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CHILDREN'S CENTER PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM

Children learn about the world through their senses, by watching and listening to the adults in their lives and then imitating them. The Waldorf curriculum strives to provide models that are meaningful and, therefore, Waldorf  preschool and kindergarten teachers are seen cooking, painting, sewing and building. Children eagerly participate in all these activities. Language is also learned through imitation with stories, songs and verses carefully selected for their literary value and social content. Our goal is to bring wholesome sensory experiences that present ideas and actions worthy of imitation. Fine literature, folk tales, nature stories, simple songs and live music are preferred to the overly stimulating sensory images and questionable values that are so common in the media. 

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OUR CURRICULUM PROVIDES HANDS ON LEARNING

In our programs, children are given many opportunities for creative expression, dramatic play and artistic representation. In addition, teachers and children engage in real-life activities such as baking, gardening, sewing, building, repairing, and cleaning. Through real and purposeful work children learn concepts in a concrete way, practice motor skills, gain self-confidence, build language and develop social skills. 

Movement Circle: Centered on a seasonal theme, the movement circle is a teacher-directed group activity. It includes music, movement, verses, songs, fingerplays, and circle games.

Free Play Time: Children are free to select activities. Teachers offer support and guidance as needed. During this important part of the day the children are afforded the opportunity to use their imagination, develop social skills, discover and try new ideas.The best toys are open-ended. A toy is defined as any object that a child uses in his “play.” Almost any object can be a toy. Logs, wooden blocks, colorful cloths, capes, shells, pinecones, stones, and other gifts from nature provide perfect open-ended toys which can be used in many ways. The child is not hampered or limited by what the toy can do. An open-ended toy engages a child’s imagination because the child decides what the object will be. The objects and toys found in the classroom are carefully selected for their play value, durability, and sensory appeal to the child.

Daily and Weekly Activity: Children engage in a broad range of artistic and work activities selected by the teacher. Cooking, baking, painting, sewing, are part of a daily and weekly schedule.

Clean-up Time: Children and teachers work together to return things to their proper place. Group clean-up time is an important part of maintaining a healthy rhythm, teaching responsibility and cooperation.

Story Time: Nature stories, folk tales, fairy tales, and other fine literature are selected to stimulate the imagination, and are told in the oral tradition.

Snack Time: The school provides a healthy and nutritious morning snack and the children help with the task of preparing it. The snack is an important part of the rhythm of each day.

Outdoor Play: Our daily schedule includes outdoor play as an opportunity for the children to develop, test and enjoy their physical and social skills. Play is an important part of the Waldorf curriculum. It is not just a break from real “work.” It is accurate to think of play as the “work” of children. A child learns social skills, language skills, and motor skills through play. When building, a child is experimenting with principles of science and mathematics such as balance, weight, shapes, measurements and observation. These hands-on experiences form a foundation for later academic study in science and math. Through play, children are actively engaged in learning about their world and developing their skills 
 

LANGUAGE ARTS
The language arts curriculum is developed to stimulate the young child’s imagination, giving opportunity for rich language to emerge. The morning circle is created by the lead teacher. It will change throughout the year as the seasons change, and festivals are celebrated. Traditional circle games, seasonal songs, finger plays verses, and nursery rhymes are woven into the morning circle. Large and small motor skills are incorporated throughout the movement circle time. Moving up and down, left and right, front and back, and weaving through the circle are all parts of the morning circle.

Nature stories and fairy tales are shared each day in the oral tradition and will be repeated throughout the week, allowing the children to develop their language skills and memory. Puppet plays are created by the teacher and children which allows opportunity for the re-telling of tales learned, or the creation of new stories to emerge. Language skills are developed by surrounding the children with clear, precise, correct and colorful language at all times. The children imitate elements of both the morning circle and story time during their free play with their creation of dramatic scenes and stories.

MOVEMENT, LARGE MOTOR SKILLS
Large motor skills are developed both indoors, during morning circle and outside on the playground. For example, through jumping, running, skipping rope, hopping, skipping and galloping. The children also develop these skills by imitating animal movements and gestures which may be incorporated in their free play and morning circle. Playing games, tossing bean bags and ball throwing are other activities that can be done inside or outside on the playground. Our playground gives ample opportunity for their large motor skills to be developed; through climbing, running rolling down hills, swinging/pumping, and jump rope. Working in the garden with rakes; shoveling and sweeping also help these skills develop.

SOCIAL SKILLS
There are many opportunities within the day for healthy social development. Each day the children are learning to share, take turns, listen to others, and work in harmony as a group. Learning healthy social skills is a vital part of development for the young child.


MUSIC
Each day music is brought to the children during the morning circle and is used at times of transiton, from one activity to another. Music is taught and experienced through imitation. Songs are sung with a focus on the pentatonic scale, the mood of the fifth, the teacher uses a gentle soothing voice. Traditional songs are also part of the curriculum. Musical instruments are available throughout the day, for example, a xylophone, rhythm instruments, rain sticks, and bells. The teacher may also use a kinder harp at rest time, or at other peaceful times of the day.

MATH
Math skills are developed in the young child through various daily tasks; setting of the snack table for example. Counting paint jars, counting aprons and paint brushes on painting day, all require simple math skills. At cleanup time the children count clips, stones and many other objects in the room. Rhymes and fingerplays in the morning circle are also used to practice counting. The children learn up from down, front and back, and the difference between big and small. During baking time the children are learning basic measurements, and they cut the fresh bread and count the pieces.

SCIENCE
The young child is a sense organ, and the kindergarten room is set up in a way to develop all of their senses. Nature surrounds the children each day in the room, rocks, crystals, nuts, pine cones, logs and seashells are there to be touched and examined. Outside the children touch and play in mud, sand and water thus experiencing the natural sciences in a direct way.
The classroom has a seasonal table which brings the gifts of nature outside, into our rooms. children experience plant life, from seeds to full bloom, thus experiencing botany. The plant kingdom gives us natural dyes that we use for dyeing t-shirts or silks or dyeing play cloths for the room.

ART
The children use natural beeswax crayons and plain white paper. The teacher is a part of this activity which allows the children to imitate her gestures. As their drawings develop throughout the year it reflects the child’s personal development and experiences.
Watercolor painting is experienced weekly using natural pigment colors, the 3 primary colors of red, blue and yellow are offered and watercolor paper. The children learn true color combination and thus experience the full rainbow spectrum, i.e red and yellow making orange, red and blue making purple, yellow and blue making green.
Beeswax modeling helps stimulate their imaginations as well as developing their fine motor skills. The teacher will often guide the children, through imitation to create something from her stories or from nature, for example, a butterfly, blue bird, pair of shoes, {from the Elves and the Shoemaker}. Animals, fruits and all from nature can be molded, thus giving the children an opportunity to create from their own imagination.

HANDWORK
Handwork helps to develop the children’s fine/small motor skills. Activities such as, twisty-twirly yarn, finger knitting, and yarn rolling is evident in the classroom each day. Throughout the year the children have ample opportunity for sewing, carding wool and wet felting projects. The children participate in the day to day mending of dolls clothes, table puppets and play cloths.
Seasonal activities happen throughout the year that give opportunity for sanding, sawing, cutting, pasting. The children develop their fine motor skills each day by the real work of washing, ironing, folding, cleaning and cooking, all done with the guidance of the teacher, showing a fine example. The daily activity of sweeping, polishing, dusting and sanding all develop these skills.