Our Nursery
The Waldorf School of Baltimore’s mixed-age nursery program offers programs for children from age two-and-a-half through four-and-a-half. A variety of options are available, based on the age and developmental needs of the child and the family’s childcare needs.
Why choose Waldorf nursery? Because finding the right educational environment for your child early in his or her development can make all the difference, both now and in the future. The Waldorf nursery program encourages intellectual curiosity, imagination, and a love of learning. The beauty and orderliness of the nursery’s physical space and the predictable rhythms of the day and week provide the sense of security essential for young children. Children learn to participate actively within a group. Teachers model joy in their work to inspire joy in the children.
Each day includes both indoor and outdoor experiences which serve as the basis for scientific exploration, the acquisition of math and language skills, and the development of creativity and imagination. Supported by teacher-directed purposeful activities, free play encourages the child’s lifelong capacity for learning.
Children choose from open-ended toys because research on child development has proven that the simpler the toy, the more possibilities children have to use their play to develop cognitive and social skills. In the Waldorf nursery, children learn not to be entertained, but to trust their initiative, inspiration, and ability to solve problems as they entertain themselves and their friends.
During this phase of development, literacy is taught not by decoding and encoding, but by building the tools needed for complex reading comprehension. Daily activities foster increased attention span, as well as the use of rich language and imagery. Teachers bring stories to life daily through marionettes or hand puppets. Over time, children begin to help teachers with these puppet stories. The care with which the teachers and children treat the puppets helps to foster a sense of responsibility for others. This work continues into kindergarten, as the stories become more complex multicultural folk and fairy tales from around the world.
To learn more, email the Admissions Office or call: 410-367-6808, ext. 202
