Honolulu Waldorf School

Waldorf Education is designed to develop the full spectrum of human wholeness — hand and heart as well as mind. It aims to support a harmonious development of the three soul faculties — willing, feeling, and thinking — taking full account of the physical and emotional growth phases of the child. There is a particular emphasis on the development of the will during the first seven years. The children learn most by what is worthy of imitation, through activities. During the lower school years (Grades 1-5), the feeling life of the child is nurtured through the guiding authority of the teacher who integrates artistic, imaginative elements into the learning process. During the middle school years (Grades 6-8), the thinking capacity is just starting to develop. Math and sciences meet the budding intellect which later develops in high school. Through Waldorf education, Rudolf Steiner hoped to cultivate in young people the capacities of heart, mind, and the strength of will that will enable them to meet the challenges of their own time and the future. He laid the foundation for an art of education in which the teacher, ever aware of the inherent dignity and individuality of each child, would strive to awaken and draw out the child’s individual gifts. This is in keeping with the true meaning of “to educate” from the Latin, educere, which means “to draw out” rather than to put in.