Loving Presence
Through attentive observation and a calm, loving presence, the teacher guides the individual child and helps to create an active, healthy classroom community where each child can thrive.
The curriculum is designed to foster both personal and social growth, as well as meet the changing needs of the child as she or he matures. Storytelling, poetry, and recitation provide strong foundations for emerging literacy, as these activities expose the children to the building blocks of reading.
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May Tree Kindergarten
From 3 to 6 Year Olds
Where Childhood is Valued
Kindergarten - where childhood is valued, imagination nurtured and education unhurried; developing curious, passionate and confident learners, eager and ready to take their first steps into school life at six years of age.
The Kindergarten programme provides a warm, nurturing foundation for young children, and allows unhurried time for their growth. Cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills are equally valued and the teachers create an inviting, carefully structured environment with a strong daily rhythm that engages each child.
The Importance of Play
While there are many teacher-led activities, much of the day is devoted to free play, which is essential for healthy development.
In play, children develop the capacity for creative thinking, problem solving, and social skills through their imaginative interactions. While outdoors, the children refine their large motor movements, sensory experiences, and social interactions while engaging in cooperative play. These experiences develop decision-making skills and executive functions, which are so important for their future success.
The Foundations
The Waldorf approach to literacy emphasises reading readiness through rich oral language development. Children develop language acquisition through speaking, listening and participating in conversations. Stories, songs and poems inspire an appreciation of the beauty and rhythms of language, extend the child’s vocabulary, and develop the capacities for memory. Maths is experienced in a hands-on, practical manner. During play or in the preparation of snacks, concepts such as addition and subtraction, greater than/less than, weight and measurement can be explored. The children experience movement through circle time and free play. Music is experienced during circle time and throughout the day, as teachers sing children through the transitions from play to tidying up; from circle time to rest and from indoor to outdoor time.
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