CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
Waldorf schools offer a developmentally appropriate, experiential, and academically rigorous approach to education. They integrate the arts in all academic disciplines for children from preschool through twelve grade to enhance and enrich learning. Waldorf education aims to inspire life-long learning in all students and to enable them to fully develop their unique capacities.
In the grades, each day starts with a two-hour main lesson period. Main lesson subjects are taught in blocks of three to four weeks, enabling the students to focus intensively on one subject at a time. Other specialty subjects, such as art, crafts, eurythmy, foreign languages, gardening, music and physical education are taught year-round.
Music, dance and theater, writing, literature, legends and myths are not simply subjects to be read about and tested. They are experienced. Through these experiences, Waldorf students cultivate their intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual capacities to be individuals certain of their paths and to be of service to the world.
Students create their own main lesson books from material the teacher presents in class. As the students move up in the grades, reference books, classic literature and group discussion increasingly supplement the class teacher's oral presentations.
“Pairing this curriculum with a child’s developmental capacity means the child is never overwhelmed - but always stretched.”
play-based Early Childhood
“Young children are naturally curious, and play really builds on that natural curiosity and helps them to explore the world around them and build their knowledge and build their skills.”
Pillars of Early Childhood Waldorf Education
Pre-academic foundations
Language development
Basic math
Working with peers
Listening & comprehension
Lengthen attention span
Develop memory
Play-based learning
Build neural pathway
Encourage development
Social skills & peer navigation
Advance motor skills
Planning & coordination
Sensory integration
Builds mobility
Motor skills
Flexibility
Spacial awareness
Tactile sense
Proprioceptive senses
Nature-based learning
Boost cognitive performance
Reduce anxiety
Inspire curiosity
Respect for nature
Foundation for scientific learning
Preschool
Our preschool is designed with the young child in mind, with cozy classrooms that feel like home and a gentle rhythm that creates a sense of order and security for preschoolers. At this age, children learn best through play, and our teachers encourage the children's explorations into the world with stories, songs, beautiful handmade toys, and seasonal craft projects. Through this play-based learning time, our teachers encourage social development, problem-solving skills and language development.
Preschoolers spend a large part of their day outdoors, rain or shine, in our beautiful preschool play yard and redwood grove. This inspires curiosity in the natural world, reduces anxiety helps improve cognition. Then, they gather to share a fresh organic snack, prepared in the classroom every morning. Most mornings, children will help to prepare and contribute to their own snack, helping to develop fine motor skills and patience. Our low-tech approach to school and home life encourages imagination and wonder.
We offer a 3-day (Monday - Wednesday) and a 5-day preschool program and extended care until either 3:00 or 5:20pm.
What does a preschool day at Marin Waldorf look like?
8:30am - Welcome, doors open
8:30 - 9:00 - Artistic activity, story time, imaginative play
9:00 - 10:20 - Tidy up / circle time
10:20 - 10:45 - Morning snack (provided by school)
10:45 - 12:10 - Outside playtime
12:10 - 12:45 - Lunch
12:45 - Dismissal, aftercare begins
1:15 - 2:20 Quiet time / nap
2:20 - 3:00 - Outdoor playtime, snack
3:00 - Early aftercare pickup
3:00 - Late aftercare begins
5:20 - Late aftercare pickup
Sample snack schedule
All snacks are made daily in the classroom by teachers using high quality, organic ingredients. Fresh organic apples and oranges are served daily at snack time.
Monday - Vegetable soup (parents send children to school with a vegetable to contribute)
Tuesday - Bread buns with honey butter
Wednesday - Oatmeal porridge with raisins
Thursday - Rice and beans
Friday - Baking day
Learn about our preschool application process here
Kindergarten
Guided by a team of dedicated and experienced early childhood teachers, our joyful two-year kindergarten program is designed to ignite a child’s curiosity and imagination. Inviting and homelike classrooms and a beautiful outdoor play yard create a nurturing backdrop to structured activities and free play. In kindergarten, we are practicing academics implicitly, learning numbers and language through story-telling and daily activities. This lays the foundation for the academic program in the grades and prepares children for the explicit decoding of letters and numbers that happens in first grade.
