Kindergarten
Waldorf-Inspired Public School Kindergarten offers a joyful, nurturing setting that inspires the imagination through creative play, storytelling, puppetry, music, movement, and art. Emphasis is placed on the healthy development of the physical body through practical activities that include handwork, crafts, baking, cooking, gardening, sweeping, digging, nature walks, and plenty of time outdoors. Responsibility for self and others is encouraged through attention to sharing, caring, and taking care of our Kindergarten classroom and play yard. The rich foundations of written language and literacy are established with an emphasis on the oral traditions of storytelling, puppetry, and song. The foundations of mathematics are nurtured through rhythmic movement, music and the practical activities of cooking, sewing, gardening, and carpentry. Attention to, and care of, the natural world and its beauty lay a healthy foundation for more precise scientific explorations in the later years.
Waldorf-inspired schools recognize that the young child learns primarily through imitation and example. Great care is taken to provide an environment that brings nurturing guidance and cooperation into the child's world of imagination and fantasy. The week is rhythmically structured to include storytelling and puppetry, creative work and play, singing and creative movement, games and finger plays, crafts, art activities, and fairy tales.
The curriculum is play-based and nature-oriented in keeping with the awakening capacities of the young child below the age of seven. The curriculum includes indoor and outdoor free-play periods in which the children imaginatively and creatively self-direct their play. The play times are interspersed with circle time (language arts, movement, and music), artistic activities (which vary daily and include painting, drawing, and beeswax modeling), snack time and story time. There are also frequent trips made through our campus to the community land we abut and down to the Saco River.
Education in the outdoors is an integral part of Waldorf philosophy and Northeast Woodland Charter School intends to highlight this aspect of the curriculum. In the kindergarten, for example, that means long walks and outdoor exploration. These outings help children gain awareness of the cycles of nature, build social skills, and develop fine and gross motor skills that support future academic growth. Students learn about our ecosystem, work with tools in the garden, cook with fresh produce, and will share a harvest meal with their class.
Waldorf-methods in Kindergarten emphasize the foundation skills and experiences described above vs a traditional academic instruction. One key goal of the kindergarten program is to lay a strong foundation for the formal academic curriculum of the grades. Many preliminary academic skills are practiced daily. This material is not presented through formal academic lessons, but rather is embedded in the activities and rhythms of each day. The kindergarten program also allows children to fully develop their creativity, imagination, and self-confidence in preparation for the higher levels of cognitive thinking developed in the later grades.
For example, music, games and finger play develop rhythm and counting skills. The hands-on activities of gardening, cooking, nature walks, seasonal activities, etc., introduce science, math and geography skills, and concepts and vocabulary developed through classroom activities and stories. Multicultural stories give the child an introduction to social studies.
Social development and cooperative learning are also emphasized in kindergarten. In particular, acquiring the skills of concentration, courtesy, social habits, classroom habits and spatial awareness are important goals providing a strong foundation for future learning and for life.
Each day follows a regular and reassuring pattern and rhythm. Within the rhythm of each week, the children engage in these activities following a regular pattern: painting, baking, sewing, drawing, and beeswax modeling. Story, song, seasonal activities and celebrations carry us through the cycle of the natural year.