Kindergarten

The Ballarat Steiner Kindergarten environment fosters the development of social skills and readiness to participate in group learning. Through rhythm, reverence and repetition the children feel secure and nurtured.

Emphasis is given to regular patterns of activities both within the day and over each week.

A cyclical pattern is reflected in themes of work related to seasons of the year. The celebration of festivals and observation of nature’s seasonal changes allows the children to experience a connection to the earth.

The kindergarten is a beautiful, nourishing place for the young child to explore the world. In a cosy atmosphere, the kindergarten embodies activities in imitation of life such as baking, cleaning, sewing and gardening.

Games, songs, rhythm and music, movement, storytelling, puppetry, wet-on-wet painting, drawing, and seasonal crafts are all part of a typical week. In lovely open baskets on a low shelf are materials for creative play that are varied and beautiful; soft handmade toys of natural fibre, stones, shells, pine cones, capes, and large cloths of silk and cotton. Because these items are simple and natural, they serve the flow of the child’s imagination, creating a strong foundation for creative thinking in later life.

The kindergarten child learns through doing. A homelike classroom invites play, and participation in practical and artistic activities, circle, story and outside time. The rhythm of the day is designed to encourage the young child to experience life’s patterns in a healthy and secure manner.

Entry Requirements

To be eligible for the  Big Kindergarten program: a child needs to be turning five during the year he/she attends and four if he/she is entering the Little Kindergarten Program.