"La Maison des Petits", visite au jardin d'enfants à l'école Steiner-Waldorf de Verrières-le-Buisson

A small ten kilometers from Paris, nestled in a meadow of greenery kept by hundreds of plantains, the children's gardens of the Steiner school of Verrières-le-Buisson have been hosting since more than 40 years old children from 2 and a half to 6 years old. Here we climb trees, we slide in the slopes, we play with the earth, we observe all the nature that surrounds us, and this all the time. Do you want to put it on the piece of wood? In contact with the elements, the little child develops all his senses. And even if this morning it is cold, it is Friday, we go to the forest. We have several places in the forest where we are used to meeting. A place with a cabin, another place with a large strain that serves as a toboggan. There may be some who drag their feet a little because they have to walk three quarters of an hour, but in fact they all have the strength to do it at this age. They are given a certain freedom in terms of motor skills and they learn the notion of risk. And for me it is reassuring to know that these children will learn to be careful and will have the notion of danger. And every day of the week, his activity. We wash ourselves well and dry our moustaches well. Every Monday we paint, every Tuesday we make bread. It will build the child, he will also feel secure at a regular pace. A security also sought in the interior layout of the kindergarten, designed as a warm and sensory place in which the little being will be able to discover the world around him. Soft colored fabrics, noble and natural materials such as wood, wax, wool. Real objects that have a weight or that are sometimes fragile so that the child is confused with the material. We have very raw objects, wooden slats, tiles, boards, united fabrics. It drives their imagination. The days are organized in a structured rhythm, which oscillates between moments of calm conducive to interiorization and moments when the child will go outside. This is the case of free play, which occupies a large part of the morning. This is a time when they will be able to take all the objects from the kindergarten, they will be able to build everything they want to build, in small groups, sometimes in pairs, sometimes all together. Cabins, houses, castles, boats, a wide range. Here everything is possible. Very, very, very stiff. And it starts, this game, from the age of five. A moment of great expansion for the children, who will be able to express what they are here and find their place in the group. We are not allowed to touch each other. Then comes the time for storage, gradually brought to the sound of the bell and the bell, where each object finds its place. They like, once it's tidied up, to see that it's beautiful around them, that everything is in order and that it soothes them. Then it's time for the round, inspired by nature, the seasons and the parties that make up the year. In the dark night, a star to him. It's a bit like an orchestra that harmonizes, we all play together. Among the activities offered at the children's garden, there is one that is very specific to the Steiner-Waldorf schools, the rhythm. This art of movement, initiated by Rudolf Steiner, calls for a re-centering of the children. Carried by a melody, a story, a poetry, the children express with their bodies, in movement, sounds, rhythms, images. So here we are no longer in the industry, so here we are no longer in the individuality of each one, we try to connect to a group, to make forms together. A work that also allows to develop fine psychomotricity. This morning, the group is agitated, we call for silence. Everyone is asleep in the forest, not a single noise. And before each meal, it's time for history. It's an appointment they're waiting for, and they like long stories, and there is always a deep meaning to history. We're going to talk about tales, we're going to talk about nature, or feelings that will touch them. The children then have lunch in peace, with organic cuisine prepared on the spot. The opportunity to take responsibility for them, to get rid of, wash the glasses, sweep or shake the tables. The little ones will be less responsible, but they will have the big ones as models. And the big ones, gradually, they like to show the example, they like to share the rules of the children's garden, to say, yes, we do it like this, we do it like that. And in the Steyer-Waldorf pedagogy, we take the time of the corporeal and social development that accompanies the intellect. From 3 to 6 years old, we will really work on everything that is psychomotor, affective. We let the child go at his own pace, we give him time to savour all the experiences he will have. And the more time he takes, the more he will be comforted, secured, and the more strength he will have for the next steps. And it will be necessary to wait for the entry in the first class, equivalent to the CP, to approach writing and reading. A passage that gives rise to a fine observation of the child. Did you do a good job? We evaluate their maturity on the physical, psychomotor level, on the affective, social level, how they behave in the group. And then on the intellectual level, are they already awake enough? Do they have the perseverance to enter the learnings? The school in Verrières now hosts four mixed-age children's gardens for 3 to 6 years old and one garden for very young children from 2 and a half to 3 years old.