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Early Childhood Programs
At the Whidbey Island Waldorf School our early childhood programs provide ample time in nature, warmth, and beautiful, safe and unhurried environments for the young child to make the transition from home to school. The children have time…time to play inside and out, time to investigate the natural world, time to explore social relationships, and to expand their imaginative capacities at a developmentally appropriate pace. We are grateful for our partnership with the Whidbey Institute that offers us the opportunity to be on the land and in the forest throughout the seasons.
Our dedicated and Waldorf trained teachers strive to be figures worthy of imitation. Our Waldorf early childhood staff work collaboratively with their lead teachers to nurture each child’s unique unfolding and endeavor to meet them with reverence, joy, and a deep interest in discovering who they are, and inviting them out to participate in their class community.
Our children explore the wonders of nature in every season, listen to orally told stories, observe puppet plays, sing, learn to work collaboratively with others, practice life skills, and enjoy seasonal crafts and artistic opportunities. Each class is held in a loving environment in the belief that the world is good. The young child's intellectual, emotional, social and physical development is nurtured, forming a strong foundation for academic learning in the elementary school and beyond.
WIWS is a member of WECAN - Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. WECAN is a robust resource for parents, teachers, and all interested in children and early childhood. You can find many parent resources on their site here.
Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) - Helping families pay for Early Childhood child care. When a family qualifies for child care subsidy benefits and chooses an eligible provider, like WIWS, the state pays a portion of the tuition cost of child care. The parents are generally responsible to pay a copayment to their provider each month. Apply here.
Early Childhood classes begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at either 12:30 p.m. or at 3p.m.
Note: The WIWS Grade School has Early Release every Wednesday at 1pm. However, for all Early Childhood children who are enrolled in the Afternoon programs, care continues until 3pm on Wednesdays throughout the school year.
Interested in learning more?
““Young children view the world with wonder and they give themselves fully to every experience. Waldorf teachers try to keep alive the children’s natural sense of wonder and their sense of oneness and unselfconscious participation with the world.””
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Classes are offered for parents or caregivers, along with their children aged birth through 3 years old. Our classes offer the opportunity to deepen intuitive parenting capacities and learn about practices that nourish children during the foundational years. These classes are a gentle step into group activities where you will have the opportunity to meet other families and learn more about Waldorf Education and creative parenting techniques. Polliwog classes are a perfect introduction to our school and provide children with an easy transition between home and school life. Components include creative play time, nursery rhymes and songs, puppet stories, snacks, and occasional craft activities for parents.
Ages: birth to 3-years old
Spring Session: Fridays 9:30 - 11am - in the Meadow. Dates: April 18, 25, May 2, 9, 16, & 23
Tuition: $175
For more info email: Vanessa.Rochon-Tierney@WIWS.org
Please note: families currently enrolled at WIWS and newly enrolling children to WIWS will receive priority placement when enrolling in any of our Polliwog class offerings.
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The Thimbleberry Nursery/Preschool serves children ages 2 - 4
A typical day in a Waldorf nursery/preschool classroom includes plenty of creative and imaginative play, snack preparation, seasonal songs and games in circle time, artistic activities and storytelling or puppetry. The day and week has a predictable rhythm of activity that the children come to know and love. You may hear about bread baking, playing in the forest, painting, and puppet shows at home.
Here you will find that learning and joy live as one and the same. All of our classes have parent meetings where your teacher will lead discussions about child development, Waldorf education and parenting. Joining the preschool is joining the community of WIWS.
The Nursery/Preschool is held by a lead teacher and an assistant teacher.
Class Size: 12 students
Days: 4 or 5 day program (Mon - Thursday or Mon - Friday)
Times: 8:30 - 12:30 pm or 8:30 - 3 pm
Spaces for 3pm end of day are limited and are on a first come-first serve basis.
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Apple Blossom Kindergarten serves children ages 3 - 6
A Waldorf Kindergarten is an extension of the family experience, an intermediary step for the child between home and formal academic schooling beginning in the grade school. As in our nursery/preschool program, we provide a warm, calm, secure, and beautiful environment in which imagination and creativity can thrive, and where confidence and social skills can bloom.
The programs include ample free play, circle and story time, sharing of a meal, practical and artistic work, creative projects, and a healthy variety of gross and fine motor movement. Children enjoy tasks such as baking, sewing, finger knitting, wet felting, wood carving, sweeping, gardening, raking, and grinding grain with their friends. About half of each day is spent outdoors on or around our beautiful forested campus, fostering a relationship of respect with and a love for the natural world.
We have three mixed age kindergarten programs, each held by a lead teacher and an assistant teacher:
Class Size: 15 students
Days: 4 or 5 day program (Mon - Thursday or Mon - Friday)
Times: 8:30 - 12:30 pm or 8:30 - 3 pm
Children in the kindergartens must be potty trained.
Spaces for 3pm end of day are limited and are on a first come-first serve basis.
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Cedar Grove Kindergarten serves children ages 3 - 6
A Waldorf Kindergarten is an extension of the family experience, an intermediary step for the child between home and formal academic schooling beginning in the grade school. As in our nursery/preschool program, we provide a warm, calm, secure, and beautiful environment in which imagination and creativity can thrive, and where confidence and social skills can bloom.
The programs include ample free play, circle and story time, sharing of a meal, practical and artistic work, creative projects, and a healthy variety of gross and fine motor movement. Children enjoy tasks such as baking, sewing, finger knitting, wet felting, wood carving, sweeping, gardening, raking, and grinding grain with their friends. About half of each day is spent outdoors on or around our beautiful forested campus, fostering a relationship of respect with and a love for the natural world.
We have three mixed age kindergarten programs, each held by a lead teacher and an assistant teacher:
Class Size: 15 students
Days: 4 or 5 day program (Mon - Thursday or Mon - Friday)
Times: 8:30 - 12:30 pm or 8:30 - 3 pm
Children in the kindergartens must be potty trained.
Spaces for 3pm end of day are limited and are on a first come-first serve basis.
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Meadow Forest Kindergarten serves children ages 3 - 6
The Forest Kindergarten movement has been sprouting up all over the world beginning in the 1950s, and has become commonplace amongst Waldorf Schools throughout North America. An education that places a high value on strengthening students’ connections to the natural world from immersive learning experiences to the all-natural materials used inside the classrooms.
The Forest Kindergarten is the best of both worlds, it is an immersive experience in nature coupled with the strong foundation of Waldorf education's long history of Early Childhood education that prepares children for the rigors of academic learning through movement, pre-literacy skills, fine and gross motor development, and social - emotional connections. Over the years we have been witness to the many benefits of a nature-based kindergarten thriving in all seasons. Being outdoors and having the experience of climbing on rocks or splashing in puddles is not only a delightful balance for life in general but it strengthens proprioceptive learning to build new neural pathways for the developing child. It is a foundation for scientific inquiry in later years through experience and direct knowledge. This is how children learn best –and they love it!
Class Size: 15 students
Days: 4 or 5 day program (Mon - Thursday or Mon - Friday)
Times: 8:30 - 12:30 pm or 8:30 - 3 pm
Children in the Meadow kindergarten must be potty trained.
Meadow children come inside for the afternoon program and combine with the Apple Blossom class for their lunch, rest, and afternoon activity.
Spaces for 3pm end of day are limited and are on a first come-first serve basis.