's thinking becomes active during this time as well but is still strongly colored by the feelings.

From fourteen to twenty-one, the young person gradually unfolds his or her powers of thought and independent judgment. Teachers need to guide him/her particularly in the task of mastering his thinking. They can help best by providing challenges where he can develop his analytical and synthetic powers, his idealism and the ability to consider issues from several points of view.

Education thus proceeds in three major steps as the child incarnates. During this process, the child's consciousness develops. Up to age 12, it is largely a pictorial and imaginative consciousness; from then on it adds the element of reason. Until age 12, the Waldorf curriculum works with the child's imagination, proceeding from fairy tales, legends and fables through Bible stories and ancient mythology. In the fifth and sixth grade, the transition is made to actual history and science. From then on, without losing its imaginative and artistic elements, the curriculum is presented in a more scientific manner, increasingly relying on direct observation, objective description and reflection in all subjects.

以上文章摘錄自 http://www.rsct.ca/index.cfm?pagepath=WALDORF_EDUCATION/How_We_See_Each_Child&id=834)