Highlights of kindergarten activities include watercolor painting and handcrafts, gardening, cooking and baking, singing and puppet shows, healthy movement and physical activity, a fresh organic snack provided daily and weekly hikes in Lucas Valley (with parents encouraged to join whenever possible!).
Our kindergarten program is 5 days per week and they day is from 8:15 - 1pm. We also offer extended care until either 3pm or 5:20pm.
What does a preschool day at Marin Waldorf look like?
8:15 - Welcome, doors open
8:20 - 8:40 - Movement or outdoor activities
8:40 - 9:00 - Artistic activity
9:00 - 10:00 - Inside play
10:00 - 10:30 - Circle time
10:30 - 11:00 - Morning snack
11:00 - 12:15 - Outside play
12:15 - 12:30 - Story time, puppet play, costume play
12:30 - 1:00 - Lunch
1:00 - Dismissal, aftercare begins
3:00 - Early aftercare pickup
5:20 - Late aftercare pickup
Learn about our kindergarten application process here
Explore
Age appropriate learning
At Marin Waldorf School, a child's education in academic subjects includes hands-on learning through music, painting, sculpture, movement and woodworking. Grades 1-4 is a time for children to understand the relationship between themselves and the world around them. Providing space and encouragement through this developmental stage enables the child to become stable, balanced and self-sufficient.
1st Grade
The child has completed the formation of their physical body and is ready to begin work with their mind. Children learn best at this age by entering the world with love, sympathy and wonder.
Curriculum: Imaginative stories, exploring nature, music, foreign language, handwork and painting
2nd Grade
The child is like a butterfly who has just emerged from the chrysalis sitting upon a leaf poised for flight. This is the time when they discover their relationship with the world around them. They are eager to participate in everything that comes to their attention.
Curriculum: Drama, poetry, painting, grammar, arithmetic, nature study, handwork, foreign language, flute.
3rd Grade
This is the “Crossing Point” for a child. They start to question everything and feel separate from the world. They sometimes suffer from loneliness and fear. At this time it is important for the child to learn self sufficiency.
Curriculum: Practical farming and gardening, building shelters, drama, music, foreign language, long division, measurement and grammar.
4th Grade
The child is “Encountering SELF” This is a time where they are finding stability and strength as an individual yet working harmoniously together.
Curriculum: Human and animal studies (zoology), geography, long division, fractions, geometry, composition writing, violin, foreign language.
Meaningful Middle School
The approach to Waldorf liberal arts education is creative - but it is also rigorous. Entering into the upper grades with a foundation of strength and self-sufficiency, the child can now successfully enter into the next developmental stage where he can flourish. This is a time of awareness and self-discovery which lays the path for a lifelong love of learning.
5th Grade
The Fifth grade child has crossed over into harmonious balance where they can begin to flourish. This is the time to establish foundations for their future.
Curriculum: Ancient Civilizations, botany, research compositions, foreign language, string ensemble, painting, sculpture, geometry, ratios & proportions, class play.
6th Grade
The child takes a firm, intentional step into the outer world and becomes aware of the changes in their body. With increasing awareness of the physical self, the time is right for study of the physical body of the earth.
Curriculum: Roman history, geology, minerals, climate, physics, astronomy, literature, biography speech, drama, history, recitation, pre-algebra, business math, cultural studies, choir, woodworking.
7th Grade
As the seventh grade child enters puberty they are on their way to selfhood. A spirit of inquiry and creativity needs to be fostered to allow for a sweet entry into adulthood.
Curriculum: Age of Exploration, Renaissance and Reformation, creative writing, speech, drama, Euclidean geometry, business math, chamber orchestra, perspective drawing.
8th Grade
The child experiences a birth into intellectual consciousness. They become more aware of themselves and their own organic processes, drives, and rhythms of their body.
