Curriculum Overview: K-8 All Outdoor Academic Program
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Spring River’s K–8 Academic Program offers a holistic, nature-immersive learning environment for homeschooling families. Students learn outdoors year-round in forest and coastal environments, guided by dedicated teachers and supported by teaching assistants and an integrated student support structure.
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Rooted in Waldorf-inspired pedagogy, the program supports the full development of each child — intellectually, socially, and practically — through meaningful academic work, artistic expression, and daily engagement with the natural world.
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For inclement weather days, Spring River partners with a warm and welcoming church in Jacksonville Beach, providing ample indoor classroom and outdoor learning space so that the rhythm and continuity of the school day can continue without disruption.
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Core Waldorf-Inspired Program Elements
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Daily Main Lesson Block
Each morning begins with a focused Main Lesson — an in-depth, developmentally appropriate study of language arts, mathematics, science, or humanities.
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Main Lesson Books
Students create their own Main Lesson Books rather than using textbooks. These books include written work, illustrations, diagrams, and reflections, becoming both an academic record and an artistic expression of learning.
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Looping Class Teachers
Each class is guided by a consistent teacher who advances with the grade span over time, providing continuity, stability, and deep knowledge of each child’s development.
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Screen-Free Instruction
Learning takes place through storytelling, conversation, movement, and hands-on work, without the use of screens.
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Teaching Assistants in Every Grade
Each class over 9 students is supported by a dedicated assistant, ensuring small-group support and individualized attention.
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Integrated Student Support
Students benefit from social-emotional and behavioral support that strengthens both the individual and the overall health of the class community.
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Parent Partnership & Education
Families participate in conferences, parent nights, and education evenings to support alignment between home and school rhythm.​
Grade-Specific Learning Overview
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Kindergarten: Living into the World
Spring River’s Waldorf-inspired Kindergarten is offered as either a two-day or four-day program for children ages 5–6.
The Kindergarten experience emphasizes movement, play, creativity, and meaningful work in nature — not early academics.
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Children participate in:
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• Making seasonal snacks together
• Watercolor painting
• Beeswax modeling
• Imaginative play and storytelling
• Daily outdoor exploration in forest and beach environments
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Through rhythm and shared work, the child develops confidence, coordination, and a sense of belonging.
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Grades 1–3: A World of Wonder
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In Grades 1–3, students enter their formal academic journey through a rich, imaginative, and rhythm-based curriculum.
Students engage in:
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• Daily Main Lessons and Main Lesson Books
• Story-based literacy and mathematics
• Artistic integration of academic work
• Specials classes including Handwork, music, movement, and world language
• Seasonal celebrations, class plays, and field work
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Learning grows from wonder into understanding, guiding the child into purposeful academic work.
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Grades 4–5: Crossing the Nine-Year Threshold
As students grow in independence and awareness, the curriculum supports their emerging sense of self and their place in the world.
Students engage in:
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• Geography, local history, and mythology
• More structured academic and artistic work
• Collaborative projects and class work
• Specials classes including Handwork
• Field trips that deepen real-world understanding
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This stage strengthens resilience, clarity, and confidence.
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Grades 6–8: Will in Motion
Early adolescents are met with meaningful academic and artistic challenge, encouraging initiative, discernment, and self-expression.
Students participate in:
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• Interdisciplinary Main Lessons
• Practical arts and hands-on projects
• Specials classes including Handwork
• Leadership and collaborative work
• Class plays, presentations, and field trips
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Students develop responsibility and self-awareness as they prepare for high school.
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Specials & Experiential Learning
Across Grades 1–8, students participate in Specials classes that support creativity, skill, and balance.
Specials include:
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• Handwork
• Music
• Movement
• World Language
• Practical and fine arts
Students also benefit from:
• Class plays and seasonal performances
• Field trips and outdoor labs
• Real-world experiential learning
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Spring River’s K–8 All-Outdoor Academic Program provides families with a complete, Waldorf-inspired homeschool pathway grounded in rhythm, relationship, and meaningful engagement with the living world.
Early Years & Kindergarten
Lower School (1-5)
Upper School (6-8)
The Class Teacher (Grades 1-8)
At Spring River, each class has a core teacher that stays with them for multiple years. This continuity enhances the children's learning in both academic and social aspects and allows the teacher to develop a deep understanding of the child as a whole and of the class as a community.
The Main Lesson
At Spring River, the “Main Lesson” is fundamental which is a two-hour period of concentrated study for grades 1-8 that begins each school day, following circle time, when students are most prepared for sustained effort. In Main Lesson, we study a core academic theme for a “Main Lesson Block” of three to four weeks, inviting in-depth exploration and learning into one of the core subjects - language arts, science, mathematics, geography, and history. This allows the class teacher time to explore each subject in-depth and to approach it in a "whole child" fashion, bringing in poetry, movement, drama, modeling, painting, and the potential for field trips or other exploration. In this way, the students' intellectual learning is combined with artistic and practical work.
Main Lesson Books
During Main Lesson blocks, the students each create their own Main Lesson Book. These beautiful books are organized, ongoing records of the students' work and are filled with observations, illustrations, diagrams, stories, and essays. This act of generating one's own artistic "textbook" is one of the unique parts of the Spring River Experience.
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Special Subject Classes
In addition to Main Lesson, we offer special subjects such as handwork, nature immersion, medieval nature quests, music, Spanish, form drawing, painting, modeling, drama, woodworking (7-8), and (for grades 3-8) curriculum-related field trips.
For more details see our Special Subject page or visit the individual grade description.
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Forest School and Nature Hikes and Immersion:
From our earliest days, Spring River has honored the relationship between growing children and nature, and ensured that outdoor time was an essential component of our school day. Now, as an outdoor school, our students are immersed in nature every day and engage in forest trail and beach walks in all weather. First-hand experiences and observations of nature are at the heart of all of our programs. We also offer a unique and more in-depth one day Forest School Enrichment Class for families seeking that experience to complement their homeschool studies.