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About Waldorf Education
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The
Whidbey Island Waldorf School is pleased to present a new program
designed especially for Parents and Children from ages 1 to 3!
DEWDROP & ROSEBUD
Playgroups for Children
with their Parents
The
Dewdrop Playgroup
meets once a week
on Thursdays.
The
Rosebud Playgroup
meets
once a week
on Fridays.
For
details on the new Dewdrop & Rosebud programs, please click Parent/Child
Classes or
contact the Whidbey
Island Waldorf School at waldorf@whidbey.com.
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It is through the will that the child will pour his or her
contributions
into the chalice of life.
-
Bill Bryant, Waldorf
Educator and Teacher Trainer
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A Day in Early Childhood
The Waldorf Kindergarten is the bridge between family and school life. The
Kindergarten child learns through imitative and creative play in a warm,
homelike environment, using cloths and simple natural materials. Social
skills are developed as children play side by side, listening and sharing
and helping one another.
Rest and circle time follow morning free play and cleanup. The teacher
leads games, poems, seasonal songs and little dramas, which work in the
children to integrate their whole being. A snack at the lovely table set
with candles is preceded by a blessing, then everyone moves outside for
playtime.
The nursery rhythm includes time each day for
individual care giving of the children. This allows the children to
develop a trusting relationship away from home and nurtures the transition into
school. Our low teacher to child ratio (1:6) allows for moments of support
throughout the day including helping the child during bathroom time and dressing
for the outdoors. These special moments create opportunities for the child
to connect to the teacher through little conversations, laughter, and song.
The kindergarten day includes a daily artistic activity which creates a soothing weekly rhythm for
the child. Activities include watercolor painting, drawing, beeswax
modeling, seasonal crafts, sewing and finger knitting. Hearing a fairy
tale, acting one out, or seeing a puppet play completes the morning. Capable
and loving teachers specializing in education for the early years plan the
school life with the child's special talents and needs in mind. |
The preschool years are of great importance in laying the foundations for
healthy adult creativity and intelligence. Today, nearly a thousand Waldorf
schools around the world promote true self-discipline, sound development and
solid learning through a head, heart and hands approach, striving to
offer the right stimulus at the right time and to help each child's
abilities to fully unfold. The curriculum, begun in 1919, is a successful
model for holistic education.
Nurturing and protecting childhood in a beautiful, warm, homelike setting is
a key element of the Waldorf early childhood program. Reflecting a deep
belief that children's natural creative play contains the cornerstones of
academic ability, the rhythm of the school day flows between lively social
and quiet individual activities.
In the first seven years, the child seeks to see that the world is a place
of goodness. These early years are a period of joy and exuberance during
which the child will absorb and imitate everything he or she sees, and
during which learning will flow through the movements of the child.
Therefore, the teacher seeks to lead the work of the class in a kind,
conscious, loving manner that is worthy of imitation ... and the child
learns by doing.
Great care is taken in planning and providing an entry into school life that
fosters wonder, joy and possibility ...
the early foundations for a
life-long love of learning. The Waldorf preschool and kindergarten
experience is meant to enliven the imagination and lovingly guide each child
toward an understanding of the world ... to plant the seeds for a successful
school career and adult life.
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
P.O. Box 469
Clinton, WA 98236
360-341-5686
E-mail
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