Instead of spending his preschool days on a playground or coloring pictures, four-year-old Blue Chappell explores nature and bakes cookies with his teacher and classmates.
Blue is enrolled at the Magnolia Children's School, which is run from the home of Cyrina Thompson, 9669 Sand Ridge Road, Millfield, Ohio. -
she said.
Thompson teaches three and four-year-old children to learn social skills like sharing and home skills like baking and sewing.
- so the Waldorf style offers parents a different option for their children she said.
Six children, including Thompson's son, attend school three days a week and spend most of their time outside in Thompson's 15 acres of woods and meadows.
The children take walks to find treasures like flowers, pinecones and rocks and sometimes visit the neighbor's chickens and horses.
Nature and playing outside is really important in nurturing their imaginations
Thompson said.
Every toy the children play with is made from natural materials like sheep's wool, silk and wood.
When a child plays with a doll like Dora the Explorer
it can't be anything except that
but if a child plays with a piece of wood or rock it can be anything from a boat to a dog
she said.
The children also paint pictures, bake, sew and sing seasonal songs about friendship and sharing. Lunches and snacks are usually homegrown fruits and vegetables.
Before opening the school, Thompson taught at public schools in Illinois for seven years then substitute taught for a year in Athens.
I liked working in the public schools
but I felt I was teaching kids to be only test-takers
she said.
Thompson then looked into alternative methods of education and decided the Waldorf style encouraged students to be learners rather than pushing academics. She then enrolled at Antioch University, New England in New Hampshire to earn her master's degree in Waldorf education.
Even though the school just opened this month, Thompson said she is already looking into different options for the school's future.
The first option is to teach children up to eighth grade, which is when Waldorf education traditionally ends.Thompson is also considering expanding the school outside of her home and opening an official Waldorf school after she gets her master's degree in 2010.
Tuition for Magnolia school is $120 per three-day week as well as a one-time $100 art supply fee. Thompson sometimes adjusts tuition based on financial need, she said.
Parents said they are pleased with Thompson's school and the Waldorf curriculum.
I like how the school has structure but encourages the kids to be imaginative
which is sometimes missing from public education
said Amy Erlewine, whose 4-year-old daughter Elise attends the Magnolia Children's School.
All of the parents are encouraged to be involved with the school and their child's learning by providing snacks, knitting toys and singing songs, Thompson said.
When parents choose a Waldorf based school they're not necessarily choosing an education but a lifestyle and philosophy
