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Farmhouse Classes, Main Campus

Kindergarten (4 to 6 years) at the main campus

  •  Monday through Friday, 8:30am – noon
  • 5-day program (Monday – Friday), 4-day option (Monday – Thursday)
  •  Maximum enrollment is 18 children
  •  3-STARS rating by VT’s Step Ahead Recognition System for recognizing high-quality child care programs

The Kindergarten program has been developed using the guiding principles of Waldorf education and an anthroposophical view of the young child. The Kindergarten teacher along with the assistant creates an environment that is full of love, warmth, and beauty. A rhythmical day includes practical and meaningful activities such as grinding corn, churning butter, milling wheat, baking bread and chopping vegetables. Each day a whole grain snack and meal are shared, providing the children not only with nourishment but also with the opportunity to learn proper table etiquette and to develop gratitude and reverence. Movement, imaginative play, transformation, and practical work promote healthy sense development. The children are engaged in their will senses as they build, garden and care for the hens. The Kindergarten circle is seasonal and full of opportunities for imitation, learning and fun. The indoor part of the day includes rest, story, puppet shows, coloring with beeswax crayons, painting and seasonal activities. Finger games introduce dexterity, counting, and other skills that are needed for future academic work. Social relationships and positive interactions contain much of the learning in the Kindergarten and are truly essential life skills. The Kindergarten morning is mainly held outdoors surrounded by the natural beauty of our 55-acre campus and the ever-changing cycle of the seasons. Our unique landscape enables us to provide the children with the healthbringing benefits of being in nature and the healing qualities of biodynamic agriculture.

Nursery (3½ to 4½ years) at the main campus

  • Monday through Thursday mornings, 8:30am – noon
  • 4-day program (Monday through Thursday), 2-day options (Monday/Tuesday and Wednesday/Thursday)
  • Maximum enrollment is 12 children
  •  3-STARS rating by VT’s Step Ahead Recognition System for recognizing high-quality child care programs

The Nursery class is led by an Early Childhood teacher and an assistant. The Nursery day follows a predictable, gentle, seasonal rhythm. Our daily artistic activities may include drawing, painting, beeswax modeling, seasonal crafts, storytelling and puppet plays. Our practical tasks include bread-baking, snack preparation, handwork, cleaning and gardening. During our daily circle time, children are taught cooperative games, respectful boundaries and following directions. Regardless of the weather, every day we will spend time outside—running, climbing, digging in the sandbox, hiking and engaging in imaginative play—so seasonal outdoor clothing is essential. We engage in storytelling daily, as this enhances a child’s capacity to listen and encourages a love of language, while finger plays and rhymes develop motor skills and improve coordination that later will enhance their ability to write. Knowing that children of this age learn best through imitation, our teachers strive with every purpose, word and deed to be worthy of imitation.

Aftercare Program

The Aftercare Program (3-STARS) is led by the Aftercare teacher and is available from noon to 3:00pm or 5:30pm (Monday through Friday) for children enrolled in the Nursery and Kindergarten classes. Enrollment is available in the afternoons for those children enrolled in the morning program of the same day for one to five days per week.