Early Childhood & Kindergarten
The mixed-age Waldorf Kindergarten,
for children ages 3 1/2 to 6, is a world of play and make-believe, a
world of imitation and expression. Learning at these ages is best accomplished through playful activity: stories, songs, handicrafts, circle-time, free play and outdoor play. The Kindergarten teacher creates an environment where beauty, love, and security radiate from a home-like setting that gently helps the children adjust to the social world of the classroom.
The young child is carried along by the rhythms of the day, the week, and the year. As a child comes to know the daily and weekly rhythms through his experience, he can anticipate his days with confidence and joy. There is a daily balance of free play and structured activity. Weekly the children participate in activities of watercolor painting, baking, modeling, and coloring. They experience the rhythms of the seasons through nature stories and fairy tales, songs, and festival celebrations.
The Kindergarten is a morning program (2-day, 3-day or 5-day options are available) that includes playtime and handicrafts, circle time, snack, outdoor play, and story time. Finger plays, songs, games, story telling, and rhymes encourage language development, enhance memory and comprehension, and nourish imagination—all prerequisites for creative thinking and academic achievement. Academics in the conventional sense begin in first grade.
Those children who stay for afternoon-care have lunch, outdoor play, indoor play, rest, and
a story, all in the familiar, home-like setting of the Kindergarten.
The Kindergarten program meets
Monday-Friday from 8:30-12:20, or until 3:20 for children in the
Kindergarten afternoon care program.
