Early Childhood (Pre-K and Kindergarten)

2, 3, & 5 Day Programs For Ages 3-6
1/2 Day And Full Day Options
9:00 to 1:00 or 9:00 to 3:00

Walk into the soothing, home-like environment of the Kindergarten and feel the warmth and beauty of the soft pink walls, the colorful silks and cotton cloths, the natural materials in the toys, and the subdued lighting. Here your child plays contentedly and creatively, his or her imagination guiding the way. The teachers speak softly but firmly, and move with quiet purpose, as ones whose actions are worthy of imitation.  

Regular rhythms - alternating vigorous activities with quieter ones – guide the structure of each day. The Kindergarten week includes arts and crafts, puppetry, movement, cooking, bread baking, singing games, healthy physical play, and learning social courtesies. With exquisite attention to language, the teacher tells fairytales and stories over and over; children drink in the images and thereby strengthen an innate human capacity for forming inner pictures. This capacity, when properly nourished, becomes the basis for literacy and future critical thinking skills.

During walks and outdoor play times, children experience a sense of wonder and a love of nature. Celebrating seasonal festivals not only reminds children of the cycles of the year, but also holds them in the larger Harvest family.

Play
Through imaginative play with toys of natural materials, children develop sound bodies. From birth to age six or seven, children experience the world and learn primarily through physical activity and the effects of physical stimuli. Thus, our Waldorf Kindergarten environment is conducive to learning through exploration and play. Healthy movement and creative play in the early childhood years are keys to laying the foundation for later academic work.

Rhythm
The idea of rhythm is central to a Waldorf kindergarten: very active indoor games or outdoor play of jumping, running, rolling, shouting, and climbing alternate with a snack, story time or watercolor painting, which allow the child’s body to relax. A dependable sequence for the day and for the week, at home as well as at school, offers a child a sense of security and steady rhythm that is vital to healthy functioning. As night yields to day, as spring becomes summer, as the breath moves in and then out, so, too, children unfold best physically and emotionally when there is “a time for all things.”

Imitation
At The Harvest our Kindergarten is based on the conviction that the young child learns best by imitating what is beautiful and meaningful. Each child’s innate capacity for wonder, reverence, and awe is valued and nurtured in a carefully planned program and environment. The teachers model beautiful movement and speech, refined table manners and social courtesies, peaceful conflict resolution and joy in daily activities - all of which are carefully observed and imitated by the children. The teachers perform real tasks with the children: grinding grain, baking bread, sewing, washing dishes after a snack, all the while empowering each child to contribute in meaningful ways.

Imagination
“Once upon a time” the story begins, and sitting in a circle, the children drink in their teacher’s words. For weeks at a time, the story will be repeated daily so that a multiplicity of images can build and live in the children. Their concentration is visible: jaw drops down, focus is on the teacher, and stillness pervades the circle. Inner pictures arise again and again. Here is the basis for reading in the grade school and for imaginative problem-solving and critical thinking in adolescence.

First Grade Readiness
Children who are age six by May 31 are assessed for first grade readiness. Kindergarten teachers and Grades Faculty carefully observe and interact with each child over the course of the last year of Kindergarten and evaluate readiness based on a multiplicity of factors such as physical and emotional maturity, fine and gross motor skills, and eye-hand coordination.

In the early school years, children in Waldorf schools are taught through artistic media such as painting, drama, music, storytelling, and other direct experiences that stir the emotions. Every detail imaginable contributes consciously to the totality of the Waldorf learning experience: the colors in the classroom, the colored chalk drawings on the blackboard, the rhythms of the lesson and the day, and the way the teacher speaks, moves, and balances humor with seriousness.

Our approach relies upon an interdisciplinary structure within each grade and progressing through the years. (Please see our curriculum overview)Diverse modalities of teaching are integrated to ensure that students encounter a variety of learning styles. As a result, each child is able to comprehend classroom material and find positive areas of self-expression. 

• Math: Learning the times tables involves movement and discovering the magic patterns of numbers.

• Ancient history: The fifth graders participate in a Greek Pentathlon – throwing the javelin and the discus, wrestling and running – to complement the study of ancient Greece and enliven history and a dynamic culture.

• Modern history: Sewing on treadle sewing machines accompanies the study of the Industrial Revolution, allowing students to feel history in a new, tangible way.