Early Childhood

Early Childhood
Two & a half to six years

It is well known that the social, emotional and physical foundations laid in early childhood affect an individual’s experiences throughout one’s lifetime.  With such enormous importance on this time of development, immense attention and care go into all aspects of a child’s daily experience. Our intention is that a child is nourished in love, safety, warmth and joy.

Weaving the foundation of all the learning and living that is to come for a growing child, a balanced approach to developing the child’s inner landscape and outer skills is provided through daily rhythmic and purposeful activity.  During this time of growth, we follow all current scientific research in recognizing that there is rapid and abundant development in all physical aspects including brain development. We also recognize that a foundation of emotional mapping is being laid at this time that will color future experiences.  With this knowledge, our EC programs work to optimize the development of capacities in the physical and emotional realms that will lay the basis for later intellectual pursuits.

Like Waldorf early childhood programs worldwide, there are some specific aspects that we have found to be imperative to the healthy development of young children. These are included in each of our early childhood programs and are detailed below.

A Play Based Learning Environment:  

It has been well established that healthy, interactive, imaginative play is necessary for a young child to develop their foundational capacities. The Early Childhood classrooms at WSRF are play based with a multitude of tools and environments to nurture the imagination and sensory experience of the young child. We provide spaces filled with natural materials such as wood, wool, cotton, silk, metal, water, grain, naturally pigmented paint, beeswax (for modeling). Tactile experiences are abundant and the space is given to create with these materials in infinitely imaginative ways.

The outdoor play space offers an abundance of interaction with the natural world on our playground, in our excursion space called the ‘Willow Forest’ and/or in the Wetlands play areas. In addition to free play time, formal circle time, cooking time, craft time and working time are woven into the rhythm of each school day. All the activities of the day are purposefully chosen to immerse the children in a mood of beauty, goodness and truth. 

A Nature Based Environment:

Along with child development specialists worldwide, we recognize the importance of having a daily connection with nature. We actively provide a learning environment abundant in outdoor time and activities.  Outdoor experiences of swinging, jumping, running, digging, climbing, sitting, stirring, sliding, sledding offer year round exposure to all the beauty that surrounds our campus. The benefits of being in the natural world for the child’s body and mind are all addressed.

*Keep scrolling to learn more about our Forest Kindergarten Program, a unique approach to early childhood education that brings our nature based approach to a whole new level.*

A Rhythmic Calendar:

Each year, month, week and day has its own rhythm and schedule that helps support the sense of predictability and calm in today’s busy children. Upon entering their classroom each day, a different activity, snack and mood greets the children. Through the course of each school day, the same general rhythm is followed. This provides a strong sense of well-being for the children. When the young child knows what to expect, they can relax and work on the more important aspects of working and playing together imaginatively.

A Story Based Curriculum:

As part of building a variety of capacities and skills that will be incorporated into later academic pursuits, the story curriculum provides the basis for many aspects of the lessons.  The fairy tales provide a multicultural experience of emotional, intellectual and physical achievements and failures. These stories provide moral as well as academic lessons that offer nourishment for a child’s imagination and play as well as guidance for social interactions.  They also immerse the children in articulate language experiences and a foundation of speech, sound and composition that will serve them in later language arts work including reading, writing and speaking.

Nourishing Physical Environment:

All aspects of the experience a child receives each day in our early childhood programs have intentional thought behind them. The food that is prepared for and by the faculty and children is organic and high in nutritional value and low in sugar while being filling and delicious. To ensure warmth and function for all elements of play, clothing for the children, in collaboration with parents, will likely include layers of loose clothes absent of distracting images that will be comfortable for rigorous play indoors and outdoors. To further provide a safe and nurturing environment, all aspects of speech, gesture, guidance and instruction is done in a manner that creates a clear yet gentle, loving authority of the teachers and that is worthy of imitation by the children.

Social and Behavioral Guidance:

One of the primary objectives of the kindergarten years is to help children build healthy, productive, age appropriate social skills that will be the foundation of years of connectivity and relationship in their futures. To achieve this objective, children are guided in their behaviors through clear suggestions and boundaries set by teachers in a positive, encouraging manner. The intention of mood and tone of the guidance ideally curbs unproductive behaviors and encourages productive behaviors in a respectful and loving manner.