In the Kingdom of Kindercottage: Early Waldorf Education

Imagine our community in the eyes of a three and a half year old child: the Land of Sunrise. Its great halls where the giant grade-school children walk, even its kindergartens are over a fence and beyond a safely closed door – mysteries, for the most part, mere dreams.  Perhaps emissaries come from that place in the form of older siblings, and perhaps not.  Within the embracing walls of Candace Moore and Claire Callahan’s room, the clamor and news from that land are echoes and stories, and not much more.  Into this modest kingdom of calm, the littlest students make their entrances into Sunrise.

 It’s a different place.  The general quiet, the peaceful activity, and the carefully ordered, soft, and simple beauty of the room are not what most of us are used to encountering in our day to day lives.  It’s hard to bring your child to Kindercottage, even on a rushed or grumpy, parent-centric morning, and not be affected by the feeling of calm and attentiveness.

 I get to experience this a few mornings a week, having the magic key to the kingdom: a four-year-old child.  On those mornings I come in, however I happen to be, and I leave under a spell.  Since most of us at the school can only peep through the keyhole at best, I’d like to give you some tales of Kindercottage.

 Ms. Moore tells me that at about 3 and a half years, as the children first join the class, they are experiencing a major change in their selves and growth, and a brand new ability to engage with other children in the world outside the closed circles of their families.  Supporting this newly ripe capacity and helping children to learn the skills of relating to others is therefore the central focus of the teachers’ work.  Like shepherds, Ms. Moore and Claire help the children through their day, as the children begin to wonder, “Just how is it that I go from one thing to another?”  But you won’t hear admonishments to share or instruction on the virtues of proper behaviour.  No, Ms. Moore and Ms. Claire are somewhat stealthier – or perhaps just cleverer - about what rings true to and supports a preschooler: they model how we behave.  And model and model and model.  They really do!  I’ve seen them at it.

 The gentle, spare appeal to the senses that the room offers is mirrored in the program of activities that the children are asked to join.  Both teachers emphasize that it’s within a seedbed of safety that their social awareness can sprout.  Security – a really safe, loving place to learn, receive instruction, and make mistakes -  is created through gentleness plus very obvious order, predictability, and simplicity – in a word, rhythm.  A minimal, repeated sequence of simple activities builds a safe, sturdy shelter for the children to play and explore in.  I can testify that they also pick up some wonderful habits along the way: my child is now an expert and joyful folder of clothes, and recently surprised me with an unprompted “excuse me” for every little burp at the table.  And their exposure to stories, puppet plays, and song create young singers and storytellers of distinction - just ask a parent from the class and watch them light up and begin talking.  (Plan to spend a while.)

 Claire tells me that coming back from the rest and wonders of the holidays, and with the experience of the autumn behind them, the children now know how one does this school stuff.  What a thing to learn!: how to be in school, how to come to the table with with others, how to play in a group with each other, in a great degree of harmony and with a joyful richness of imagination.

 Their teachers agree that this crop of preschoolers have the makings of kings.  They both characterize the group as courageous and interestingly strong – and not just the outwardly ‘large’ and adventurous members of the class.  I could hear Ms. Moore and Ms. Claire’s pleasure in the fact that many of the children have overcome fears, and that they love the physical challenge involved in their robust play.

 The children’s royal bearing and potential has come into focus with Epiphany in early January.  As this term began in midwinter, the class began acting a simple pageant of three wise kings following their guiding star to a newborn child of light.  Each child dresses up and “takes on the mantle of royalty eagerly and with wonder, and it’s beautiful to see… When they bow down, there is real reverence.” 

- This article was written by a Sunrise Waldorf School parent for the Daybreak Monthly Newsletter which can be viewed online at www.sunrisewaldorfschool.org