Understanding

Waldorf Early Chidhood Education

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Receive the child in reverence,

Educate the child in love,

Let the child go forth in freedom.

- Rudolf Steiner-

Waldorf Education

What is Waldorf Education

Waldorf education is a unique and distinctive approach

of education which is responsive to the developmental

phases in childhood and the nurturing of independent

thought and imagination that encourage creativity

and free thinking. The specific methods used in

Waldorf schools come from the view that the child

develops through a number of basic stages from

childhood to adulthood. The Waldorf curriculum is

specifically designed to work with the child through

these stages of development.

Waldorf education was developed by Rudolf Steiner

(1861-1925) at the beginning of the 20th century. It is

based on Steiner's broader philosophy and teachings,

called anthroposophy (literally, wisdom or knowledge

of man).

Anthroposophy holds that the human being is

fundamentally a spiritual being and that all human

beings deserve respect as the embodiment of their

spiritual nature. This view is carried into Waldorf

education as striving to develop in each child their

innate talents and abilities.

What is Unique about Waldorf Education

The best overall statement on what is unique about

Waldorf education is to be found in the stated goals of

the schooling: "to produce individuals who are able, in

and of themselves, to impart meaning to their lives".

That means Waldorf education is intended to enable

students as fully as possible to choose and, in freedom,

to realize their individual path through life as adults.

Educating the Head, Heart and Hands the

integration of thinking, feeling and willing is the

signature of Waldorf education. The aim of Waldorf

schooling is to educate the whole child, "head, heart

and hands". The curriculum is as broad as time will

allow, and balances academics subjects with artistic and

practical activities.

The curiosity of childhood has been rewarded and

nurtured into a passion for discovery and learning that

is genuine and internally driven.

Children are immersed in a range of subjects across the

entire human experience. They do not focus

exclusively on intellectual pursuits, but tackle practical,

hands-on activities and artistic endeavours as

complements to their academic development.

Waldorf schools encourage self-motivation,

independent thinking and creative problem solving in

an environment that allows children to become

confident expressing their own ideas.

As children mature and become comfortable with the

essential learning structures provided by a teacher-

centred approach, they move toward a student (or

individual)-centred approach to learning. In a Waldorf

school children become increasingly free as they

develop. They learn to create solutions to problems

rather than merely to replicate them: to think rather

than memorize. They learn that initiative, not

compliance, is rewarded.

Why Waldorf

Waldorf Education provide the right stimulus at the

right time and allow each childs abilities to fully

unfold. Waldorf Education is dedicated to awaken the

faculties that lie dormant within each child, thereby

preparing young people to discover within themselves

the strength, enthusiasm, and wisdom to bring out the

best qualities within them.

Key features of Waldorf schooling Methods:

1) All lessons are designed to appeal to the head, heart

and hands, ie, to reach children through all their

senses. Waldorf schooling aims to educate the whole

child. Rudolf Steiner believed that people actually have

twelve senses the accepted five plus thought,

word/language, warmth, balance, movement, life, and

the individuality of the other/ego.

2) That imagination is the heart of learning permeates

all of Waldorf teaching and learning. Key elements of

the Waldorf teaching method include storytelling,

fantasy-make-believe, art, drama, craft, discussion, the

creation of a personal workbook. Practically this

translates into a school day where the main lesson

mostly unfolds with fairy tales, myths and legends,

stories or drama. For example, the study of history

may go beyond reading and writing about an era and

involve performing a play based on the era.

The face-less doll is a standard toy in Waldorf

kindergartens since the teachers believe a simple toy

allows children to use their imagination.

3) Life skills and practical experience such as

woodcarving, sculpting, sewing and gardening are

considered as essential to a complete life experience as

academic subjects. The experience of undertaking a

project whether it requires great dexterity (mastering a

musical instrument) or is a relatively simpler one

(sewing or knitting an item) gives the student a sense

of achievement and helps develops a quiet confidence

to master other more complex skills later in life. For

example, through year-long woodwork projects that

involve activities such carving out of stubborn pieces

of hardwood, filing and sanding, students learn that

the rewards only follow the commensurate amount of

mental, physical, even emotional effort expended.

Every student are encouraged to create and learn new

skills. On the other hand, since technology promises

an experience by which little effort is expended,

Waldorf teachers will veer younger students away from

watching television and discourage exposure to

computers until the eighth grade or later.

