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Our Early Childhood Program, honoring the task of caring for the young child, offers a range of opportunities for families with children not yet old enough for Kindergarten. It is based on Rudolf Steiner’s insights into birth and early development and is divided into two parts: “The First Three Years” and “The Preschool Years.”
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“The First Three Years” Parenting Classes are for pregnancy through a child’s third year. Parents and children attend together in a warm homelike atmosphere. Our Observation classes present practices for observing and interacting with infants and toddlers. Through quiet observation, parents deepen their own intuitive knowledge and discover new ways of being with and loving their children. The classes cover topics such as motor development, care and protection of the senses, rhythms and routines, sleep, health and nutrition. Our Work & Play classes are for parents who have already taken or are concurrently enrolled in an observation class, and provide an opportunity for parents to engage in meaningful work (cooking & crafting) with their child by their side or playing nearby. |
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CLICK HERE FOR OUR
Spring 2010 Parenting Class Descriptions
for parents and their children from pregnancy through nursery school age.
SPRING SESSION BEGINS MARCH 8.
ONLINE REGISTRATION OPENS FEBRUARY 1
For questions about the classes other than registration issues, please contact
Allison Carroll, Parenting Program Director,
at acarroll@sfwaldorf.org or 415-931-2750, ext 232
If you would like to be on the email list to receive a reminder about future registration please contact us at info@sfwaldorf.org
Please visit our Nursery Program admissions page for more abut enrolling in our Nursery Program. |
Based on observing the children in movement and at play, these classes offer an introduction to the Waldorf principles of parenting for parents and their child/children. Classes are divided by age – Babies (up to 12 months, including pregnant mothers & their partners), Young Toddlers (ages 12-24 months) and Terrific Twos (ages 24-36 months) – to address the ever changing needs of each new phase of development. Observation classes begin with a period of the children playing or the babies lying on a blanket in a beautiful play space while the parents silently observe their activity. This is followed by discussion of our observations and of selected topics and readings while the children continue playing. We then clean up and come together for seasonal songs, lullabies, or finger games, and a snack together. The Terrific Twos class includes more structured activities that children can join in with their parents such as a simple circle time and the preparation of a warm nutritious snack.
These classes are for parents who have already taken or are concurrently enrolled in an observation class. In the Handwork classes, parents can learn knitting, sewing and other soft crafts as they make seasonal decorations, useful objects, or simple toys in a joyful and supportive setting. The children play with each other under the supervision of their own teacher or “help mom or dad.” The class ends with a snack and clean-up. In the Cooking & Crafting classes, parents and children prepare a nutritious meal that will be shared during class and/or create simple crafts together. The children imitate the adults’ motions at work; the parents learn how to include and guide them. A beautiful play space is provided for the children, and each class includes a simple circle time with seasonal songs and nursery rhymes.
Nursery Program for ages 2 ¾ to 4 ½ offering a two day or three day option from 8:45am to 12:45pm.
As their horizons expand, young children find delight in each day’s new attractions. Daily and weekly routines, alternating between times of activity and rest, carry them joyfully through the day. Learning takes place in the Nursery Program through imitation and example rather than through instruction. Honoring the need of the preschool aged child to find security in the familiarity of the home setting, this program offers a social experience in the Waldorf tradition of a beautiful homelike environment. Going to nursery class becomes a joyful visit with little friends happily joining together in real domestic work activities like baking bread and preparing soup, or washing and ironing, as well as singing, painting and free imaginative play.
Because we recognize the importance of play for healthy development, our nursery classes provide gentle guidance to encourage the natural expression of the young child’s imagination. Trained teachers create a nursery room designed to be a safe, warm environment for the work of childhood, which is play. With simple materials, such as logs and stumps, stones and shells, cloths and play stands, the children build and explore. In the course of their play their growth in all areas is stimulated – physically, emotionally and socially, mentally and spiritually. Play is the way children practice being in the world, how they test ideas, solve problems, and find enjoyment. It lays a foundation for creative and lively thinking in the adolescent and adult and stimulates an interest for all aspects of life, which can then be cultivated through later academic studies.
Children need to move their whole bodies! The majority of toys and furnishings in the Nursery Program are those that encourage large scale activity and play. The young child’s desire to move as well as to help out is satisfied by having the children set the table or carry their own chairs. They begin to control their movements through accompanying gestures for songs and poems – a tree is not just a tree, it is arms outstretched above one’s head. The children also walk outdoors together every day, rain or shine; they move freely while enjoying the wonders of the world around them.
These classes give children a meaningful social experience, while giving their parents a needed and well-deserved break.
For more information about joining the Nursery Program please visit our Nursery Program admissions page.
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