Early years

Play as the work of early childhood

 

The Kindergarten curriculum is carefully structured to meet the developmental needs of the child. Following many European educational models, the Steiner school does not introduce the teaching of formal concepts until the seventh year. 

Until this time the child is embraced in the schools early Years setting, for the younger ones this might be the parent and child group but around the age of three and a half the child joins the kindergarten.

Here the child encounters a gentle rhythmic environment. The room is beautifully organised with natural unfinished toys which promote imaginative play and resourcefulness. The child is the creator of its own environment, transforming dyed muslins, logs, planks, wooden animals and simple dolls into a myriad of games. The flexibility that creative play engenders is a skill for life, to be able to transform and adapt, change and recreate is true freedom and if nourished in the early years can be carried into adulthood. Children in the kindergarten develop lasting social skills; play becomes the work of the child while around them the teacher and assistants are engaged in tasks that promote healthy examples which the children naturally imitate.

The kindergarten fosters a love of language and communication through the many stories and songs that are learnt and revisited over the years, while dexterity and fine motor skills are supported through finger knitting, sewing, gardening, baking and finger games.

 

Emphasis in the kindergarten is placed on the value of rhythm and imitation. The natural rhythms of the day, week and year are honoured, the child bakes on a Monday, paints on a Tuesday, and so on. Festivals are celebrated throughout the year, and daily rhythms such as circle time, outdoor time and tidy time give reassuring continuity. It is here the child finds islands of security in what can be an otherwise over-stimulating world.