“We are helping to keep Mother Earth neat and clean”

It is important to mark Earth Day in a way that takes form in the developmental stage of all children who still feel at one with all the elements. Children feel at one with all of nature. 

Listening to a Lakota Story of Mother Earth

Children completely sense nature with all the twelve senses.

Cleaning around their school area

Appreciation and groundwork is laid in the youngest years by just being outside and taking it all in.  Allowing them to be a part of nature and showing them the importance of keeping nature clean. 

Helping each other 

When you model recycling, reducing spending, and reusing things, your child will follow you. This affords the small child a positive way to help keep Mother Earth clean. 

Enjoying this Beautiful Earth day with lunch on the deck.  

Celebrations in Waldorf for small children are about the doing, not so much the words. We had a wonderful time this Earth Day by doing, creating, and being.  

Time for Planting

Gardening  has been a part of the Waldorf School curriculum since the very first Waldorf School in 1923.  This week the children began planting for their school garden. 

First Grade mixing and watering the mulch

Gardening allows the students to develop a deeper appreciation for and awareness of the human being’s relationship to the natural world.

Harlee, Teacher Joyce, Kaia planting seeds

By caring for the garden, experiencing the growth of plants, and harvesting what they give us, the students develop a deeper consciousness and appreciation for the earth.

Gardening allows students to develop a deeper appreciation and understanding for and awareness of the human being’s relationship to the natural world.

By caring for the garden, experiencing the growth of plants, and harvesting what they give us, the students develop a deeper consciousness and appreciation for the earth.

Each year when Easter comes, It is a very special festival for Waldorf Schools. As Easter approaches, the flowers spring up from the ground.  A beautiful time when natures language begins to speak to us.  

The green reminds us of hope in life and what we wish to have from life.  The color of Hope, wishing, and Joy.  

A school of life is what a Waldorf School intends to be.  The fact that life is now beginning to unfold outside makes Easter a festival that has a great impact on the school, on the children, on the teachers, and especially on the parents.  

Easter also marks the time when school is nearing an end.  The teachers, prepare to send the students off on their break after building a wonderful relationship throughout the school year.  

~A lecture from Rudopf Steiner March 27th 1924~  

Daily Chores in Lakota Waldorf School

At Lakota Waldorf School, the children are involved in a number of daily chores as well as their activities.  It would surprise you to know that the chores are a part of their daily curriculum.

 Lunch time is one big activity in itself.  The children do the vegetable cutting, the wiping of tables, cleaning of floor, folding of laundry, and other various chores within their classroom.  

The children are involved in setting the tables.

First Grader Dustie set's the table for lunch

The Children are involved in the washing of their own dishes 

Kindergarten & First Grade 

An outside chore, cleaning the chicken coup, is one of the first grade favorites.

First Grade Students Cleaning the Chicken Coup

Chores create a respect for things in the child’s physical environment. The children learn to be good caretakers of the things they are responsible for. This sense of respect for the physical world remains in a Waldorf education throughout the grades.

Meals and Snack at the Lakota Waldorf School

One of the wonderful things that the Lakota Waldorf School prides themselves in is their dedication to feeding the students healthy organic meals.  That also includes an afternoon snack. 

Pictured here is one of our cooks Mr. Sundown Montileaux as he prepares the afternoon snack for the students of Lakota Waldorf School.  Preparation of each meals is well done.

 

 

All meals are organic, prepared and cooked fresh, no processed food and no candy.  

The children are also involved in the food preparation. The children make their own bread every Wednesday, and pizza on Fridays.

Bread Making

Vegetable Cutting

There are vegetables, fruits, buffalo meat bought from the tribes buffalo herd, oatmeal and cornmeal for breakfast,sweetened with honey and not with sugar. The cooks at LWS work very hard, all day long,  for the children's health and well-being.

Alexandra Hunter (Cook)

Wopila Tanka to our cooks who are dedicated to preparing the wonderful fresh organic meals for our students.  

 

First Grade  

When our first grade students arrive to their classroom in the morning, they begin their day with their morning verse which is in the Lakota Language. 

