Welcome to City of Lakes Waldorf School Preschool and Kindergarten Program!

Did you know that City of Lakes Waldorf School Preschool is open to all families, including those planning to attend public or other elementary schools for Kindergarten and beyond?

We invite you to come observe the caring and beautiful environment in which we hold young children. We also offer the most outdoor playtime of any accredited school in the city. Come see for yourself how wonderful early childhood can be!

We welcome you to tour our website to learn about the Waldorf philosophy and contact the Enrollment Coordinator, Caroline Askew to ask questions, learn more and to schedule a tour to see our classrooms in action. Caroline Askew: 612-767-1502 or caroline@clws.org.

Scheduling:

Preschool Scheduling Options

City of Lakes Waldorf School is still accepting applications for preschool for either 2, 3 or 5 days per week. Children age 3 to 5 years who are toilet-trained may enroll two mornings per week (Monday/Tuesday), three mornings per week (Wednesday/Thursday/Friday) or five mornings per week. The preschool core curriculum is taught in the morning from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Children may enroll for aftercare two, three or five days per week. Aftercare for Preschool is from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m., 12:00 to 4:15 p.m. or 12:00 to 5:15 p.m. Tuition rates vary depending on the number of days and number of hours per day a family chooses to enroll. Please contact our enrollment coordinator, Caroline Askew for details: 612-767-1502 or enrollment@clws.org.

Kindergarten Scheduling Options

Kindergartners age 4 ½ to 6 years attend five mornings per week between 8:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon. Aftercare is available until 3:00 p.m. and parents may enroll their children two, three or five afternoons per week. Extended day care is available until 5:15 p.m.

The Early Childhood Program:

In the preschool and kindergarten, a strong and consistent rhythm carries the day and the week. This contributes directly to the child’s physical, emotional, and intellectual well-being and development. A typical morning includes:

Greetings and Free Play:

During free play, the children have the opportunity to develop their social skills. The children are free to choose their activities and their playmates. Free play may include dressing up, playing with puppets, building with logs, “cooking” in the children’s kitchen, or playing house. All activities are initiated by the children themselves.

Main Activity:

A broad range of artistic and practical activities gives the children a clear perception of work processes and processes in nature. For example by baking bread, the child participates through the complete activity of grinding the wheat berries, sifting and mixing ingredients, shaping the bread loaves, smelling the baking bread, and finally, enjoying the fruit of their labors by having the bread for snack. The world is good!

Morning Language Arts Circle:

The morning circle is comprised of classical fairy tales, folk legends, songs, poetry and nature stories, finger plays and creative movement. Themes change seasonally.

Snack and Clean-up Time:

The school provides a wholesome snack prepared in the morning. For example, the children help to prepare vegetable soup or whole grain bread. The children and teachers work together to clean up after snack and to care for their environment.

Outdoor Free Play:

Our playground includes natural climbing logs, sandbox, swings, and climbing equipment. Through active outdoor play, the children joyfully develop and test their physical skills. We proudly offer the most outdoor playtime, rain, snow or shine, of any accredited school in Minneapolis!

Storytelling:

The teacher tells a story from memory every day. This gives the children the opportunity to create rich, detailed mental pictures from their imaginations. These inner pictures of the spoken word become the basis for making meaning out of symbolic, written language.

Aftercare Program:

When the morning program comes to a close, children staying the full day will join the afternoon teacher. A typical afternoon rhythm consists of:

Lunch

Rest/Story Time

Outdoor Play

Snack

Artistic/Craft Activity