Curriculum: Age of Revolutions, Civil Rights, Shakespeare, creative writing, speech, drama, Euclidean geometry, human physiology & anatomy, organic chemistry, physics, aerodynamics, meteorology, chamber orchestra, carpentry, perspective drawing.
Exploring our Middle School Curriculum
This video was created during Covid and reflects the protocols we used to keep students learning safely in person. These are no longer in place.
Parent-Toddler Class
Breathe, Unplug, Connect
For young children, parent-toddler classes are a gentle, supportive way to start socializing with other children and exploring the world around them. For parents and caregivers, the classes are an opportunity to connect with other families, discuss parenting and Waldorf education, and learn more about their child by quietly observing them at play.
This winter, our Parent Toddler class will meet on Friday mornings, from 9:30am to 11:00am. The session is 10 weeks, from January 24 to April 4 (there is no class on Friday, February 21). Register here.
Designed for families with children who are 18 months to 2 years 9 months old, these simple, sweet, and playful morning gatherings are held in our school's cozy parent-child classroom and beautiful outdoor spaces. Daniella Baker, Marin Waldorf School's early childhood program director, will be leading the parent-toddler classes.
While children play, adults share a cup of tea and engage in simple seasonal crafts. We discuss parenting, share our experiences caring for young children, and learn more about the Waldorf approach to early childhood, which emphasizes wonder, imaginative play, and connection with nature. Join our sweet group of families this winter!
Cost is $475 for the 10-week session. Note: Cancellations subject to a $100 cancellation fee, up to 1 week before class starts.
Ms. Daniella first fell in love with Waldorf education in 1994, when she went to work for a Waldorf school in Mill Valley, CA. She was enchanted by the beauty of the classroom and the thoughtful way this education was brought. She went on to work with the little ones during and after school, and later did her Waldorf training. She loves having the young children around and is captivated by how they meet the world around them. Being a parent of two teenagers that went through Waldorf education, she wants to support the parents of young children help them to value each minute of these special years.
Hike, Craft and Play: A Waldorf Summer
Join us this summer, June 24 - August 2
Staffed by our experienced early childhood teachers,
Summer Camp at Marin Waldorf School is a magical six weeks of imagination, play, and lots of outdoor time for children ages 3.5 to 6 years old
Summer Camp at Marin Waldorf School is based on the tenets of Waldorf early childhood education, incorporating ample outdoor activities and free play with a gentle daily rhythm. Throughout the summer, we hike, craft, cook, sing, and play together. Our cozy and inviting early childhood classrooms are available to us—each equipped with a kitchen and children’s bathrooms—but we spend most of the day outdoors, enjoying the sunny days in the shade of our old oak trees, or hiking around our campus. We share a homemade organic snack each day.
We welcome children ages 3.5 to 6 years old.
Please note: children must have previous experience in a preschool setting before attending camp.
Session 1: June 24 - July 5, 8:30am to 3pm daily (no camp on Thursday, July 4)
Session 2: July 8 - July 19, 8:30am to 3pm daily
Session 3: July 22 - August 2, 8:30am to 3pm daily
Warm and cozy indoor spaces designed for young children and an expansive outdoor play yard with a swing, sandbox, and vegetable garden
Crafts, painting and drawing, and other teacher-led activities
An organic homemade organic snack is provided and shared among the campers daily (Parents send a hearty lunch and water bottle.)
$1075 per 2-week session
Sample Daily Schedule
The daily schedule at camp mirrors the rhythm of our early childhood classrooms, with a morning greeting and circle, structured crafts and activities, and plenty of time for play.
8:30am Drop-off
8:45am Morning circle and games
9:15am Free play and shared snack*
10:45am Walk or hike, story time, play, and lunch
1:30pm Rest time (for older campers) - Nap time (for younger campers)
2:00- 3:00pm Crafts and free play
3:00pm Pickup
CANCELLATIONS
Cancellations subject to a $250 cancellation fee through May 1, 2024. Cancellations after this date will result in forfeiture of the entire fee.