 

 

 They then move onto their Main lesson which is usually a single subject that they can focus on for 2 weeks to 4 weeks at a time. The first main lesson is painting or drawing where they learn to handle crayons, paint brushes, paints as this handwork, reading, and writing, are all better taught by involving color and design. 

 

  

This image is of one child discovering the alphabets

In Waldorf Education, the teacher meets the specific needs of the class as a whole as well as the individual student.

 

 

 



OUTDOOR FREE PLAY

Here at the Lakota Waldorf School, we have indoor and outdoor free play.  The children in these natural environments are given a wonderful opportunity to transform their experiences and make them their own.  

In Waldorf early childhood education,  outdoor free play is an essential component of their curriculum. Here we share images of some of their outside activities. 

The weather changes suddenly here in the Dakotas. One day the children enjoy a nice cool day jump roping and the next they are busy sledding or shoveling snow.  

Activities such as these, give children the opportunity to enhance and utilize their imaginations, critical thinking skills, gross motor skills and sensory integration skills. There is so much that the children love about their outside play experience.  The school here is surrounded by a large area of an open landscape, so when they get to just explore nature and be free, it gives them a wonderful experience 

Wopila Ikiniciyapi! Tanyan yahi ksto!

please feel free to visit our website Lakota Waldorf School and also our go-fund me campaign Waldorf on the Reservation.  

Lakota Waldorf School

Students

The Lakota Waldorf School students (a few pictured) always enjoy nature time.  The have at least 45 minutes available as their 2nd breath to explore, go on nature walks, they simply enjoy themselves surrounded by the rolling hills of the Lakota home lands, "Pte Oyate" (Buffalo Nation).   

The Lakota Waldorf School would like to Introduce

Larry, Rosalie, and Chayton Tecumseh.

This wonderful Family here lost one of the most precious gifts that could be given.  A baby girl named Dyani.  She was born prematurely and sadly passed on.  Through their grieving period their son Chayton brightened up their lives as he attended school, a Waldorf School in California. 

I will share some of his words:

"when we heard that a Lakota Waldorf School existed in Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  We contacted the school, told them our story, It is during that conversation that we were told about the great need of the school.  It became clear to us that we needed to help.  We believe in and are committed to a Waldorf education for Chayton and it’s what we would have given to Dyani.  It feels right to donate Dyani's clothes and toys to such a wonderful place like the Lakota Waldorf School.  We will be traveling to Pine Ridge in December with clothes, toys, and supplies for the school.  The school has given us a wish list with the names and ages of the children.  It is our hope that with your help, we can fulfill this."

In December of 2014, Larry and his family arrived at the Lakota Waldorf School with all of the donations they collected.  We are and will continue to be thankful for beautiful souls such as Larry and his family as well as all those that helped with donations from the great state of California.  

IF this is not such a wonderful and heart touching story, then we are just not quite sure what to tell ya!

Larry, Rosalie, Chayton, and donors of California, WE are extremely Grateful!!

WOPILA! THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

Lakota Waldor School Winter Count

We would like to share with you a few images of the Winter Count that the students and staff of Lakota Waldorf School completed.  We were the only school selected to participate in the TAP Project with Naomi Averle and Sheena Meyers. 

Winter Counts are pictorial calendars that record events in the Lakota Culture as well as other tribes.  On the winter count here we included images of the different events and instruments utilized in the daily Waldorf education.  

Each and every student had a part in the designing and art work of this project.  Here our 1st grade student Ethan careful paints the daily activity of  "Painting".  This was a great project and we are so proud of "The Lakota Waldorf School" winter count.

Lakota Waldorf School has started back to school after the wonderful Holidays!

We have started the week off with some cold weather and very happy and excited children. 

We would like to Share a message from our gofundme campaign leader Truus Geraets:

Dear Friends,

We all dove into the Holiday Spirit and welcomed the New Year. This is the time for me to renew my commitment to the Lakota Waldorf School and the brave people who hope to be able to make a visible statement to the wider Lakota community by building a first class room in form of a TIPI.

We have come a long way to reaching our goal.  I hope that many of you want to pitch in once more, so that our goal can be realized.
I am excited that some 130 people are part of this effort! Thank you so much for this and for your encouraging messages.

 Truus

for more info on this campaign please visit Lakota Waldorf School on the reservation

Thank you!!!