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Waldorf inspires learning

IN a much-publicized article in The New York Times, some of Silicon Valley's top executives and employees, who have chosen Waldorf education for their children, explain why they believe technology can wait.

IN a much-publicized article in The New York Times, some of Silicon Valley's top executives and employees, who have chosen Waldorf education for their children, explain why they believe technology can wait.

Whether artists or technologists, the number of parents who value the philosophy of Waldorf education is growing. At the Vancouver Waldorf School the aim is to inspire and cultivate a lifelong love of learning. Our students learn from an early age to engage in their own learning process.

The Vancouver Waldorf School Early Childhood Centre is a loving environment, protective and secure, wherein the teacher nurtures the children's power of imagination through selected stories and free play.

In the grade school, mathematics, music, the sciences, theatre, history and world literature (including legends and myths) are not simply subjects to be read about and tested, they are experienced - in a way that will appeal in a balanced way to the child's intellect, feelings and will. The thinking element arises through listening, understanding, remembering and discussing. The feeling element is cultivated through artistic work, drama and hands-on life experience. The will element is engaged through all activities: from writing to map drawing or constructing models to different forms of physical movement.

Through a developmentally appropriate, experiential approach to education, wherein the arts are in service to the academics, a culture of interest and wonder is not only kindled, but strengthened within the emerging adolescent. Thus Waldorf grade school students begin to cultivate their emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual capacities as they become well-rounded, openminded learners.

This firm foundation then leads to an intellectually deepened high school experience that supports young men and women in developing their unique capacities as students, as people, and as members of the human community. Through this combination of a developmentally based curriculum and approach to teaching, the Vancouver Waldorf School graduates young adults capable of fulfilling their life's task and contributing to social renewal in the world through being lifelong learners.

Founded in 1969, the Vancouver Waldorf School is part of the Waldorf school movement, the largest independent school movement in the world with more than 1,000 schools worldwide.