Green Meadow Waldorf school student, Madeline Abrams, is recognized for her contribution to environmentalism. Waldorf Academy’s curriculum places a premium on fostering student’s connection to nature, and building environmental stewardship.

Teacher looping refers to the practice of keeping the same teacher with the same group of students for at least two years in a row. Studies now confirm that teacher looping is strongly correlated with better educational outcomes, surpassing those associated with extra time during homework. Waldorf schools have been using teacher looping for decades based on the knowledge that longevity of relationship is a hallmark of effective learning.

The Government of Ontario’s Board of Education recently followed the lead of other districts in banning cell phones from the classroom - but not during lunch and recess. Not only that, but public school teachers are required to enforce the new rule. At Waldorf Academy, no students use cell phones at any time, and never have. Most students don’t bring cellphones to school at all. Middle school students who need cell phones for after-school purposes keep their devices in their backpacks throughout the school day, and Yondr pouches are used if needed. At Waldorf Academy we believe that school is a time to be free of social media, advertising, and constant contact to allow undistracted and unrushed learning to take place. No teacher enforcement is required.

Waldorf schools have always taught cursive writing starting in Grade 2, and students in every grade journal their learning by hand in large freeform books. Waldorf Academy’s curriculum is based on proven theory that using your hands - which are an extension of your will -  in your learning process, deepens and transforms it.

A study published in American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) found that children’s prosocial skills predict key successful outcomes for adolescents and adults including education levels, employment stability, and increased mental well being.

Ask any Waldorf educator and they will tell you that routine and rhythm are the foundations of a healthy and joyful early childhood program.

In most educational models the vehicle for teaching is contained within a class period, usually 40 minutes, and the focus is on one subject such as math, music, and science. Waldorf Academic, Roberto Trostli writes, “When Rudolf Steiner inaugurated the first Waldorf school, he established the “main lesson”— effectively, an ‘immersive’ in which the same subject would be the main focus during a two-hour morning class for 3 to 4 weeks. The rest of the day is filled with specialty classes such as French, math, English, art, civics, etc.

Every year, around this time of changing seasons, Waldorf Academy students engage in a soulful Lantern Walk. Moving from long-lit days of summer to shorter, cooler days of fall, the Lantern Walk marks seasonal change through light and dark; and we illuminate the beauty of this quieter time through a soulful Lantern Walk in nature.

It might sound counterintuitive to think of an urban school providing a hands-on outdoor education focused on building a lifelong relationship with the natural world. But that’s exactly what happens at Waldorf Academy.

“Instead of rote learning useless facts, children need to be taught well-being.”

– Alice O’Keefe in her opinion piece for The Guardian (March 2020)

And while we may dispute that there’s such a thing as “useless facts” (can there really be?), we do wholeheartedly agree that:

“To equip young people to face the challenges of the 21st century, they need to understand their minds and bodies.”

There is always wisdom behind the progression of Waldorf pedagogy. Each subject is designed to reach a child where he or she is at that moment in their physical, emotional, and spiritual development.

There is always wisdom behind the progression of Waldorf pedagogy. Every subject is designed to reach a child where he or she is at that moment in their physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Our curriculum connects children to their place as humans in the greater scheme of the world. This is why Waldorf students spend so much time in nature, where classroom lessons take hold and gain context.

Why do we care so much about our children’s growing dependence on devices?

The day begins in a grade one Waldorf classroom with bouncing balls.

Students rise and form a circle around the classroom. Each child holds a small rubber ball in hand. The teacher initiates counting, whether simple numerical ascent or in fractions or sequences, and the children respond by bouncing in rhythm to the counting.

When David Knight (Class of 2005) reflects on his time at Waldorf Academy, from grade 1 through grade 8, he remembers “the intimacy and the one-on-one time approach.” And, he remembers staying with the same class throughout the years.

“You learn together,” he says. “I’ve stayed connected with my teachers.”