4) Waldorfs chief aim is to encourage a love of

lifelong learning through the use of the arts. The

curriculum is language-rich since storytelling, drama

and poetry are the mainstay of every lesson. A typical

Waldorf school offers several different music classes

music practice with recorders, a choir, an orchestra. Art

projects are promoted with the purpose of building a

foundation of developing form and technique.

Waldorf educators seek to create a sense of wonder

about each subject. Even the approach to subjects like

math is unique students may study geometric

progression by doing graphic-art projects.

No textbooks are used from 1st to 4th grades, instead

students make their own books filled with careful

records of field trips, classroom experiments, drawings,

impressions of the teachers regular oral presentations

and syntheses of what they have read in primary

sources (at more advanced levels).

5) A fundamental goal of Waldorf schools is to give

youngsters a sense of ethics and to produce individuals

who are able to impart meaning to their lives. Waldorf

schools do not just pay lip service to this goal. Rudolf

Steiner founded the first school a few months after the

end of World War I and he perceived the need for a

new social order and a new sense of ethics: The need

for imagination, a sense of truth and a feeling of

responsibility these are the three forces which are

the very nerve of education, Steiner had said. Each

morning students recite a short Steiner poem that aims

to inspire students about nature and good work.

Teachers avoid reading from books but daily present

oral lessons as topics for open discussion, and to create

a dramatic atmosphere in which the moral principles

involved in a given subject can be not only pondered

but felt. Students may act out, stomping their way

through a poem. Or they may role-play one of the

characters in a fairy tale of good triumphing over evil.

Waldorf teachers believe that the stories are essential

to the students ability to develop a sense of empathy

and their capacity to find meaning in life.

6) Steiner believed that younger children learn

primarily through imitation, that watching and

working with a teacher facilitates developing

appropriate skills. The relationship between student

and teacher is regarded as crucial throughout the

course of childhood and early adolescence. In the early

years, the teacher, regarded to be the main source of

learning, stays with the class for the entire eight years

of elementary school. In high school, students are

taught by specialists in each subject. By the time high

school is finished, students are ready to explore and

find their place in and give contribution to the world.

7) Academics (grades and competitive sports) are de-

emphasized in the early years of schooling. Waldorf is

unusual in that it advocates sending children to first

grade a year later than usual. Waldorf students arent

graded on their work until around the seventh grade.

And reading is not taught until 2nd or 3rd grade

(though the letters are introduced in first and second).

Before teaching sound and word recognition, Waldorf

teachers concentrate on exercises such as storytelling

and poetry recitation to build up a childs love of

language. As one Waldorf teacher put it talk and play

are the foundation of reading. Waldorf educators

abhor pushing a child into realism (through premature

reading or denial of fantasy play) which they believe

will cripple the childs development.

Waldorf Early Childhood Education

A Waldorf early childhood environment is designed to

allow for the gentle unfolding of a childs

development. A balanced, holistic approach to the

educational experience sets the stage for children to

gain the necessary knowledge and skills to go forth

into the world with self confidence and responsibility

for their own destiny.

Kindergarten is an extension of the family experience,

an intermediate step for the 3- to-6-year-old between

the home and formal schooling. The goal is to nurture

a sense of wonder and curiosity in the young child,

while encouraging reverence for the goodness of life.

In the loving and creative atmosphere of the

kindergarten, young children acquire the confidence

and discipline they will need for the challenging

academic work of the grade school.

Willing feeling thinking

Hands Heart - Head

In Waldorf educations view, from birth until age six, a

time when so much physical growth occurs, the

metabolic-limb system dominates as does the activity

of willing or doing (following through). From seven

through thirteen, we are chest-ruled creatures, with

feeling at the forefront of how we engage with the

world. And at puberty, our head and other hardened

parts, such as the intellect, become mature enough to

be put to work. So children progress from being beings

of will (0-6 years) to feeling beings (7-13 years), and

only afterward (from 14 onward) to being able to

begin to really think.

Before seven years, what must be awakened is the will,

via the limbs, beginning with the hands; from seven to

thirteen, the feelings or heart should get a teachers

attention; from puberty onward, thinking or the head

comes to the fore. In keeping with this trajectory, the

childs first interest is in the worlds morality or

goodness, then its beauty, and later on, its truth.

Modes of engagement begin with physical imitation of

what is good, then center mainly on aesthetically

fueled imagination, and later on will include

judgement.

Model of Child Development Used in

Waldorf Education

0 - 7 Imitation Good Lower senses

7 - 14 Imagination Beauty Middle senses

14 - 21 Judgement Truth Higher senses

Waldorf education does not see these modes, interests,

and soul forces as mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, at

certain times, some are thought to be in the forefront

or ripe for educating. Waldorf teachers are attuned to

this.

