Outdoor Play Foundational for Science Education

CLWS students playing outdoors, climbing trees, splashing in the lake, and filling buckets with sand.

New research highlights the foundational role that nature-based play has in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. “We often associate early childhood STEM education with things like magnifying glasses and tutorials in the experimental method. But the links between …

A Child-Centered Education, Where Kids Feel “Seen”

Kindergarten Teacher Carlos Rodriguez plays with one of his young students, who is smiling gleefully

One of the best scientific predictors for how a child turns out, in terms of happiness, academic success, and meaningful relationships, is whether adults in their life consistently show up for them. At City of Lakes Waldorf School, our teachers …

Stanford: Why Waldorf Math Works

A 6th grade student uses colored pencils to color in an intricate geometric pattern

An in-depth study by Stanford University of the Waldorf educational method in place at a public school in Sacramento, CA found that those students outperformed their peers in other public schools in their district in math, with the most gains …

2022 Pentathlon Reflections

All of the 5th grade students stand on the bluff, overlooking the valley. They're wearing their rainbow-colored Pentathlon shirts, and smiling big smiles -- their final hike of the trip before heading home.

By Jason Burnstein, Movement and Circus Arts Teacher This year’s Pentathlon was like no other. First of all, it was held at the magnificent Whitewater State Park rather than being held locally (as we have done the past two years …

The New Smart: Educating for an Uncertain Future

Our fourth grade students joyfully perform for the school community during our Autumn Festival of Courage

With increasingly rapid changes in technology and the nature of work, employers are interested not just in intelligence and social skills, but in an employee’s adaptability quotient, or AQ–their ability to adapt to new challenges with flexibility, curiosity, problem-solving, courage, …

A Greener Childhood Associated with a Happier Adulthood

A group of students explores the rocky shores of Lake Superior

Recent research indicates that access to the outdoors in childhood is strongly associated with happiness, mental health, and well-being in adulthood. “The effect is remarkable,” says Kelly Lambert, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond who studies the psychological effects …

Waldorf Schools are Media Literacy Role Models

CLWS Cyber Civics teacher Soni Albright engages a group of 6th grade students in a discussion about technology

By Soni Albright, CLWS Admissions Director and Cyber Civics Teacher This article originally appeared on the Cyber Civics blog and has been re-posted here with permission. As we celebrate Media Literacy Week 2021, it’s hard to believe that Waldorf schools …

Fostering the Power of Imagination

Courage, Creativity, Imagination, Wonder in Education

To solve the environmental crisis, or any of the other ecological, economic, social and political crises we face, we need to foster the power of imagination in education. Future generations need to be able to imagine a different world. They …