Early Childhood
What is the day?
Children begin their day in a beautiful classroom or nearby outdoor spot. They enjoy seasonal songs, movement, storytelling, puppetry, crafts, painting, soup making, bread baking, beeswax modeling, and creative play. Each day is harmonious, balanced between structured activity and open-ended exploration, rest and motion, indoor time and time in nature. From nursery to kindergarten, the rhythm, responsibilities, and the complexity of tasks deepen.
What is the difference?
Children explore and connect with teachers and friends. They work joyfully, creatively, and cooperatively. Teachers—experts in early childhood development—understand each child. Their curriculum of movement, eurythmy, practical tasks, and nature exploration integrate the senses and develop sequencing, balance, fine-motor skills, regulation, and executive function. Stories and games build a foundation for reading, mathematics, scientific inquiry, and for life.
Kindergarten
Two-year, mixed-age, supporting children’s developing abilities. Then children cross a milestone, from the world of imagination towards a more concrete way of thinking. Careful preparation and assessment ensures readiness for grade school academics.
Nursery
Teachers work with families to ensure a smooth transition to school that supports each child’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. A balanced routine gives children the security from which to explore freely, confidently, and joyfully.
Inside the kindergarten
Meet our Chairs
Deepa Ramsinghani, Grade School Chair
Paula Piemonte, High School Chair
The experience is Waldorf
“We were caught in a sudden downpour—a real deluge in the Presidio. Little hands were cold so we went to our packs for extra socks and turned them into socks mittens.
How do we build resilience? Our days have a steady rhythm and there is consistency, so when the unexpected happens, children are calm."
"The importance of storytelling, of the natural rhythms of daily life, of the evolutionary changes in the child, of art as the necessary underpinning of learning, and of the aesthetic environment as a whole—all basic to Waldorf education for the past (100) years—are being 'discovered' and verified by researchers unconnected to the Waldorf movement."
Research shows that most of the social and intellectual skills one needs to succeed in life and work are first developed through childhood play. The benefits continue through kindergarten, about ages 6 or 7.
“Any school can teach the subjects from an intellectual standpoint; we do that, too. But to teach students at the right moment—when the child is ripe for learning just such a lesson—that is the art of Waldorf Education.”