Unique Features

The Waldorf curriculum and philosophy are what distinguish the Nelson Waldorf School from other schools. However, these five unique features stand most prominently to answer the question “What makes the Nelson Waldorf School so successful at educating students from Kindergarten through Grade Nine?”

Role of the Arts

The arts permeate all aspects of school life at the Nelson Waldorf School. Fine and practical arts – painting, sculpting, drawing, singing, instrumental ensembles, woodwork, handwork, drama, movement – provide:

Academics come alive when conveyed through an artistic medium. Every aesthetic detail imaginable contributes consciously to the totality of the Waldorf learning experience: the colors in the classroom; the colored chalk drawings on the board; the rhythm of the lesson and the day; the way the teacher speaks, moves, and balances humor with seriousness.

Integrated Curriculum

The Waldorf approach relies upon an interdisciplinary structure within each grade level and progressing through the years. At the core of Waldorf education is Steiner’s emphasis on achieving balance between the three distinct ways that humans relate to the world: through thinking, through the life of the emotions, and through physical activity. Long before educational research confirmed the idea of “multiple intelligences,” Steiner understood the need to balance the head, heart, and hands. At the Nelson Waldorf School, diverse modalities of teaching are integrated to ensure that students encounter a variety of learning styles. As a result, each child is able to comprehend classroom material and find positive areas of self-expression.

Developmental Approach

The Waldorf approach works with human nature and recognizes that capacities emerge in students at fairly predictable stages, while also allowing room for individual rates of maturation. This recognition of a metamorphosis of comprehension underlies both the organization of the curriculum itself and the changing methods of teaching throughout the twelve years. Rudolf Steiner saw human development unfolding in seven-year stages:

Until age six or seven: Children learn primarily through physical activity and imitation. The goal at this stage is to provide a warm, calm, secure, aesthetic environment that nourishes the senses, the imagination, and creativity of the young child. The 3 Rs are Reverence, Repetition, and Rhythm. Through storytelling, arts and crafts, and healthy movement, a strong foundation is laid for formal academics beginning in first grade.

From age seven until fourteen: Children at this stage learn best when academics appeal to the feeling life, and lessons are conveyed through an artistic medium such as painting, drama, music, storytelling, and other direct experiences that stir their emotions. A sense of beauty, harmony, and rhythm permeate the day, engaging children and supporting their learning.

In the High School: Themes and methods stimulate higher-level intellectual skills. Now is the time that the forces of imagination - carefully cultivated in the early years - are transformed into analytic, synthetic, and evaluative thinking skills in the adolescent.

Teacher-Student Relationship

Waldorf education at the Nelson Waldorf School embraces the living, direct relationship between teacher and student as the optimum catalyst for successful learning. Our teachers model an extraordinary capacity for knowledge, creativity, and the sheer love of discovery, motivating students toward academic success and a keen sense of wonder, purpose, and personal fulfillment.

Evaluation and Grades

Student evaluation in Kindergarten through Grade 8 is done through individualized student reports and parent-teacher conferences. Formal grades and a transcript, combined with parent-teacher conferences, begin in the High School.