Upon visiting one of our Preschool or Kindergarten classrooms, people consistently remark on their beauty and say that they could stay. With a warm, home-like setting and nurturing family atmosphere children join us for one to five years to learn and grow through their teachers' wise guidance. This continuity with teachers allows greater insight into each child's unique qualities and deepens the bonds between families and their teachers.
Our program fosters emotional as well as intellectual intelligence, and physical coordination for large and fine motor ability. Through movement, play, music, and the artistry woven through every day, all facets of a child's being are cultivated. The result is a rich and secure foundation laid for academic excellence and success in life.
* We welcome children age 3-6 in our 4 mixed-age preschool and kindergarten classrooms.
* Classes are between 8 and 18 students, each with an experienced Waldorf teacher and assistant.
* Our Kindergarten children come five days a week; some of the younger three-year-olds for a partial week and our Preschool is three days a week.
Activities
- Creative playtime
- Watercolor painting, drawing, beeswax modeling, crafts
- Baking and Cooking
- Eurythmy (a special form of movement, like a western tai chi)
- Circle songs/rhymes/finger plays and movement games
- Storytime - fairytales and nature stories, simple puppet shows and plays
- Festivals and celebrations
- Sewing, finger crocheting and knitting
- Caring for our environment, inside and out
- Visiting geese and ducks in the nearby park
- and so much more…
Class Schedule
8:30-12:30 Preschool and Kindergarten
8:30-3:30 Preschool and Kindergarten with After-School Care
Extended care to 5:30 is possible with prior arrangements
Aspects of Education
Play is the Child's Work.
The value of play is now widely known, and is confirmed by psychologists, brain research, and developmental pediatricians. It is significant that Dr. Rudolf Steiner understood this, from a deepened perspective, and recommended play as one of the foundations of healthy learning when Waldorf schools began in the early 1920's. Fruits of play include emotional as well as intellectual intelligence, and the cultivation of relationships to nature, other people, and one's inner and outer spirit.
Rhythm and Warmth
A rhythmic day helps children feel secure because they know what to expect. In alternating active and quieter activities, we help children achieve balance and mastery in their environment.
Advocating for adequate clothing for changing weather is one of the ways we help foster good health habits. In an overall atmosphere of warmth and joy throughout each day, children enter more fully into life and all it has to offer.
Capacities of Body, Soul and Spirit are Enhanced and Developed through Movement
Just as the organs for speech are developed through learning to stand and walk, all aspects of a child's being are enlivened and developed through natural and well-thought out movement activities that stimulate neurological development. Teachers understand the importance of adequate development of the lower senses of touch, self-movement, balance, and the sense of life (also referred to as "tactile, proprioceptive, vestibular, and somatic"). Through helping in the integration of these foundational senses, all twelve senses receive support.
Reading from the Book of Nature and Life
As future stewards of the earth, our children are in nature daily, with imaginative nature stories that give pictures of the processes underlying the natural world. We tend a garden, build our own biodynamic compost, and prepare our delicious soup using some of the ingredients we have grown ourselves. Other food is purchased locally when we can, and always organic if not biodynamic. We are committed to being as sustainable as possible, and the materials we use are natural. We honor each familiy's culture and celebrate the cycle of the seasons of the year with festivals such as our magical twilight lantern walk in the fall.
Parent Involvement
- A bridge between home and school is built through:
- Monthly parent meetings; sharing ideas for parenting, artistic activities, and social times are some of the fun we have together.
- Parent/teacher conferences, with a chance to share observations at home and in class of your child.
- Volunteering opportunities, such as classroom help, gardening, parent council representation, and committee work in many diverse areas
- Lectures and workshops offered throughout the year by our staff and guest speakers.