Twelve senses

Children learn by experiencing the world through their

senses. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf

education, spoke not only of the traditional senses,

but 12 senses as being organized into 3 groups of 4.

These senses correlate to those three folded nature of

the human being : thinking, feeling, and willing- that

we strive to maintain in equilibrium to be whole,

grounded individuals. This refer to the education the

head, heart and hands. Further, we can think about the

first group especially as being vital for the human

being to access the higher senses.

In the first seven years of childhood the focus is on

developing the Foundational Senses or the Sense of

Willing, the metabolic limb focus: Touch, Life, Self

Movement and Balance.

In the middle years, years of Feeling, the rhythmical

development focus: Smell, Taste, Sight, Warmth

In the next seven years, years of Thinking, the nerve

sense development focus: Hearing, Word, Thought,

Ego

The Lower Senses

The lower senses give us a certain consciousness of our

body. Focus of development of these senses is 0-7

years of age.

Sense of Touch This sense tells you something about

the object you are touching and your sense of

boundary (tactile). We learn where we end, and where

something else in the world begins.

Sense of Life This sense allows us to experience our

own constitution, whether we feel well or not.

Appropriate suffering is important. Without these

experiences, we could not develop fully as humans. By

letting our children experience the bruised knee, the

fall off the bike, the toy we will not be buying, the

dessert they have to be waiting for, and sadly, the pet

who died, they learn to handle lifes disappointments

Sense of Movement Gives us a sense of our joints and

muscles when we move. It is development from

sitting, crawling, walking (proprioception).

Sense of Balance Gives us our relationship to the

three dimensions of space; above/below, right/left and

front/back (vestibular). Awareness of ones own space,

ability to rest and find stillness. Posture, flexibility and

finding a proper perspective flow from a healthy sense

of balance.

The Middle Senses

These senses give us an experience of the world around

us. Focus of development for these senses is during 7-

14 years of age

Sense of Sight Through this sense we experience

light, darkness, form, and color. Sense of sight is

connected to the faculty of imagination..

Sense of Smell - Through this sense we experience the

quality of things (odors, scents, aromas, etc) and our

relationship to them. Smelling is related to memory.

Sense of Taste Digestion begins in the mouth.

Ideally, our sense of taste should teach us what is good

for us. Tongue distinguishes different qualities of

food.

Sense of Warmth This a two-fold sense, a

temperature sense of hot and cold. We experience

physical temperatures as well as soul warmth and

coldness, sympathy, enthusiasm, love. Sense or warmth

is a gateway to the upper senses.

The Higher Senses

These senses give us access to communicating our

thoughts and feelings to others. Also called the social

senses. Focus of development is during 14 21 years of

age.

Sense of Hearing Our ear has three main parts the

outer, middle and inner ear. Our sense of hearing

allows us to differentiate sounds. Perception of

sounds, tones, words of others, receiving input from

the world. *Connected to the sense of balance.

Sense of Word (Speech) Allows us to be aware of the

language another human being uses to communicate

with us. Allows us to grasp how language is used.

Perception of thoughts and expression of thoughts,

understanding and expressing through gesture as well

as through words. *Connected to the sense of

movement.

Sense of Thought - The sense that gives one the

capacity to understand, comprehend, and picture what

anothers thoughts convey. Understanding of the

inner character, ideas and truth. Ability to reflect, use

clear judgement. *Connected to the sense of life.

Sense of Ego - The sense that gives one the ability to

be sensitive to someones individuality. Perception of

ones individuality and the individuality of others.

*Connected to the sense of touch.

The first list, the will senses are considered to be key

foundational senses associated with the earliest phase

of childhood, from birth to age 7. These four senses

are said to lead to the proper blossoming of the last

four thinking senses in the adolescent years between

14 and 21. So in the kindergarten we have to create

environment focused on the development of the

lower senses. Free play (playing without interuption

using natural materials), story telling, music, poem,

acting or make-believe or fantasy play, water color

painting, beeswax modelling, crafting, outdoor play

are main activities we could give in any form for

kindergarten.

All of those activites given with the 3 R's in a Waldorf

Kindergarten, reverence, repetition, and rhythm.

3R Rhythm, Repetition, Reverence

Rhythm

Children are carried along by the rhythms of the world

they live in from rhythms of breathing in their

bodies to the daily rhythms of sleeping and waking.

