“Love is higher than opinion. If people love one another the most varied opinions can be reconciled - thus one of the most important tasks for humankind today and in the future is that we should learn to live together and understand one another. If this human fellowship is not achieved, all talk of development is empty.”
~Rudolf Steiner
Educational Programs
Parent-Child Classes
Sweet Pea Program (5-33 months)
Our Parent-Child program invites parents and young children to come together to meet new friends and share the wonders of the first few years of life. The Parent-Child Sweet Pea class is a small group of children along with their parent that provides an opportunity to learn more about a Steiner Inspired Education and healthy parenting. It is held in a nurturing environment, with natural toys that bring out a child’s imagination and initiative while also encouraging the child to develop social skills. The program has a weekly class for toddlers and a class for babies. In our toddler class, there will be time for circle songs, inside play, a wholesome snack, and outdoor play. Information about early childhood topics and healthy parenting will be made available and discussed. Through reading, discussion, and most importantly class observation, parents learn how to support their children during their first seven years of childhood.
Sweet Pea classes are designed for children not of preschool age. Preschool age is 2 years 9 months by September 1st. The program will be facilitated by experienced Waldorf Early Childhood teacher and Simplicity Parenting Guide, Sarah McNamara. Come join for inspiration and enjoyable mornings with your child!
Early Childhood Programs
Preschool
Our Daisy Preschool is a play-based, structured, and developmentally appropriate program for children ages three and four years. We have a beautiful classroom, outdoor space, and two exceptionally dedicated teachers with a small class size of 12-14 children. Care is offered four days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. All preschool children must be toilet trained by the start of school and be 2.9yrs by September 1st. Rhythm for the day includes indoor play, circle time, snack, outdoor play, story, lunch, rest time, snack and end of day.
Kindergarten
Our Rose Kindergarten is a play- based, structured, and developmentally appropriate program that serves children ages five and six years. Our kindergarten classes provide a nurturing, homelike environment full of natural beauty. Children form deep relationships with teachers and peers while developing foundational skills and a life-long love of learning. We have a kindergarten class with 14-16 students and two dedicated teachers. Care is offered four days a week from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Our program includes a daily rhythm of indoor play, circle time, snack, outdoor play, story, lunch, and rest time followed by end of day.
Lower Grades
Children in grades 1-5 are guided by a Class Teacher from first through eighth grade. Students and teachers develop a deep and important relationship through the shared experience of growing together as people through the years of the main lesson curriculum. The children make their own textbooks, full of their own interpretations from subjects taught by the class teacher. The goal of each class teacher is to bring lessons to their class in ways that will excite and ignite, allowing each student to dream, learn, create, and explore! Throughout the lower grades, students are offered subject classes in addition to their main lessons. For additional information about our curriculum by grade, please visit our curriculum tab here.
Upper Grades
In the middle grades at Livings Oaks, worlds come alive through our Steiner inspired curriculum. Main lessons include learning about the Romans, Medieval times, and the Renaissance. During this time of life, students continue to learn and navigate the world of social relationships, fostering respect and collaboration among the community within the class and as a whole. Throughout middle school, the students continue with their subject classes in addition to their main lessons. For additional information about our curriculum by grade, please visit our curriculum tab here.
Friday Programs
Little Sprouts
Kindergarten-3rd grade
Hours are 8:30am - 2:00pm
A nature and outdoor-play based program with hours of outdoor play on Living Oaks’ 10 acre campus. Activities include walks to the pond, the Merry Meadow, our biodynamic gardens, and to playscape areas on our grounds.
Children can often be found creating fairy gardens, building sand castles, making debris huts, sanding a piece of wood, making mud pies, or playing freely as they pretend to be jaguars. Simple gardening projects, as well as candle making, forest art, clay sculptures, mud-crafts, handmade boats, herbal medicine, plant dyeing, wool felting, gardening, composting, native bee houses, bat houses, and water color painting are among the arts and crafts projects which the children have engaged in as part of our Friday nature based curriculum.
