- Links for Research

- Frequent Questions

- Books For Sale

Developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, Waldorf education is based on a profound understanding of human development that addresses the needs of the growing child. Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art that educates the whole child-the heart and the hands, as well as the head.

With more than 900 Waldorf schools and 1,600 Waldorf early childhood programs on five continents, Waldorf education is truly global-not only in its scope, but also in its approach. Wherever it is found, the Waldorf curriculum cultivates within its students a deep appreciation for cultural traditions from around the world while all the while being deeply rooted in its local culture and context.

The Waldorf curriculum is designed to balance academics with the arts and practical activities, engaging the intellect in a gradual, deliberate way. Waldorf educators are cautious about developing abstract intellectual concepts too soon in a child's life. This approach offers children the time they need to unfold in a balanced way, so that when they are introduced to more intellectual concepts, they take them up with interest and enthusiasm.

In the pre-school years (ages three through six), the children learn primarily through imaginative play and their inherent ability to imitate all that surrounds them. Early childhood teachers bring the children age-appropriate activities in an atmosphere of beauty, warmth and harmony. This experience nourishes the senses and fosters healthy physical development. Simple materials from nature provide the stimulus for creative play, which develops a foundation for imagination, concentration, coordination, language and number skills.

The elementary school years that define the second phase of childhood (ages seven to fourteen) call upon the child's increased capacity for memory, his vivid imagination and his ability to be guided by the authority of a teacher. Upon entering the first grade in a Waldorf school, the child and family meet the class teacher, who will guide their educational journey. This class teacher draws upon materials from many sources to provide "main lesson" instruction for all the major academic areas. During the daily morning main lessons, the students and their teacher immerse themselves in the study of a specific subject for two hours. Subjects are explored during cycles of main lessons blocks lasting three to four weeks. These blocks provide the context in which the traditional academic skills are taught and refined. As students progress through the school, main lesson subjects are returned to at increasingly complex levels of study. For example, the study of botany in fifth grade is deepened with the study of organic chemistry in eighth grade.

Students in the elementary grades record their main lesson experiences in main lesson books filled with compositions, diagrams, illustrations and observations. Out of this activity, the learning truly becomes their own. Academic concepts arise from personal experiences, both artistic and practical, fostering an understanding of the subjects in depth. Following the morning main lesson, students pursue a number of specialty subjects throughout the day, including two foreign languages, art, music, movement, physical education and handwork. In the upper grades, this work expands to include skills classes for literature, writing, mathematics, orchestra, gardening and handcrafts such as woodwork, pottery and metal forging.

For further information about Waldorf Education, please visit www.whywaldorfworks.org or www.waldorfanswers.com.



A Waldorf Nursery and Kindergarten offer rich opportunities for play-based learning, allowing young ones to flourish in their childhood. In the pre-school years, children learn primarily through play, free movement and the innate ability to imitate all that surrounds them. Waldorf Early Childhood teachers work with this natural impulse of childhood, making use of it to lay a strong foundation for intellectual development in the elementary school years and beyond.

Today's scientific research continues to support what Waldorf Education has shown for many years: young children who are given opportunities to learn through play, cultivate imagination and hone their concentration, coordination, language acquisition and number skills. All of this is done in the warm, cheerful atmosphere of a Waldorf classroom, which offers simple, hand-made toys and play materials from nature. In a Waldorf Kindergarten you will find sturdy wooden toys and furniture, rather than plastic items. You will find silk play cloths and woolen dolls, rather than polyester. You will find creative play stands, forts and kitchen sets, rather than computers.

The best kind of activities for kindergarten children are those that allow them to engage, on a child's level, in the work of adults. In the Waldorf kindergarten, children are offered the possibility of participating in the traditional activities that might take place in a home: cooking and baking, cleaning and washing, sewing and ironing, gardening and building.

These activities create a feeling of well-being and a sense of security in the child through the consistent, rhythmic nature in which they are done.

They help a child become grounded in the realities of life because their activities are real, purposeful and filled with meaning.

First grade readiness in a Waldorf school: Waldorf kindergartens prepare children for the academic challenges of elementary school by engaging children through meaningful life activities, by cultivating the arts, and by stimulating creativity and fantasy through imaginative play. Waldorf kindergarten teachers do not place premature academic demands on their students. Rather, they allow the children's intellectual faculties to unfold naturally so that by the time children enter the elementary grades, they are ready and eager to experience new forms of learning.