The Waldorf view is that children flourish when their

daily activities reflect the natural order of life with a

rhythmic arrangement of the day. Rhythm gives a

series of fixed anchors for children to work around in

their day and week --- mealtimes, as well as bedtime,

playtime, work time. Rhythm, once established, is

deeply soothing, since they know what is coming next

without needing verbal instructions. Also creating a

safe boundaries for children, since they know what

things will happen when, where and how that creates

the feeling that the world is predictable, and safe-

hence, good.

Rhythm is developed around daily, weekly, and

seasonal rhythms. Children can anticipate daily

activities and are given a chance to breathe in and

out (there is a balance in individual/group,

restful/active activity). The activities in Waldorf Early

Childhood flow with a sense of breathing in and

breathing out, from the quiet moments of stories

and circle to the active movements of rigorous work

and play (child directive activities through which he or

she can relax and release energy). Great attention is

paid by the teachers to balancing breathing in and out

activities, so that the children do not become

overwhelmed by any one activity or energy in the

room. This rhythm is not an imposed schedule, but

arises from the physical needs of the children and

teachers. Because this rhythm is natural to the

children it assists their physical development, provides

them with a sense of security, and prevents over

stimulation. Transitions (such as coming in from

outdoors), which can often be stressful for children,

are undertaken with songs and short games.

Sample Schedule for Kindergarten

8:20 Welcoming: Children arrive.

8:30 9:45 Free play

The Weekly Rhythm of Daily Activities:

Monday - Painting

Tuesday - Gardening

Wednesday - Baking or soup making

Thursday - Crafting

Friday - Beeswax and nature walk

9:45 10:00 Tidy-up, bathroom, hand washing, and

rest time.

10:00 10:30 Morning Circle We gather for our

morning verse and greet the day and each other in

song, movement, and poems.

10:30 11:00 Snack Time The snack is cooked at

school.

The Weekly Rhythm of Snack:

Monday - Rice day

Tuesday Fruit and vegetable day

Wednesday Soup day

Thursday Bread or muffin day

Friday Oat day

11:00 12:10 Outside Time We also use this time to

do gardening and nature walks.

12:15 12:45 Fairy/Folk Tale (told by teacher), play,

or puppet play.

12:45 13:00 Tidy-up

13.00 Dismissal

Free play, both indoors and outdoors.

According to David Elkind, author of The Power of

Play [Da Capo Press, 2006], imaginative play is the

catalyst for social, physical, emotional, and moral

Free play is a self-directed activity. A childs self-directed

play develops

imagination,

creativity, large and

fine motor

development, problem

solving, social skills

and verbal skills.

development in young children. Play based on the

childrens own spontaneous ideas is one of the

Waldorf kindergartens primary activities.

The simple, open-ended toys in the classroom lend

themselves to that kind of play. Pieces of fabric - silk,

cotton, wool, anything that is natural. Young children

will find a multitude of uses for these. A piece of fabric

went from being butterfly wings, a princesses cloak to

a ghost costume in the space of about half an hour. A

piece of driftwood can become a car one minute, and a

house the next. Often children will act out the fairy

tales they hear during story time.

Research provides considerable support for not rushing

to introduce academics. A study of 100 kindergartens

in Germany found that children in academic

kindergartens where they learned reading and

arithmetic actually performed worse in later grades

than children in play-based programs. Finland, where

school doesnt begin at all until age seven, routinely

leads the world in literacy, math, and science scores

During indoor play, the children use these objects to

sort, count, compare, contrast, categorize and create.

They recognize shapes and patterns as they build

geometric designs. Using modeling beeswax, the

children construct geometric and freeform shapes. Arts

and crafts materials, and costumes and puppets allow

the children to draw, tell and act out stories and

engage in other creative play.

Gross motor skill development is the hallmark of early

childhood. During outdoor play, the children will be

encouraged to be physically active in a safe, supervised

play yardwhich is for their exclusive use. Students

will be able to jump-rope or tackle an obstacle course.

The children gain experiential understanding of

fundamental scientific principles through observing

and manipulating their environment during outdoor

playtime, such as learning about the weather, the

seasons, and plants and animals of the area. Playing on

the seesaw, lever systems, and swings and balance

beams, the children will experience the fundamental

laws of physics kinesthetically. The importance of hard

work is learned as they participate in seasonal outdoor

projects and beautify their play area through

gardening, painting, etc.

Circle.

