Early Childhood Education Program (ECE)
Mixed-Age Early Childhood Program
Our youngest students are surrounded by friends, warmth, and beauty in joyful spaces that feel like home. Our Waldorf Early Childhood programs serve children ages 3 to 6 years old. Flexible schedules from two days to five days, with morning-only and full-day options through our Aftercare program, meet the needs of a wide range of families.
Taught by trained Waldorf educators certified by the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN).
Preschool
Ages 3–5 years
2-Day Program 8:30 - 12:30
3- Day Program 8:30 - 12:30
5-Day Program 8:30 - 12:30
Kindergarten
Ages 4–6 years
4 Day Program 8:30 - 12:30 (TK Only)
5 Day Program 8:30 - 12:30 (TK and Kinder
Weekly ECE school Rhythm & nutrition program
Monday - Purple napkins, rice and lentils with Braggs amino acids, painting day
Tuesday - Red napkins, oatmeal porridge with raisins and oat milk, coloring day
Wednesday - Orange napkins, quinoa with golden sprinkles, bread baking day
Thursday - Yellow napkins, veggie/lentil soup of the day, chopping day
Friday - Green napkins, bread & butter with cheese, walk and handwork day
Preschool/Kindergarten
Meet the Teachers
Young children learn about the world through imitation and example. Together as teachers and parents we will take care that our actions, the environment and the activities are worthy of imitation. A carefully selected rhythm of alternating structured and unstructured activities throughout the day include, imaginative play, artistic activities, singing games/circle time, storytelling & puppetry, nature experiences and multicultural holidays and festivals. The activities are planned and designed to help the child develop their fine and gross motor movements, their language acquisition and their relationships with other children and adults. The rhythmical nature of the day and the activities themselves form the foundation for discipline in the preschool/kindergarten. The teacher guides the child to help develop social skills that involve cooperation and nonaggression. Circle time, activities and celebrations follow a yearly rhythm based on the natural progression of the seasons.
In short, the preschool/ kindergarten curriculum forms the basis for later academic learning. The foundations of written language and literacy are laid with an emphasis on the oral traditions of storytelling, puppetry, and song. The foundations of mathematics are nurtured through rhythmic movement, music and the practical activities of cooking, sewing, gardening, and carpentry. Attention to, and care of, the natural world and its beauty lay a healthy foundation for more precise scientific explorations in the later years.
The Environment
The Preschool/Kindergarten will offer a joyful, nurturing setting that inspires the imagination, respects nature and honors play. The “magic” of childhood will be preserved through an atmosphere of beauty and wonder. The classroom is set up to encourage imaginative play and allow the child full reign of creative and individualistic expression. Open-ended toys and equipment of natural materials are provided to best stimulate the child’s senses and imagination. They include basic blocks, things gathered from nature (shells, acorns, stones, etc.) wooden toys (play kitchen, boat, animals), soft knit animals, cloth dolls, play silks and dress-ups. These simple materials are chosen to allow the small and large motor skills to develop organically, thus laying the foundation for later academic learning.
Imaginative Play
Play is the basis of experiential learning. Through play children interact and explore the world around them and this brings pleasure. With pleasure comes the drive to repeat the pleasurable activity and with repetition comes mastery. The more comfortable children feel with the world, the more likely they will learn and discover new things, conquer their fears, and have enhanced confidence toward challenges. It is through the “experiments” of play that a structure of knowledge of themselves, others around them and the world is built.
Play is essential to healthy development because it contributes to the cognitive, social, physical and emotional well-being of the child. Through imaginative play the child explores the use of symbols, and this symbolic thinking forms the foundation for later academic learning. When a child pretends a shell is breakfast for his/her baby or stones are a present, or a ticket, the child is engaging in symbolic thinking to transform items found in nature into fantasy play. Social and communication skills are developed when children create, for example, a birthday party scene where they work together to prepare for the party. Imaginative play most often requires the use of problem solving, strategizing, planning to achieve a goal, making choices and negotiating skills. Play builds the physical body. Climbing a tree or rolling down a hill sharpens reflexes, develops strength, coordination and balance. Play also meets the child emotionally. Through their imaginations they are able to make sense of the world around them.
Artistic Activities
Participation in an artistic process engages the child on many different levels. Fine and gross motor skills are developed as are decision making, problem solving and exploring their own creativity. Artistic activities include music, simple nature crafts, cooking and baking, handwork (sewing, finger knitting, felting), modeling/sculpture, woodworking and visual arts (painting, crayoning, etc.).
Music can be heard throughout the day during circle time, transitions, and preparing for and cleaning-up from activities. Through music and rhythm the foundations for later mathematical concepts are laid. The domestic arts – crafts, cooking and baking, handwork, sculpting and woodwork, are developing fine and gross motors skills thereby building a platform for later academic learning such as concentration, speech and thinking. Wet on wet watercolor painting is an excellent example of how artistic activities work on the child in a threefold manner. It is an exploration of the medium, exploring colors and how they mix. It involves discovering the emotional quality or nature of the color,which in turn then becomes an emotional expression for the child. And it requires inner control that they can dip a brush in the paint pot without spilling their water jar in the process, fine and gross motor skills.
Circle and Story Time
Fairy tales, classical stories, puppet shows, verses, nursery rhymes, finger plays, singing games and circle time expose children to rich language, develop listening skills and help children recognize sounds and rhythm in words and rhyming schemes in verses. All of this lays the basis for the understanding of phonics, the beginnings of reading and writing. Oral listening skills build language, competence in grammar, memory, attention and visualization. These are crucial skills in developing literacy. Oral storytelling and oral history provide an opportunity to tap the richness of cultural traditions outside the mainstream.
Spanish
Spanish is presented in the form of play and seasonal rhythmic circles with movement, songs, finger games, sensory activities and puppet shows. At this age, children do not need to notice or know that they are learning “another” language, they simply absorb it, enjoy it and listen to new sounds that they naturally repeat and produce.
Nature Exploration
Each day the child will have the opportunity to experience the natural world through nature walks, “backyard” experiences and gardening/outdoor work. The child will learn about the natural world by exploring nature firsthand and it is these observations, discoveries and explorations that will be the foundation for later scientific discovery. They give the child the whole picture so that later they can have a connection to all the details.
The young child is so new to the world that it seems appropriate that their “classroom” be the natural world. They are uniquely in harmony with seasonal changes and outdoor life, for example the little bugs under a log. Seasonal songs, stories and crafts introduce different aspects of nature into the child’s imagination, awakening the child’s senses to the world around them. Planting in a school garden teaches about the seasons, plant growth (seed/bulb to vegetable/flower) and soils. General tending to the school community space gives the child an opportunity to engage in purposeful work as well as, being responsible toward themselves and others,an important part of the whole. The outdoor space with a multitude of different natural materials, sand, dirt, wood chips, grass, rocks, trees, plants, flowers, bugs, butterflies, birds and much much more, provide a healthy setting from which to explore and build upon their understanding of themselves and the natural world.