A more complete description of the ideas behind Waldorf Early Childhood education can be found in "Rhythms of Learning," by Roberto Trostli, Anthroposophical Press, 1998.

You can also visit: www.waldorfearlychildhood.org for more information.



LANGUAGE ARTS: Beginning with a rich tradition of oral language, storytelling and poetry and proceeding through the classics of world literature, children are exposed to a wide variety of literary treasures. Instruction in phonics, speech and writing leads to and develops reading. Original compositions, grammar, poetry and drama are stressed throughout the grades.

MATHEMATICS: Concrete experiences with numbers lay a foundation for the four arithmetic processes. Lively movement provides an opportunity to practice mental arithmetic and helps to develop flexibility with numbers as well as demonstrate patterns. Practical applications of measurement, fractions and decimals give way to business math, geometry and algebra.

SCIENCE: Stories that inspire an appreciation for all living things precede the children's introduction during the third grade to gardening, farming and plant life. In the upper grades, zoology, botany, mineralogy, astronomy, physics, anatomy and chemistry are all integrated with the study of geography, the environment and the history of humankind. The sciences are taught experientially by teachers setting up and experiment, calling upon the children to observe carefully, ponder, discuss, and then discover the conclusion, the law, the formula, etc. By this method the children are trained in independent thinking and sound judgment.

HUMANTIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE: Through the stories of great men and women, the children learn what it means to be truly human. Joined with the history and geography of the world, the classics provide vast opportunities to experience the development of great civilizations and the forces that change the world. These studies begin at the local level and expand outward into the diverse cultures of our earth.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Beginning experiences with oral language through circle games songs and recitation of traditional rhymes familiarize the child with both Spanish and German language and culture. In the fourth and fifth grades students begin to answer conversational questions individually and are introduced to the grammar, reading and writing in these languages. In grades six through eight, students develop their conversational skills, expand vocabulary and discover the underlying grammatical rules and structures within literary texts and short stories.

MUSIC: Children experience the beauty of vocal and instrumental music daily. Sight-reading, ear-training and improvisation are taught in the lower grades as a foundation for more advanced music theory, music history and composition taught in the upper grades. All children play the wooden flute with their class teacher and have opportunities to experience the lyre and a stringed instrument through our music program. Students will participate in the school chorus and orchestra beginning in the fourth grade.

EURYTHMY: Eurythmy is a form of creative movement to music and words. Eurythmy strengthens skills learned in academic work through movement, develops skills in concentration, dexterity, coordination and listening, and also improves skills in social group interaction and cooperation. First grade students begin by imitating and repeating gestures and movements. As they grow and mature, the students can move with ease through the most challenging concentration or dexterity exercises. The students work with the gestures for all the tones of the major scales, the intervals in music, and major and minor. The gestures for speech as well as dramatic gestures become a ÒlanguageÓ with which they can illustrate their poetry. By eighth grade they can choreograph their own movement through space for poetry and music.

FINE ARTS: The Waldorf curriculum integrates art into all aspects of learning. From pre-school through fourth grade, students draw, paint and model with beeswax and clay. In the fifth grade, students continue with watercolor painting and drawing. In sixth grade students learn black and white drawing, linoleum printing, woodworking and watercolor painting of different seasons. The seventh grade students learn perspective drawing. In the eighth grade the students advance in their work with clay modeling, sculpture and portraiture.

HANDWORK: Handwork has been taught in the Waldorf schools for many years, and only recently studies have begun to prove its worth. Handwork activities create dexterity for the finger, and also dexterity of thinking. In the first three grades the students learn the basic processes of knitting, purling and crocheting, and gradually larger and more complicated projects are introduced. In fourth grade they are taught to embroider and cross-stitch. In fifth grade returning to knitting, the children use four needles to make a pair of socks or mittens. In sixth grade the students learn to create a three-dimensional pattern from a two-dimensional drawing. The middle school student's growing interest in their own personal style is directed in handwork to the creation of clothing such as felted slippers, shirts and pajamas that have been cut and sewn with a sewing machine.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: In the early grades, daily circle work, games, walks and free outside play form the basis of the physical education program. The fourth and fifth grades continue to work with the development of physical dexterity, concentration, coordination, balance and sportsmanship through relay games, ball handling games, folk dancing, traditional field and indoor activities. The fifth grade also adds a block of Greek games in the spring. In grades six through eight, the physical education curriculum included volleyball, basketball, archery, tumbling, softball, flag football, indoor games, Greek games and physical fitness activities.

Click here for more information on the Waldorf Grade School program.