The songs and poems are carefully selected so the

children experience the beauty, magic, power, and the

humor of language. Our seasonal circles help children

become more aware of Nature and their surroundings

and strengthen their skills in observation and capacity

to describe the world around them.

All circle activities empower students by teaching them

appropriate sensory motor skills necessary to social

interactions. In addition, learning the circle helps build

in the children the power to memorize, a skill that will

Circle Time provides

a social experience in

which children

develop an

awareness of being

an individual within

a community.

come in handy when a play is performed or the

periodic table must be learned!

Stories.

Listening to stories is foundational to

developing the capacities for reading and

writing.

The teacher repeats the telling of the same story for a

week; by weeks end, most of the children are able to

retell it from memory. This process develops crucial

pre-writing skills such as active listening, visualization,

reflective thought, organization, sequencing and

concentration. Puppetry and dramatic play also are

used to spark intrigue and a passion for learning. By

hearing stories from many cultures, children are

introduced to the cultural diversity that surrounds

them.

Snack time.

In helping to prepare the snack the children learn

about nutrition, foods, measurement, estimation, and

following directions. When setting the table and

collecting the trash, cups, and compostable goods,

children are also learning one-to-one correspondence:

one placemat per child, one cup per placemat, etc.

Kindergarteners help

prepare a healthy,

homemade snack each

day, such as soups,

grains, or bread.

Often the children will spontaneously begin to count

out loud as water is poured into each cup. These math

and science skills, learned in a practical experiential

fashion, are the building blocks for conceptual

learning.

While eating together, the children develop social

skills such as manners, taking turns and cleaning up.

Snack time, though its purpose may seem obvious,

also teaches important skills. At snack, children remain

at the table for an attention-span lengthening time of

around thirty minutes. We recite verses as snack is

prepared and distributed, and each day we follow the

same predictable routine before, during, and after

snack. As adults, we often forget what a tremendous

amount of concentration is involved in simply

remembering to stay in our chairs! The concentration

and ability to sit at the table for longer periods of time

prepares the children for reading and writing. We

further support this goal by emphasizing a left-to-

right movement when serving.

Tidy-up time

It involves teamwork, responsibility, and logic. How

can we work as a team to put our room or our

playground back together again? If we stop to consider

just what it takes to put the blocks, shells, cloths, etc.

all in the appropriate baskets on the correct shelf, and

to put the dark-colored chairs at the play table and the

light-colored chairs at the snack table, and to put all

the blue play tubs back in the playhouse, we realize we

are talking about set theory! This concept of which

things go together is an underlying element of many

intelligence tests. But the most obvious benefit of

tidy-up time for the children is the joy and sense of

accomplishment that comes from completing a task

that, at first glance, appears to be overwhelming.

During tidy-up time and snack, children are also

developing habits that will carry our children through

their academic careers. The care we take in folding

cloths, putting chairs away, arranging placemats is

intended to develop in the children an attention to

detail that may later emerge in elementary school

years as neat handwriting, good study habits, and a

sense of pride in their work

Daily and weekly rhythms, interwoven with seasonal

celebrations, support children as they move whole

heartedly into play and learning. Handwork, healthy

meals, and regular outdoor play encourage the proper

growth of the childs body. Meanwhile, social

interaction and creative play lay the foundation for

emotional and social growth.

Repetition

Repetition is incorporated into all aspects of our

rhythms and routines. We hang up our coats and put

away our shoes the same way every day. We clear our

places after snack and tuck in our chairs after snack the

same way every day. Some of our songs and verses we

say and sing every day of the school year. We tell the

same story for one week or two weeks at a time. We

sing or say the same songs and verses for two weeks at

a time during our circles, and usually we say or sing

each one twice in a row. We use consistent phrases to

guide and re-direct children's behaviour. Repetition

provides consistency, which helps with discipline.

Young children learn primarily through imitation, and

repetition gives children the opportunity to improve

their singing, saying or doing a little bit at a time

without direct instruction - they don't feel they are

being "taught" something or being put in the

spotlight, rather they are learning it themselves by

watching carefully and practicing.

Repetition is a key to academic success. Repetition

allows learning to enter a child deeply - quality over

quantity.

Learning something by rote - practising something

until it becomes routine, whether it be the routine of

tucking mittens in a sleeve, hanging a coat on a hook,

placing shoes with the toes to the wall and putting on

inside shoes (all without a teacher's help) frees up the

working memory part of our brains for further, deeper

learning. At the beginning of the year the children

need lots of help with these tasks and many gentle

reminders. But by the end of the year, they hardly

need to think about it at all. The first two weeks of

school no one remembered to tuck in their chairs

(including the teachers) but now they all do it without

prompting.

