Emerson Waldorf School Pre-K-12 » About Waldorf Education

….opening hearts for life-long learning.

Waldorf Education offers a time-tested curriculum with a rich blend of academics and arts. The curriculum and methods respond to the needs of the child at each stage of development and promote creativity, critical thinking and a lifelong love for learning. We provide a strong foundation in literature, foreign language, history, geography, music, fine and practical arts, mathematics, and science - the subjects today’s child needs as a foundation for tomorrow’s complex and challenging civilization.

Waldorf Education:

*provides a warm and inviting environment which nurtures development, growth and learning
*cultivates academics artistically and through practical activities
*integrates visual, performing and textural arts to activate the senses and create deeper and more meaningful learning
*Uses proven learning techniques based on insight into brain and physical development, kinesthetic learning and emotional intelligence
*responds to the inquisitive and inquiring needs of the child at each stage of development
*fosters awareness of the interconnectedness of all living things on this earth
*prepares children for the ever-changing world
*has a proven track record of 9 decades that spans the globe, with a community of schools sharing a common mission, principles and approach to education

Some important aspects of Waldorf Education are:

Imitation, Imagination and Play

Imitation is the special characteristic of the young child in the first 7 years. Our Early Childhood program provides the young child with activities worthy of imitation: domestic, practical and artistic activities in a secure, home-like environment. The teacher nurtures the child’s imagination through stories and free play with natural, unformed toys. Waldorf kindergartens do not teach reading or other academics: they nourish the child through a range of activities that build confidence and skills for future academic success and for life.

Block Teaching

In Grades 1-12, the core curriculum is taught in blocks of 3-4 weeks, during Main Lesson period at the beginning of the morning. The teacher integrates movement and the arts in a cross-curricular approach to the subject matter, choosing the material, presentation and activities carefully, with attention to the variety of learning styles and individual needs of the students in the class.

The Arts

The Arts are not ‘extras’ at a Waldorf School, but are an integral part of the everyday curriculum, and of each subject studied. Students draw, paint, sing, act and recite poetry and verses as part of their main lesson and special subjects. The arts are integrated into the curriculum, so that, for example, in first grade the children draw pictures of the stories they are hearing, which evolve into the forms of the letters they are studying, while by 7th grade, and the study of the Renaissance, the children are learning to draw with perspective, which ties into their study of Renaissance art as well as Geometry.

Visit the Student Gallery for Grades 1-8

Visit the Gallery of High School student work

The Sciences

The Sciences are taught experientially- that is, the teacher sets up an experiment, calls upon the children to observe carefully, ponder and discuss, and then allows the students to discover the conclusion, the law, the formula, etc. Through this process, rigorous independent thinking and sound judgment are encouraged and developed.

Main Lesson Books and Textbooks

In a Waldorf school, neither the teacher nor the children use traditional printed textbooks (there are a few exceptions, such as Math textbooks beginning in Middle School and foreign language textbooks in High School). The teacher presents material from the base of his or her own study, experience and memory, in a lively, artistic and engaging way. The children take in the lesson and reflect it back through the creation of their own ‘textbook’, or Main Lesson Book, in which the material is presented both in written form and artistically. In the early grades the creation of the Main Lesson Book is closely guided by the Class Teacher, while in the older grades the students create these books independently.

The Class Teacher

In the elementary and middle school, each class has a Class Teacher who ideally stays with the class for eight years, moving up through the grades as the students do. The Class teacher teaches the Main Lesson for the first 1 ½-2 hours each morning, leads field trips and provides continuity for the class over the middle years of childhood. Special subjects–German, Spanish, Handwork, Practical Arts, and PE–are not taught by the Class Teacher but by specialty teachers. There are no Class Teachers in the High School.

The Class Play

Every year, each class, Grades 1-12, presents a Class Play in which every child in the class performs. These are based on the curriculum being studied for the year, and range from choral plays inspired by fairy tales or folk tales in the early grades to Shakespeare and modern dramas in the more advanced grades.

Testing and Grades

In the early grades at EWS, teachers do not give tests or grades to the young children. Beginning in the middle grades, the students are given classroom tests, and teachers begin to assess some student work using letter grades. In High School students receive number and letter grades for all their work, and a formal transcript with a grade-point average to submit with college applications.

Students at EWS are exempt from standardized testing by the NC Department of Non-Public Schools. As an assessment instrument, we use a curriculum checklist based on a nationally accepted Waldorf Curriculum Guide, which the state authorities have recognized and accepted. In Grades 1-8, each student receives a comprehensive written report three times a year. Twice a year, in October and February, there are Parent-Teacher conferences to discuss student reports and progress. These narrative reports include the class teacher’s observations as well as comments by each of the subject teachers, and are given in the form of a description and evaluation of the child’s participation in class, interests, study habits, behavior and educational progress, as well as the areas that need attention and require improvement. In this way, a picture of the child is obtained that is much “truer” than one provided solely by standardized tests, which measure a narrow segment of a child’s total academic performance.

In High School, students receive a written narrative report for each Main Lesson Block and each Special Subject, as well as a standard report card with number and letter grades. High School students take SATs and other nationally-administered standardized tests for college admission—please see the High School section of the website for more information.

Religion and Spirituality

We receive many questions as to whether we are a religious school. We celebrate Christian festivals as well as festivals from other religious traditions. Our curriculum draws from all the world’s great religious traditions. We strive to awaken within each student the longing to “Know Thyself,” and wish to send them forth into the world in freedom to explore and discover their own beliefs and destinies in the service of humankind.

The Media

More and more research is showing the detrimental effects of television and computers on the young child–from rising levels of obesity to low reading levels. Although every family must decide this issue for itself, Waldorf teachers believe that Waldorf Education works best when children are exposed to little or no media in the early years of life and of school. We encourage children to play energetically and imaginatively, to spend lots of time outdoors in nature, to read, play musical instruments, draw, paint, and play games as healthy alternatives to media-based entertainment.

Learning through Doing: Head, Hands and Heart:

Learning in a Waldorf School is active. From rhythmic verses and exercizes reinforcing math skills to building, gardening, and nature walks, movement is a key element of each day and each subject. As children grow older, practical arts, science experiments, field trips and other activities keep students moving, and engage both their minds and their bodies.