“The joy of the child in and with his environment must be reckoned among the forces that build and mould the physical organs. The child needs people around him with happy looks and manner and, above all, with an honest unaffected love… The child who lives in such an atmosphere of warmth and love and who has around him really good example for his imitation is living in his right element.”    
Rudolf Steiner, Education of the Child

Waldorf Early Childhood Education in Practice

The Waldorf early childhood educator works with the young child by creating a warm, beautiful and loving home-like environment, which is protective and secure, and where things happen in a predictable, rhythmic manner. Here she responds to the developing child in two basic ways:

First, she engages in domestic, practical, and artistic activities the children can readily imitate (for example, baking, painting, gardening, and handicrafts), adapting the work to the changing seasons and festivals of the year.

Secondly, the Waldorf kindergarten teacher nurtures the children’s power of imagination by telling carefully selected stories and by encouraging free play. This free or fantasy play, in which children act out scenarios of their own creation, helps them to experience many aspects of life more deeply. When toys are used, they are made of natural materials. Wood, cotton, wool, silk, shells, stones, pine cones and objects from nature that the children themselves have collected are used in play and to beautify the room.

Sensory integration, eye-hand coordination, appreciating the beauty of language, sequencing, and other basic skills necessary for the foundation of academic learning are fostered in the kindergarten. In this truly loving, natural and creative environment, children are provided with a range of activities to prepare them for later learning and for life itself.

From Windows into Waldorf, by David Mitchell (used with the permission of the author).

Waldorf Early Childhood Education – Education Towards Freedom and Social Responsibility
 
Attention to the Individuality of Each Child

Imitation and Example – Two magic words in Waldorf early education

Fostering Healthy Development

Waldorf Early Education – an Education based on Doing

Healthy Childhood – Time for Creative Play

The Pre-school Years – Developing Basic Competencies

Childhood at Risk: The Century of the Child

(By Peter Lang)