Kindergarten

Worldwide Steiner Waldorf Early Years

Our internationally-recognized curriculum, practiced in over 2,000 Kindergartens in some 80 countries, on every habitable continent, considered the first seven years of a child’s life as deeply important. The rhythmical aspect of the kindergarten differs from most other early years settings and here is why.

A Home Away From Home

Kindergarten is a gentle step away from home. The soft and warming colours combine with the child-friendly architecture to provide a homely atmosphere where young children can flourish. Each of the four groups has its own specialist teacher, a cloakroom, cooking area and entrance to a large communal garden with swings, a sandpit, lawn and climbing trees to explore.

Water-colour painting, modelling, hand-crafts and baking awaken creativity, while the imagery of fairy tales, poetry, plays and songs encourages the child’s language skills and feelings. Circle games and outdoor play increase physical strength, agility and grace while seasonal festivals develop a meaningful connection with nature.

Take a closer look with our Virtual Tour

Learning to Be Part of a Community

Since young children learn by imitation, our Kindergarten teachers lead by example. Pupils discover the importance of watering the plants, tending the garden or feeding leftovers to the birds simply by observing and joining in. Each child has a daily job such as sweeping, washing the plates or taking peelings to the compost heap. The tasks repeated daily serve to integrate the individual child into their community.

Each group includes a mix of ages from around 3-6 years which means our older pupils help the younger ones, allowing them to gain a real sense of their growing capabilities. Snack time is enjoyed together round a large table which helps the group to learn social skills such as appropriate communication, how to negotiate and, where necessary, how to compromise.

The older children help to prepare the food and set the table which supports the development of numeracy skills as they weigh the ingredients, sort and match and practice simple counting in a real rather than abstract context.

Kindergarten education is comprehensive and stimulating. This encourages our youngest children to be at ease with themselves and to be eager, creative and responsive when they begin their formal education in Class 1.

Our Early Years provision recently ranked ‘very good’ in an unannounced visit by the Care Inspectorate.

View our most recent results: Care Inspectorate report  (September, 2022).

Joining the Kindergarten:

Enquiries are welcomed via the form you will find on this page. Our admissions team will be happy to help answer any questions you may have and provide the necessary information.

Details about the current Kindergarten fees can be found here. Edinburgh Steiner School has been a Partner Provider of early learning and childcare for over thirty years.

View our short films that provide an insight into the kindergarten environment, a later start to formal education and the transition to the first year of school here:

Early Years  Now We Are Six  Time To Learn #Kids On Tech