FOREST KINDERGARTEN
The Waldorf School of Baltimore believes part of whole-child education includes helping students develop and nurture a healthy relationship with the environment.
After navigating a year of outdoor learning in the midst of a global pandemic, the school expanded its program by adding an additional kindergarten class. The newly added Forest Kindergarten class is being held from a new outdoor learning space that includes a hillside amphitheater, outdoor tools, swings, hammocks and a mud kitchen – all tucked away into the woods filled with trees and wildlife.
Teachers will follow a healthy, rhythmical routine, adapting the Waldorf language arts and numeracy skills, fine and gross motor developmental activities of storytelling, circles, painting and crafts to the outdoor learning environment. Artistic endeavors and practical work will also be adapted to the outdoors as classes create with natural materials and care for the Waldorf Woods as both explorers and environmental stewards.
“This program provides an excellent learning environment for young children to discover and explore the world through all their senses and movement,” said Academic Director Cecilia Liss. “They will experience nature in all its wonder and differentiated weather while building imagination, resilience, problem-solving skills, coordination and stamina.”
