FAQ’s

In the early 1900s, there was sentiment that the innocence of childhood must be preserved. A whole person should not only devote himself to academic pursuits, but cultural ones as well, including art, music, physical movement, and social responsibility. German philosopher Rudolf Steiner opened the first Waldorf school in 1919 in the plant at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany, at the request of the plant’s owner. Waldorf education holds that a school is an organic mix of children and their teachers, who should lend their individual talents to the school. Additionally, Waldorf education prescribes that in the first seven years of life, children learn by observing and imitating the work of adults and peers. In providing real-life materials as well as open-ended props to support imaginative play, the child is able to recreate that is within him—be it something observed or something imagined.

In the work of Rudolf Steiner, it is clear that the child is not seen as an empty vessel, waiting to be filled with by an adult with knowledge. Instead, Steiner saw children as brilliant, capable, and innocent. Surrounded by beautiful things and given opportunities by loving teachers, children make meaning in great ways. We agree.

To borrow from Waldorf education, play with open-ended materials will be a highly valued part of the day at The Good Earth Farm School. Such play allows children to imitate what they have learned about the world and to express their active imaginations. Special attention is placed in surrounding the children with beautiful, natural, and interesting toys and materials that they may use in their play.

Click Here to read about The Good Earth Farm School’s Program.

Lifeways North America is considered the early childhood education component of Waldorf education as traditional Waldorf schools do not provide care to children under 3 years of age. Click Here to Read More about Lifeways North America

In Montessori, there is a feeling that young children have difficulty distinguishing
between reality and fantasy, and therefore fantasy should be postponed until the child is
firmly grounded in reality. The tasks and activities the children do are reality oriented.
Montessori said that it is a mistake for children to amuse themselves with toys, that
children are not really interested in toys for long without the real intellectual interest of
associating them with sizes and numbers. In Montessori, each manipulative material is
focused toward a specific learning concept and has a step-by-step procedure for being
used. Math counting rods, for example, are not to be transformed into castle walls.
In Waldorf philosophy, play is viewed as the work of the young child. The magic of
fantasy, which is so alive in every young child, is an integral part of how the teacher
works with the child. The teacher incorporates storytelling and fantasy into the
curriculum.
In Waldorf, we feel that it is essential to realize the value of toys to help children to
re-enact experiences from life as they actually happen. The less finished and the more
suggestive a toy may be, the greater its educational value, for it really enlivens the
imaginative life of the child. So toys in the Waldorf kindergarten may be rounds of wood
cut from birch logs, seashells, lengths of colored silk or cotton for costuming or house
building, soft cloth dolls with a minimum of detail in faces or clothing, etc., allowing for
open-ended imaginative play.
Click Here to read more about Waldorf and Montessori. 

Our school does not focus on nor give preference for any one religion or culture, instead we take our cues from Mother Nature.

Our days on the farm are designed to create a balance between free, creative play and more structured activities. Our daily and weekly rhythms focus on the following activities and are designed to coordinate with our nature based themes of the changing seasons.

Creative Arts: coloring with natural beeswax crayons, modeling beeswax, watercolor painting, drawing, seasonal crafts, music, story-telling and puppetry.

Domestic Arts: cooking, cleaning, sewing, woodworking, repairing, gardening and caring for animals.

Nurturing Arts: natural foods, hair brushing/combing with lavender spray, hand/face washing, daily outdoor time and rest (for full-day children).

Social Arts: empathy, kindness, sharing, leadership, conflict resolution and love.

Click here to read more about our curriculum and the Rhythm of our days.

While developing the curriculum we have referred to the standards and curriculum of the Leander Independent school district so that children should be able to seamlessly transition from this program to another environment. LISD policy currently dictates that grade placement is at the discretion of the school principal but a portfolio of work and/or age are often utilized to determine placement.

Our school will observe major holidays in conjunction with the LISD calendar and a listing of all observances and closures will be available prior to the start of the school year.

We are currently not trained in special education but are happy to work with parents and have therapists attend onsite to facilitate the learning process for those with special needs.

Conferences will be conducted twice a year to report your child’s progress and the teacher will request a conference if any special concerns arise throughout the year.

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