Our program creates healthy seasonal rhythms for the children and allows the space, time and environment for exploring and discovering nature’s wonders.
Snacks and lunches are provided.
Workshops
5th - 8th grades
Hours are 9am - 2:00pm
Various workshops are offered throughout the year for our 5th-8th grade students. Please inquire with the office to see what we are currently offering!
Snacks and lunches are provided.
Subject Classes
Handwork
Children at Living Oaks practice the art of handwork as a regular subject class. Projects vary depending on the grade and linked with the appropriate development of a child.
Biodynamic Gardening
Children in grades 1-8 attend bi-weekly garden classes where they learn to grow and tend to our edible crops as well as dye and harvest medicinal plants. The gardening curriculum is developmentally-based and reflects the main lesson work in each grade. Food from the garden is harvested daily and prepared for lunches by Chef Andrew. All food waste is brought back to the farm to be composted and recycled into soil. We will continue to expand our gardens in the years to come.
World Language
Living Oaks offers Spanish as our world language. Children are introduced to the foundations for learning Spanish in our early childhood programs, with lessons beginning in first grade. The intention is to not only learn a new language, but to also give students insights into other cultures. Classes in all grades include poems, songs, stories, listening, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary acquisition. The specific content and way these skills are incorporated is tailored to each class based on their stage of development. Spanish and Italian teachers strive to integrate the main lesson topics from the classroom teacher into the language lessons in support of our interdisciplinary approach to teaching.
Cooking
At Living Oaks, we offer students and faculty a world class food program full of local and organic foods (some of which are from our very own farm!). The students work with our chef in the kitchen to help prepare the daily lunches and snacks for the entire community. They are learning knife skills, plating, nutrition, reverence for the food and where it comes from, along with proper kitchen etiquette and much more.
Movement/Games
Grades 1 to 3:
Teachers bring movement skills to life in imaginative ways through picture images and nature games in a noncompetitive environment.
Grades 4 to 8:
Teachers emphasize developing and practicing skills in specific areas and various team sports during class.
Music
Grades 1 and 2: Pentatonic Flute & Lyra
Music is integrated through stories and pictures rather than theory and technique.
Grades 3 through 8: String Instruments
Students select the violin, viola, or cello and learn music theory, note-reading, and instrument families, often singing in rounds.
Grade 5: Winds, Brass, or Strings (coming in the future)
Fifth graders have the option to stay with their chosen string instrument or select a new instrument from the broader options now available. Orchestral arrangements are chosen for each class based on meter, key, and melodic integrity to help students move inward from self to other.
Grades 6 to 8: A Full Orchestra (coming in the future)
Now skilled at playing together as well as individually, students exercise their need to be heard, literally and figuratively, as they are presented with challenging and diverse rhythms that harmonize and balance the group experience.
Woodworking
Woodworking classes offer students a unique opportunity to engage in hands-on learning and develop practical skills. These classes aim to foster creativity, problem-solving abilities, and a deep connection to the natural world. Students learn to work with different types of wood, tools, and techniques under the guidance of a skilled instructor. Through woodworking, students not only create beautiful and functional objects but also gain a sense of accomplishment and confidence in their abilities. These classes often emphasize the importance of craftsmanship, patience, and attention to detail, nurturing a lifelong appreciation for the art of woodworking.
Fine Art
Fine art classes provide students with a rich and immersive experience in various artistic mediums, including wet-on-wet painting. These classes aim to nurture creativity, imagination, and artistic expression. Wet-on-wet painting, in particular, offers students a unique approach to painting, where colors blend and flow freely on wet paper, allowing for spontaneous and intuitive artistic exploration. Through this technique, students learn to work with watercolors in a fluid and dynamic manner, creating vibrant and harmonious compositions inspired by the natural world and their own inner experiences. Wet-on-wet painting not only develops students' technical skills but also encourages mindfulness, presence, and a deep connection to the creative process.