Kindergarten

Kinder_crop

Parents often exclaim, “This is just like coming home!” when they see our Kindergarten classroom for the first time. The room is infused with love and warmth, with natural light and soft hues. The cozy play areas are supplied with handmade dolls, wooden blocks, and playthings. A large table is the setting both for community meals (complete with place mats, ceramic cups, and cloth napkins) and for artistic activities. Children gain strength and independence through the daily rhythm of free play; a circle time rich with language, movement, and song; cooking; crafts; cleanup; and a variety of outdoor explorations. A sense of joy and wonder, as well as accomplishment, is fostered as they share these experiences of work and play.

Children’s learning occurs through the purposeful work activities experienced in every Waldorf Kindergarten. Group projects such as baking bread, cutting vegetables, and measuring ingredients for soups strengthen children’s confidence, awaken math and social awareness, while artistic activities like painting and molding beeswax help build developmental readiness, dexterity, and a strong imagination. These are the building blocks for developing creative thought processes and problem-solving skills, the tools necessary for the Waldorf Grades program—not to mention for becoming the conscientious and socially responsible citizens of tomorrow!

In the Fall, we are offering a mixed-age class for ages three through six with several attendance options. Choose three, four, or five days a week and half or full days. The half-day option is from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM and the full-day option ends at 3 PM.  After-school care is also available from 3 – 5:30 PM.

Download IWS 2012-2013 Early Childhood Application Packet

For more information, please call our office at (607) 273-5184 or email ithacawaldorf@gmail.com.

Attend an Open House

Bring your children to one of our Early Childhood Open Houses. Play, make bread, and learn about our Waldorf Early Childhood programs including our Parent and Child Classes, our Nursery Class, and our mixed-age Kindergartens. Open Houses will be held in our classrooms in the First Presbyterian Church (enter from Court Street) on the following dates:

  • March 10
  • March 24
  • April 21

All Open Houses will be from 10:00am-12:00pm and will feature a puppet show at 10:30am. Refreshments and enrollment materials will be available.