Playgroup & Kindergarten

Raphaeli Waldorf School’s Playgroup has an atmosphere of loving warmth and guidance that promotes joy, wonder and reverence. These inner qualities support the healthy growth and development of the young child.

The most essential aspect of the work with the little child is the inner attitude of the educator, who provides the example for the child’s imitation. Nobesuthu Gubula has been our Playgroup teacher for almost three years now, truly being a teacher and human being ‘worthy of imitation’.

In the Waldorf playgroup, foundations are laid for later learning and healthy development, including life-long physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual growth.

This education, based on an understanding of the development of human individuality, offers protection and respect for the dignity of childhood.

What are the fundamental characteristics of the Waldorf Playgroup?

• Loving interest in and acceptance of each child
• Opportunities for self-initiated play with simple play materials as the essential activity for young children.
• Play is the young child’s work and makes it possible for them to digest and understand their experiences.
• Awareness that young children learn through imitation, through the experience of diverse sensory impressions and through movement. A focus on real rather than virtual experiences to support the child in forming a healthy relationship to the world.
• Artistic activities that foster the healthy development of imagination and creativity.
• Predictable rhythms through the day, week and year that provide security and a sense of the interrelationships and wholeness of life. Seasonal and other festivals are celebrated according to the cultural and geographical surroundings.