The teacher nurtures the children’s power of imagination in a developmentally appropriate way. She does so by telling carefully selected stories and by encouraging free play. This free or fantasy play, in which children act out scenarios of their own creation, helps them to experience many aspects of life more deeply. Vigorous and energetic outside play in the large and rolling play yard is always part of the preschool morning. The teachers understand the importance for the young child to have the opportunity for joyful physical movement and purposeful play as well as the opportunity for their senses to unfold.

The morning begins with the teacher’s warm and loving welcome. The children engage in morning outside play before departing for a walk around the land to awaken their bodies and senses for the day. Here, we lay the foundations of math and science. Teachers and children together observe the natural world around them, especially taking note of seasonal changes. Children try their hand at fort building with found logs and branches, observing the laws of physics that unfold.

Upon returning to the classroom, the teacher leads the children into Circle Activities, which include development of large and small motor skills through integrated movement with poems, plays, songs and fingerplays drawn from the festivals and rhythmic elements of the year. From the abundant autumn harvest to winter’s darkness and anticipation of the light through spring’s bright new birth of green and summer’s ripening fruits, the children reflect and celebrate the seasonal cycle around them. Counting and number sense are also introduced through Circle Activities. Once a week the children move to poems and songs in Eurythmy class. Eurythmy is an art of movement to speech and tones developed by Rudolf Steiner and is found in Waldorf Schools over the globe. Eurythmy is especially suited to young children and their natural musical nature.

Many of the preschool activities are extensions of home life. Depending on which day of the week, the children may grind grain for the bread they bake for snack, do simple finger knitting, or engage in gardening, mending, or housekeeping.  They learn to love and care for their things in their “classroom” home. Painting with watercolors, sewing, woodworking, forming beeswax into delightful shapes, and preparation for the festivals are just a few items that guide the flow of the day.  We strive to provide an environment that stimulates and is worthy of a child’s imitation in which each child can be physically active in a meaningful way. Following the morning work and play, the room is always tidied to be ready for another day. Snack time is of great importance in the kindergarten classes as the children work all together to prepare the food, set the table, enjoy the food, and clean up. Children welcome the responsibility and find joy in being helpful.

Each day, the children come together for a fairy tale, multicultural folk story, nature story, or puppet show. The telling and retelling of these universal stories opens a world into which each child may enter and be filled with rich imagination. Children begin to recognize the recurring literary structures that make up a story, including rich language, setting, character, problem, resolution and ending. They enjoy playing with language and telling their own stories to the class during lunch or snack time.