Kimberton Waldorf School

Kimberton Waldorf School

    • visiting the goats

The Rosebud Garden and Kindergarten Afternoon Program: A Home Away from Home

The All Day Program aims to provide a home away from home.  Recognizing the afternoon needs of the young child, the program moves at a slower pace. Extra time is given to work on learning to tie a shoe lace or to making the zipper on a jacket work. As in our morning programs, the emphasis is on simple daily living. The joy of finding a flower for the afternoon snack table, setting the table for others, tending our simple vegetable patch, gathering vegetables for tomorrow’s snack, bringing in the laundry before the rain fairies come to visit, or engaging in a special seasonal craft are all activities that nurture the young child.

Led by the Morning and Afternoon teachers, All Day Rosebud Garden and Kindergarten children come together in the Red Rose room and share a family style organic hot meal provided by our school lunch program, Food for Thought. The children then transition into the White Rose room for a quiet rest time. The room is made cozy with the curtains drawn and soft blankets to rest in. Simple lyre music or a gentle lullaby is heard by the children. After a busy morning, this quiet time provides children with a much needed rest.

Following rest time, we play outside weather permitting. During this time, the children may also help to prepare a simple, wholesome snack before going home at 3:10. The program extends and is available until 5:30 under the care of the same familiar teachers. Rhythm is an essential component in Waldorf Early Childhood programs, and at KWS, we have created a gentle, healthy rhythm for the day that is, above all, a consistent one. A loving bridge from morning to afternoon, the All Day Program provides children with a familiar environment and the care of experienced, Waldorf-trained teachers.

More About the Kindergarten Afternoons:
Our all day kindergarten program provides a rhythm and consistency in having your child in one nurturing and healthy environment. Oftentimes, we do not have direct control over job schedules and demands in our workplace. Driving children from one setting to the next throughout the day and week does not allow the space and time for them to truly engage in creative, imaginative play. Our program offers this opportunity in an environment that the children already knows and enjoy.
 

Our afternoons provide a predictable and safe haven for children to simply play and relax during the afternoon hours. After we say good-bye to our morning friends, we walk inside to eat lunch provided by the school and then we have a rest time. Each child has his or her own cot, sheet, blanket, pillow and maybe a special small blanket from home. After we eat and clean up the lunch table, we rest and have quiet time. I do not emphasize that it is sleep time. It is simply time to allow the young child to rest and simply breathe in a relaxed manner. We rub each other’s feet and create a calm atmosphere of quiet peacefulness.
 
 We slowly wake up and put away cots and do some follow-up cleaning from the lunch time. We also have unstructured drawing time where children quietly draw at the table as other children are waking up. Once everyone is up and the room is cleaned we go outside until parents pick up their children.
 
The primary goal in the kindergarten all day program is to provide healthy rhythmic afternoons for children where they can just “relax into the afternoon” without many planned structured activities. We have daily rituals and routines that children are eager to put into practice. It is important for parents not to consider the afternoon program as a drop-in program. It is possible to do only a few days a week and the best way to pursue this is to talk to me about what is available and possible. Remember that our goal is to provide a predictable and consistent atmosphere for your young child.