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 In
our Waldorf kindergartens the emphasis is on learning through doing,
and the children are active in work and play, song and movement.
Every effort is made to make our Waldorf kindergartens a warm and
home-like environment for the children. Great care is given to the
development and nurturing of the children’s senses, their
organs for learning. All the materials are part of life and the
room has a balance of color, form, simplicity and purpose. Much
learning takes place, but it is through imitation and example rather
than through instruction. The children are learning about life at
this age rather than about the specific subjects of academic work.
The teacher plays a central role, and through her example the children
enter into the life of the kindergarten deeply. They experience
the regular rhythm of each day’s activities, be they household
work, arts or crafts. They are led into the yearly rhythm of the
seasons with their many colors, moods and activities. The teacher
introduces them to song, movement, gesture and verse in the daily
activity of “circle time.” The children drink in the
world of stories, both nature tales and appropriate fairy tales,
which are usually told to them through the oral tradition. The children
come to know and love the kindergarten world and through it, the
wider world around them.
Children come to our kindergartens from the ages of 4-1/2 and 6-1/2.
The task of the kindergarten teachers is to provide a curriculum
appropriate to this stage of child development.
During this time in kindergarten the children learn through imitation.
The teacher sets up
for herself various meaningful, practical activities – baking
or cooking the week’s snack, slicing fruit, washing dishes,
sewing, fixing a toy or working on seasonal crafts such as stringing
corn for necklaces at Thanksgiving or planting gardens in spring.
The children will watch her, and depending on their own interests,
will imitate her in a variety of ways. In the play yard, a teacher
picking up a broom might soon be followed by a chorus of sweepers.
Perhaps a teacher sewing puppets might find herself quite literally
surrounded by a group of little tailors. She supplies them with
the necessary tools and soon each child will be thinking, if not
shouting, “Look, I can sew!” A teacher baking a loaf
of bread in the kitchen, along with her helpers, of course, might
inspire another group of children to “bake” a birthday
cake in their “kitchen,” imitating the teacher’s
real work in their fantasy play. Most importantly it is the purposefulness
and intent of the teacher in her activity that will be imitated
in the purposefulness and focus of the children’s activity,
related or not by subject matter. Well aware of this, kindergarten
teachers strive to perfect not only their skills, but also their
appearance, speech, gestures, movements and poise.
 Play
is the quintessential activity of children. It is the serious work
of childhood. In play, children learn to experience the possibilities
of life. Although play may need some guidance and teacher input,
for most children play comes naturally and their swiftly growing
bodies require it for healthy development. Through play, children
create the world anew each day, and try on every imaginable situation
within it. They build houses and ships, rockets and fire engines.
They explore life in homes and farms, forests and mountains, underwater
and in outer space. All of this is initiated by the children, with
occasional help from the teacher. They create their play worlds
using the simplest of materials, such as logs and stumps, stones
and shells, cloth and play stands. In the course of play their growth
in all areas is stimulated – physically, emotionally and socially,
mentally and spiritually. As has been confirmed by a growing body
of research, such open-ended imaginative play that comes out of
the child’s inner life and capacities lays a foundation for
imaginative and lively thinking in the adolescent and adult. It
also stimulates an interest for all aspects of life, which can then
be cultivated through academic studies in the elementary grades
and beyond.
 Children
need to move their whole bodies! The majority of toys, and furnishings
in the kindergartens are those that encourage large scale activity
and play, and the children are thus engaged for a good portion of
the morning. This propensity to move is also recognized in having
the children set the table and clear it, or in moving their own
chairs to form the story time circle, and in the accompanying gestures
for circle time songs and poems – a tree is not just a tree,
it is arms outstretched above one’s head.
Once a week the children also participate in eurythmy class taught
by an eurythmist. Likewise in the spring the children take a weekly
three-mile roundtrip hike to the Presidio – an experience
both of the rhythm and vigor of walking.
A child’s capacity for fantasy and imagination are intentionally
encouraged and protected in our kindergarten. This capacity is recognized,
again, in the toys, where their simple forms and lack of definition
allow the children’s imagination to determine the use and
fill in the details. Examples are the simple doll, the large play
frames, the wooden crate or the colorful cloth which can be transformed
into an endless variety of structures. The child’s capacities
for fantasy and imagination are also nurtured in our telling and
acting out of poems, songs, stories and puppet shows. Telling a
story, by heart, allows the children to create their own inner pictures,
again a capacity for later creative thinking.
Rudolf Steiner felt that rhythm was the “carrier of life.”
Children need familiarity and predictability in their lives. The
yearly rhythm is created with the help of seasonal stories and crafts
and the nature table, and is enhanced by the celebration of the
festivals and the children’s birthdays. Great care is given
to be inclusive and respectful of the various cultures and religions
of the children in the kindergarten. The weekly rhythm is achieved
by having a special activity each day, Monday for baking, and so
on. The daily rhythm is established by following a set pattern of,
for example, greeting, circle time, indoor play, clean up, snack,
outdoor activities and story time, close and then lunch. The children
always know what to expect, and this helps give their busy lives
a sense of order and provides a secure environment in which they
can develop.
In our kindergartens, academic learning is not stressed; rather
it is felt that such learning would be at the expense of the healthful
unfolding of the best qualities and capacities of the child. However,
learning readiness activities are, in fact, intrinsic to the curriculum.
Social skills are developed through all the activities in the kindergarten
– for example, interactive play, baking bread and circle time.
Fine motor skills are developed through beeswax modeling, crayoning,
painting, fingerplays, lacing shoes and buttoning oneself, and cooking
activities. Larger motor skills are developed through the type of
indoor play that is encouraged, through various cleaning activities,
and through outdoor play. Circle time, songs, nursery rhymes, puppet
shows and the oral traditional of the teacher’s storytelling
develop listening skills and memory, cultivating in the child a
feel for language and the world of words. Along with creative play
these aspects of the kindergarten life also strengthen the power
of imagination. Similarly, counting games, building, and rhythmic
activities build a solid foundation for numbers and spatial relationships.
The animal stories and nature table, along with a general cultivation
of a sense of wonder, engender in the child an unconscious appreciation
for the sciences which the child will discover later. Everything
presented must be true in its essence.
In our kindergartens, we aim to kindle a sense of wonder, devotion
and gratitude in our everyday lives. We strive to connect the child
to the earth’s rhythms, beauty, and meaning, restoring an
understanding and respect for all life.
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