Why Waldorf
Waldorf education is an international movement that was founded in Germany in 1919 by Austrian philosopher and social reformer Rudolf Steiner. Steiner believed that each of us is a spiritual being with the power to change the world. To foster human beings with the needed capacities for altruism, education must nurture the child through honoring the stages of the child’s cognitive, social-emotional and physical capacities. Waldorf education builds resilience, adaptability, creativity and freedom of thought while still being aligned to Common Core curriculum.
Relevance is embedded in what is taught and when it is taught. Waldorf education aims to inspire life-long learning in all students, and to enable them to fully develop their unique capacities by bringing curriculum when it is developmentally appropriate.
Rigor is found in the adherence to teaching methodologies and curriculum that challenges analytical and synthetic thinking. Waldorf addresses all common core standards while fostering
flexible thinking.
Relationships are long term. Families, teachers and students stay more connected as they travel through the curriculum over
consecutive years..
Low Media Commitment
Waldorf education fosters enthusiasm and reverence for the highest in our human potential. Parents and teachers working with Waldorf education make particular efforts to provide protection from negative outside influences for the developing child.
Our programs ask for a low-media commitment and clothing free from slogans and media images.
We strongly urge all parents to educate themselves about this critical topic. Some further resources are:
- Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don’t Think, by Healy, Jane.
- The Plug-In Drug and Unplugging the Plug-In Drug, by Winn, Marie.
- What To Do After You Turn Off the TV, Lappe, by Frances Moore.
- Who’s Bringing Them Up? How to Break the TV Habit, by Large, Martin.
We welcome you to visit and become part of our exciting nature-based programs guided by Waldorf Core Principles. If you are less familiar with Waldorf methods you may find the videos below to be useful in your learning journey:
Waldorf celebrating 100 years (courtesy of Waldorf 100)
Preparing for Life (courtesy of Waldorf School of the Peninsula)