Our Curriculum
“There was a child went forth every day; And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became; And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.”
City Garden has mixed-aged preschool/kindergarten classrooms, each with children from ages 3 through 6. The Waldorf early childhood curriculum meets young children in an age-appropriate way, fostering healthy growth intellectually, physically, and emotionally.
Children may attend 5 days, 3 days, or 2 days per week. Children in their Kindergarten year are required to attend 5 days per week in order to properly prepare them for First Grade. The school day runs from 8:30am to 1:00pm every day. Children stay with the same teacher and friends throughout their experience at City Garden, from their entry to school until graduation, cultivating those relationships.
RhythM
At City Garden, the children come to depend up on our daily rhythm which is designed to foster a sense of safety, dependability, and community. Each classroom maintains its own unique daily rhythm. All children begin each morning with free play either inside or outside. During the free play period, children help with chores in the classroom or garden, help with preparation of snack, or participate in Eurythmy or watercolor painting. Each day the children will look forward to circle time, a story or puppet play told by teacher, rest, and sitting down to snack with classmates and teachers.
wonder
City Garden is a place that is designed to inspire gratitude and wonder for the natural world and the work that goes into creating and maintaining it. As Waldorf teachers, we work to cultivate those same principles of gratitude and wonder in our words and actions whether we are marveling at a butterfly in the garden, telling a story, or mending a broken toy.
play
Play is the young child's greatest learning tool. Each child learns to use this tool in different ways at different times. At City Garden we believe that it is our job to remove any hinderances to this learning process and allow time and space for the true work of childhood: play. This is the true foundation for future academic learning.