Reverence

Reverence, as well as gratitude, is important to foster

in early childhood. However, they cannot be taught to

young children through doctrine or words. Rather,

those attitudes must live within the adults who are

caring for them

Reverence develops from the care, love, and devotion

we have for each other, the things around us, and the

environment in which we live. The teacher fosters

reverence through giving thanks for what we eat,

greeting the day, and how we part from one another at

the end of the day.

Ways in which we work to develop reverence in

Waldorf Early Childhood classes:

1. Beautiful and lovingly cared for environment:

Children witness us engaged in real and meaningful

work carried out with love and attention.

2. Spirit of gratitude:

Morning verse

Blessings of thanks at mealtime

Care for materials

Care for one another

3. Consider the value of play:

Create time and space for play

Allow freedom to play and take risks in safe

environment

Provide uninterrupted opportunities for play

Unformed toys nurture the imagination

4. Experiences in and with nature:

Working in the garden, climbing trees, gathering

leaves, experiencing weather

Observe magic in nature with wonder and awe

without the burden of scientific language and

concepts (best saved for later)

5. Nature of the programming and activities in the

class:

Lighting of a candle before story and mealtime

Folding a silk

Storytelling

Artistic activities (painting, drawing, beeswax

modelling)

Preparing and sharing meals together

Celebrating festivals

6. Reverence and respect for each child and for each

other shown daily.

Role of Teachers

Our highest endeavor must be to develop free

human beings who are able of themselves to

impart purpose and direction to their lives. The

need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a

feeling of responsibilitythese three forces are the

very nerve of education.

-Rudolf Steiner-

The Waldorf educational approach works from a

childs perspective. A Waldorf educator looks at what

an individual child needs and responds to the child

with a suitable approach. The teacher asks: What do

you need and how can I help you?, What can I do to

make you flourish, to be happy, and to fulfil your

potential and your dreams?, How can I help you

become a well-rounded, healthy human being so that

you respect yourself and your fellow human beings?

A Waldorf teacher is always striving to fulfil what a

child truly needs looking deeply into the child,

wanting to really see and understand the child. And at

the same time the teacher looks at the childs

developmental needs where the child is at, what the

childs strengths and weaknesses are and how to help

the child progress according to his or her own natural

rhythm.

Teachers in Waldorf schools are dedicated to generate

an inner enthusiasm for learning within every child.

They achieve this in a variety of ways. Even seemingly

dry and academic subjects are presented in a pictorial

and dynamic manner. This eliminates the need for

competitive testing, academic placement, and

behavioristic rewards to motivate learning. It allows

motivation to arise from within and helps engender

the capacity for joyful lifelong learning.

The Waldorf early childhood educator works with the

young child by creating a warm, beautiful and loving

home-like environment, which is protective and

secure, and where things happen in a predictable,

rhythmic manner.

The young child learns primarily through imitation

and activity. In all aspects, an important requirement

of a Waldorf teacher is that her actions be worthy of

imitation and filled with purposeful joy. We must be

consciously aware of the quality of our movements,

for whether we like it or not, we will see the children

mirror for us what we have presented to them as it

emerges in their actions and play

The kindergarten teacher takes care to create an

environment in which the child is warmly nurtured

and guided toward realizing his or her emotional,

intellectual and social potential. Kindergarten teacher

creates a setting in which the child fully experiences the

gift of a childhood filled with imaginative play and

concrete exploration

The teacher guides the students each day through

various activities such as cooking/baking (motor skills,

sociability), story time (ability to listen and

remember), circle time (movement and

recitation/phonemic awareness), and outdoor and

indoor free play (development of social skills, physical

and brain development). Such active learning has

many benefits, perhaps the most significant of which is

building the brains own capacity.

Inside and outside, the teachers do meaningful work

during free play. Often the teachers are preparing

various whole grains, fruits, and vegetables for snack.

From bread to barley soup, the children help with

measuring, cutting, stirring, shaping, and preparing.

They also help wash dishes and set the table for snack.

Through cooking and other seasonal tasks such as

gardening, grinding grains into flour, and mending

toysthe children experience the natural cycles of the

year and learn practical skills that prepare them for the

grades program. This atmosphere of working and

caring, of calmness and usefulness translates into

children who feel respected, and revered, and safe.

Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings, who are

able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives.

Rudolf Steiner, Founder of the Waldorf School Movement