On Friday we travelled down to Denmark to attend a tour of the Golden Hill Steiner school. The school is set back from the town centre up amongst the trees, surrounded by nature. The principle showed us around and gave us a very detailed and thorough hour long tour.
We were first shown the Early years rooms and it was like stepping into a rainbow; the soft colours of the drapes so gracefully placed around the room and the toys all made from natural materials, Danny and Serena were immediately drawn to them.
The Early years rooms have no corners to create a warm and gentle feel. They all have a circular mat in the centre of the room for circle time. Each room also has a kitchen as cooking is part of their class time.
In Steiner schools they tell many stories using props and the teacher will learn the stories off by heart so that they can use the props without a book. The dolls that they have there are faceless and this is to encourage the child's imagination.
This is the daily rhythm in the Kindergarten
Here is the principle Carmen showing Danny some of the toys
This is the water colour paintings the children have been doing, they call it water on water painting. I am keen to try this with Danny soon.
I love how all the tables and chairs are wooden and they use chalk boards, although it may seem old fashioned, it's just more natural and more sustainable.
This is a lyre. The parents actually make these and they make bags for them to go in and the children learn to play them. I like how the parents are very involved in the children's schooling.
The stories told in Steiner schools are usually fairy tails such as Rumpelstiltskin.
These are the slippers that the children wear when they are inside
The children's work was exquisite. They really take pride in their work and they all can draw very well. They learn to draw from a very young age and they are taught something called form drawing.
The teacher was teaching the class words by the sound, in the case it was the 'ur'sound
This is an example of the maths work, they use colour codes and pictures to learn maths
Here the class were learning about the noongar aboriginal culture
The outdoor area was every child's dream with wooden cubby houses and ropes to climb on it was hard to get Danny out of there
Davie found his favourite place in the woodwork shed
After our tour we spent some time discussing any queries we had with the principle in her office, given the paper work for enrolment and sent on our way. We would love Danny to go to school here but as it's 4 and a half hours away from where we live we will need to relocate which we aren't in a position to do right now but we are going to see where we are at in a years time.
Before we left the school we had a look at their markets they have on every Friday and here is Danny doing some rock carving which he loved.
So for now I am trying to bring the Steiner curriculum to our home and copy their rhythms and activities as much as I can. I am planning on starting a Steiner inspired playgroup next year for Serena and other babies around her age.
