"Prof. N. Raynov" Waldorf Kindergarten
As a Waldorf kindergarten, we are dedicated to helping little children thrive. We provide an environment full of love and warmth, songs, fairy tales, natural materials, arts and free play. Teachers get to know each child’s personality and together with its parents discuss how it walks along its own way, what it needs and how they can help it together.
Children at that age need to feel at home. They need caring, accepting and nurturing. The mild and natural colors, forms and materials as well as the spiritual warmth of the carers encourage children to relax and develop their individuality. Free play with natural materials (fabrics, wooden cubes, knitted bands, chestnuts, acorns, sea shells, and so on) is healthy food for fantasy, imagination and development of the senses. The daily, weekly and annual rhythms makes children feel secure.
In Waldorf education, we avoid “early intellectualization” as we consider it harmful to the kids. Kids become healthy and happy individuals only when they develop equally their body, soul and intellect. In their early years, the development of the body is extremely important. Hence, they need to play, create and socialize much more than they need to memorize facts, or learn to read and write.
Daily rhythm
08:30 – 09:00
Arrival
08:40 – 09:40
Main activity for the day and free play
The main activity depends on the day of week as follows
Monday – Watercolor painting
Tuesday – Work with wool and natural materials
Wednesday – Beeswax modeling
Thursday – Bread kneading
Friday – Kindergarten cleaning or hiking in the woods
09:40 – 10:00
Children and teachers sing everybody’s names and go back singing to their rooms, toilet, hand washing
10:00 – 10:20
Finger games, salutation, poems and songs with gestures
10:20 – 10:50
Morning snack. Snack is different every week day
Monday – Rice with raisins
Tuesday – Barley with cheeseе
Wednesday – Millet with walnuts
Thursday – Rye breads kneaded by the children
Friday – Muesli (oat flakes and fruits)
What comes next is preparation for going out in the yard, cleaning the tables, toilet and dressing
10:50 – 12:10
Morning classes
12:10 – 12:30
Going back from the yard. After coming back from the free play in the yard children use the toilet, wash their hands and teachers hand them out drinking water
12:30 – 13:00
Storytelling circle time. Time for a story, birthdays and festivities
13:00 – 13:20
Lunch. Weekly menu from the catering company is placed in view in the entrance hall of the preschool building on the first floor
13:20 – 13:40
Preparation for the afternoon nap. Washing, toilet and preparation for afternoon nap
13:40 – 15:40
Afternoon nap / afternoon classes
15:40 – 16:00
Wake up and getting dressed
16:00 – 16:30
Afternoon snack
16:30 – 18:00
Free play and seeing children off. Depending on weather conditions outdoor or indoor free play is organized
Location
Our kindergarten is located in a spacious house with a front and back yard full of trees, flowers, and covered in natural mulch. It belongs to a quiet neighborhood near downtown Sofia.
In the back yard, we grow an organic urban garden together with the kids.
Catering
See Catering.
Admission
For admission procedure and fees, see Admission.
