Hi L.A.
Thanks for the welcome and guiding me to this forum. Would love to give you a bit more on the essence of Steiner education. Perhaps you may like to visit my website where you will get a good idea of the Steiner philosophy for early childhood education as, the stages in education are directly linked to the stages of development and, I hope the information on my website does justice to that. Please go to (had to remove the link as it would not post with it
Besides offering a preschool program I also hold workshops for educators on topics such as; Story Telling, Inner work of the educator and it's influence on children, Play - learning about your child and other topics as well.
Would love your feed back on the website and it's content.
Regards.
Yera
P.S. Ooops! Seems I dont' have permission to put down the name of my website. So here goes in a nutshell.
The three most important aspects to consider are the stages of child development - Stage 0 to 7 (even these are sub divided in 2.5 years intervals). Each of these sub stages indicate a readiness of the child in their spiritual, thinking, feeling and willing life. Therefore, much consideration is given in understanding the child's needs during each of these stages so that the learning opportunities coincide with the child's own unfolding and unique development.
Broadly imitation is the vehicle and imagination the natural conciousness of the child during the preschool years. For the former, the teachers inner qualities need to be cultivated (therefore the inner work) without which she/he may not be adequately able to impress upon the child the values of a wholesome sense of that which is imbued with goodness(not moralistically but rather as when we proclaim - intuitively -'it's a good thing'. Accompanying this attitude must be genuine love, care,joy and the ability to embrace reverence are all vital to the teachers role. These then set the stage for a teacher worthy of imitation by the child. A tall order by all means but one that is truly fulfilling and enriching to ones own overall development as an adult and, one's unique journey.
As a teacher, ones' job of personal improvement is never over and, only in this light can one consider one self a teacher in Steiner education. All else is lip service. One's inner conciousness is reflected without choice in ones attitude and; children are extremely perceptive of it. Of-course this by no means implies that one is should or must be the epitome of virtue but, what it does indicate to the child intuitively is that; - this adult is genuine and works earnestly and beholds me the child (the unfolding child) with love and has reverence for my implicit faith in life. 'I' the child feel safe and secure and therefore I may now invest myself abundantly in the business of learning about my world and my relationship to it.
All of the above indications unfold by being alert that the child's consciousness during the preschool years is that of the unfolding imagination, their thirst for goodness around them, their natural connectedness to nature and their innate desire to imitate. Taking cue from these every opportunity to foster them is enfolded in the day; through play, simple chores and activities,music and movement through their archetypal origins , age appropriate art & handwork and stories that keep the richness of wonder alive. Celebration of festivals and seasons which dictate the rhythm of the day to the year are inseparable aspects of the curriculum planing. This naturally means that the approach leans heavily on our natural world and our human relationship to it. This is where the use of all resources made of natural materials come in for; though they are in the shape of formed objects they still continue to be a living material and their use and care brings alive to our conciousness that we need to hold in reverence what the earth offers us for our use. Regular gardening and harvesting from the kitchen garden,play and strolls in parks in all weather, collecting natures gifts based on the seasons for our nature table all; lend themselves to the child's already existing state of being interconnected with the natural world.
So in short here are the main features that form the foundations of Steiner education in early childhood:
A deep understanding of the -stages of child development
The Cycle of natures rhythm and our relationship to it
An intuitive sense of all that is wholesome goodness
Imitation
Repetition
Reverence
Joy
Imagination
Wonder
Play
Archetypal musical notes, gestures and movement.
Hope I have given a fairly descriptive idea of Steiner education
For now.
Yera
Great to have you on board. 
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