Not Just Rocks: The Inner World of a Grade 6 Science Class

Reflections from our Geology Block (Waldorf Grade 6 Science)

This block has been my personal best so far!

(Well… almost every block feels like that 🙃)

But I’ve come to realise that what makes any study truly meaningful has less to do with the subject itself… and everything to do with our own awakening.

The subject is just the medium.

It’s the mirror, the pathway, the spark, for something much deeper to come alive within us.

Well, for Geology, I had poured in days and nights of study, thinking, imagining… and planning each narrative with care. I knew what I wanted the children to sense, observe, imagine. But I hadn’t expected this level of depth, this kind of dialogue, this level of soul. What came alive in class… I’m still holding it with awe.

We started with the Earth. What lies beneath. The idea that we’re standing on something that’s constantly moving and yet feels still. That beneath our feet is fire, pressure, transformation. And just like that, a metaphor had entered the room. One that wouldn’t leave.

From early on, it became clear that this wasn’t going to be a “rock and soil” kind of block. We weren’t here to list types of rocks. We were here to relate. To feel our way through facts. To think clearly, yes, but also freely.

We actually talked about the difference between conforming and free thinking in a science class! Philosophy in a geology block! And the children wanted to go there. They were so ready. “Thinking for myself,” one child said. “Understanding it from my own view,” said another. Oh! What joy to witness those moments. The kind of joy that makes me silently cheer and scribble a note to myself, this is it. This is what we’re here for.

One day, I asked, “How do you know the Earth is a sphere? Not because I said so. Not because a book said so. But you, your own senses, what tells you that?”

And the recollections were extraordinary.

Kanav shared something from our trip to the Maldives. How, as we sailed away from Malé island, the tall building we’d seen began to sink, slowly, as we drifted further into the sea. First the base disappeared, then only the top was visible. And then, just water. What an image. What a knowing. Another child spoke about climbing hills to catch the sunset again; that sense of roundness, of curve.

This is the kind of thinking that stays. Thinking that connects the outer world with the inner experience. And there was more. Much more.

Before our lesson on metamorphic rocks, we spoke of metamorphosis, that deep, inner transformation that happens in life. We spoke of frogs, butterflies, seeds. And then… of ourselves.

I opened the space for the children to reflect: “When have you changed completely? Inside-out?”

And how beautifully and transparently they shared! 

One child said they used to be mean and now they can’t relate to being like that anymore. They even recalled the exact moment when they experienced kindness that sparked this amazing transformation in them. Another spoke of how they used to waste water and not think or care much about natural resources and the earth, but something shifted, and now they care deeply. One said they used to dislike reading and now it’s their favourite thing.

They traced their own metamorphosis with such honesty.

And it didn’t stop there. While learning about igneous rocks, we explored the fire within us. What does it feel like? Where does it come out? In what moments does it rise? And they wrote essays that were beautiful, original, and deeply personal. With just a little one-on-one time and a few gentle questions about their passions and what drives them to do, they began writing about what they’re drawn to and how they show up.

We explored stories of science as mysteries waiting to be unfolded, with questions that led us deeper every time. Not just facts to swallow. We explored how science knows what it knows. We spoke about the first clues of Earth’s roundness. About seismographs. The layers of the Earth we haven’t seen but believe in because of the movement of waves and the language of data.

The classroom became a space of imagination, understanding, and wonder.

And I loved every minute of it.

We dove into etymology. Why is it called the mantle? Why magma and lava? We explored metaphors. What is the fire within? We told stories of transformation. How do butterflies and rocks have something in common?

And perhaps the most beautiful thread through all of this was this:

The Earth is always moving. Always transforming.

And so are we.

🪨

I know I say this often, but I truly mean it every time. Our work is really not just about curriculum and a checklist. It’s not even about “learning” in the traditional sense. It’s about relating. It’s about creating space for self-awareness, observation, free thinking, and curiosity. And in this block, I felt that with every class. Every question. Every pause.

The first baby steps toward real scientific thinking… grounded in clarity and lit by curiosity… are happening. Right here.

And I couldn’t be prouder.

The Earth Moved… and So Did Something in Us

In gratitude.

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