About our Kindergarten

We provide a Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education for all those who truly seek this for their child in Kirikiriroa. Steiner/Waldorf Education lays the foundations to support each child to develop as individuals who, in time and over time, can stand as free individuals in and for the world: balanced in their Feeling, clear, creative and flexible in their Thinking; practical and purposeful in their Will.

Miro House Kindergarten is a Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood centre set in a natural environment. It is a warm, caring and secure environment where childhood is honoured and children are given the gift of time.  The physical, emotional, social, and spiritual nature of each child is carefully nurtured.

A celebration of the natural world is developed through seasonal festivals, stories and movement circles as well as engaging in the outside environment, including the building of compost, growing fruit, vegetables and flowers. Sustainability and organic and permaculture practices are key to the care we provide for our environment.

Experiencing the wonders of Nature, the elements and the possibility of real adventures are found in the Centre’s garden. The richness of the changing seasons are turning points of the year, and children have the opportunity to fully experience this. Children enjoy natural early childhood movement and their inherent curiosity in the world around them is fostered, further enriching their learning and development.

Children’s early learning is developed naturally through daily activities that are offered in the kindergarten. These may be in the form of baking bread, caring for the environment, drawing, painting and modelling amongst others.

Play is considered to offer rich and productive learning opportunities for children to experiment and develop in the social, intellectual and physical realms.  The opportunities for learning provided by play are highly valued.  The chance to initiate, plan, reason, create, problem-solve, negotiate, take on roles, predict, experiment, draw conclusions and develop working theories are all facilitated through play.  The careful selection of quality play materials, gathered from the garden, forest and sea further enhance play through actively supporting the imagination.

Early literacy and numeracy are key skills that are developed naturally in our environment, laying strong foundations for later academic learning when they enter the Waikato Waldorf School.  A strong emphasis on oral language through story telling and the daily movement circle further develops skills the child can draw on when they enter a formal learning environment.

Inside activities may be in the form of baking bread, caring for the environment, drawing, beeswax modelling, and painting.

The child’s social and emotional development is recognised for its importance in the whole of human development and is carefully nurtured in the kindergarten environment. It is an inherent quality in the daily programme.  The mixed age groups support tuakana-teina learning relationships and helps the child develop their sense of belonging and contribution as well as their ability to care for each other.