Prairie Moon Waldorf School

“Educating Head, Heart and Hands”

First Green School in Douglas County

2009 Recipient of the Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund Grant to establish the Okanis Market Garden. Designed to encourage children’s connection to the natural world through active participation in planting, growing and harvesting.

Prairie Moon Waldorf School is a nonprofit, private school rooted in a long tradition of honoring children. For nearly a century, internationally acclaimed Waldorf education has provided a well-rounded curriculum in the humanities and sciences through a whole-person approach. Prairie Moon continues this tradition fostering creativity and lifelong love of learning.

Prairie Moon Waldorf School was initiated by several pioneering families in 2001. Since its inception, it has added a grade nearly every year. Today, Prairie Moon Waldorf School, a developing member of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, offers Early Childhood programs for ages 2yr 9months – 6 years-old, elementary education through the sixth grade, pre-birth to age 3 Parent/Toddler morning classes and homeschool enrichment programs.

Early Childhood – Ages 2yr 9months – 6

Classroom and outdoor activities are carefully designed to encourage language development, enhance memory and comprehension, and nourish imagination—all prerequisites for creative thinking and academic achievement.

Early-childhood teaching at Prairie Moon is oral, dramatic and creative through stories, songs, rhymes, puppetry, movement, water color painting, experiencing nature, creative play and practical activities such as sewing, hammering, sawing, sweeping, gardening, and grinding grain that the children then bake into bread. These activities develop the child’s connection to the rhythms of their bodies, to life in their families and their communities and to the natural environment

“In contrast to early academics, Waldorf preschool and kindergarten teachers recognize that reading must be grounded in a rich field of oral learning and meaning, and thus they carefully lay the foundations for early literacy through storytelling, singing and movement games”. – Mothering Magazine March/April 2004 The Wisdom of Waldorf

Elementary grades

In the grades, a unique class teacher/main lesson system is used. Each morning, the children spend the first period of the day—the two-hour main lesson—with their class teacher. During this time when young minds are freshest, they intensively study a block from one of the core subjects. In this way, the rhythm of the day begins with work that requires the most attention, and each academic subject can receive special focus during the course of the year. The teacher has time to delve into each subject in depth and to approach it in a variety of ways, enlivening each topic with poetry, painting, modeling, and drama. After about a month, when one topic is fully explored, a new main lesson block is introduced.

Specialty subjects such as foreign languages, handwork, music, drama, and eurythmy are taught in the late mornings and afternoons by specialty teachers.

Highlights:

* Integration of Arts & Academics
* Offering The Right Thing at the Right Time
* How to Think, Not What to Think
* Appreciation of Individuality
* Environmental Stewardship
* Experiential Learning
* Commitment to Culture & Community

Take a Tour

Come walk the lovely grounds on our 7-acre campus of trees, fields and gardens. Visit the classrooms and meet the teachers. Learn why Waldorf education is the largest and fastest growing private-school movement in the world.

To arrange a visit, call 785-841-8800.

Ask about our Tuition Assistance Program

Website: www.prairiemoon.org
Address: 1853 E. 1600 Rd., Lawrence, KS 66044

For more information about Waldorf education, visit www.whywaldorfworks.org