Early Childhood Education

Some Thoughts on Early Childhood Education

The most important quality of Waldorf Early Childhood Education is you – the educator! You are the person who guides your students through the daily activities of your classroom, modeling how one can live in harmony with the earth, how one can feel safe and happy in an organized daily life, how one can be in community with others, and how one can have an unquenchable enthusiasm and curiosity about the world. You are the “gardener” for your students – tending to the health and wellbeing of each child and giving each of them the needed time to freely play and safely explore. You relate to each child knowing that she needs to unfold on her own time, which will, of course, include hiccups and growth spurts.

It is essential for us to think through every aspect of our rhythm, to penetrate what it means to be a full human being in the 21st century, and to imbue our thoughts and feelings with the “will to work” for our students.

Early childhood educators are often the gateway into a new way of thinking, feeling and willing for their students’ parents as well. It’s crucial that you also find ways to share our holistic, creative picture of child development with them and how to also be a “gardener” parent with their young child.