FamilyFirst

DESCRIPTION

This school created in 1998 is based in a beautiful villa in Beausoleil with a large garden overlooking Monaco and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Waldorf Kindergarten in Beausoleil is for children from 2 to 6 years old.

With a maximum of only 30 children at the school, divided into two classes, headed by an extremely passionate, friendly and warm headmistress who also teaches, the school is ideal for families looking for a relaxed, flexible but professional environment.

It is an independent, private, state approved school that by following Waldorf’s pedagogy offers a warm and embracing environment that fosters a sense of wonder and a love of learning through play. All games are based on nature and help to develop a child's imagination and creativity.

Here everything is based on nature, with wooden furniture and traditional toys and the majority of play items actually come from nature itself (stones and pebbles, wood and shells etc). The curriculum is founded on the natural phases of development of childhood.

EDUCATION

In Waldorf-Steiner education, young children learn about themselves and their world.

In the Beausoleil school there is a daily mix of activity and rest, creativity and free play, listening, sound and silence. It is a child based curriculum rather than a subject one, even though certain themes are associated with certain days of the week.

Play is believed by Steiner-Waldorf teachers to be one of the most important bases of early-childhood years and in the development of a child's personality. This theory is also highly supported by current research about successful educational methods. Through play children grow into their bodies, test theories about the physical world, learn to communicate effectively with their peers, experiment with social roles, develop the skills to cope with adversity and create imaginative inner life that will later serve in adulthood.

The emphasis throughout the day, for both children and teachers, is fostering social values, courtesy and consideration for others, being in cooperation rather than competition. The real aim is that the child be truly happy and gains pleasure from being productive in his/her work.

Through morning circles with nursery rhymes, songs and stories; through finger plays, rhythmical movements and games; through painting, drawing, beeswax modelling, wood-working, crafts, bread-making, gardening, motor skill activities and free play. Their curriculum offers a broad field of experiences in order to allow the children’s natural development to blossom in areas such as language, mathematics, living with others and discovering the world.

The language that unites teachers and children in the school’s international environment is French, however teachers also speak English that is taught naturally through play, nursery rhymes & songs, stories & imitation, circle games & finger games.

There are two classes: one for 2 to 4 years olds, lead by a teacher with the help of two assistants, and another for children over 4 years old, lead by the head with her assistant.

Children may attend part or full time depending on what is best for each family and child. The school closes at midday on Wednesdays and Fridays and the lower class has no school on Wednesdays.

SCHOOL FACILITIES

• Garden with a sand pit
• Vegetable garden
• Sleep and relaxation room
• Fully adapted bath room
• 2 class rooms
• Meals prepared on site from fresh produce

FEES

The Waldorf Kindergarten is a non-profit foundation. All school fees are used to pay for teachers, premises and supplies.

The fees are 7300€ per year (plus a one off registration fee and development fund reimbursed when the child leaves the school after full accomplishment of the early childhood curriculum).