Education - Miami, Florida

Sunrise School of Miami is part of the international, independent Waldorf School movement, committed to realizing the unique possibilities of each child.

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the Austrian-born scientist, philosopher, artist and educator, founded the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart, Germany in 1919. Steiner conceived the curriculum to nourish children's love of learning and to develop in them the necessary strength and flexibility to meet the challenges of adulthood in a difficult time in history. Since then, Steiner's innovative, educational system has grown into a worldwide movement. Today there are more than 750 Waldorf schools in over 48 countries, each one created by its own faculty and parents. What joins these schools is the teachers' shared dedication to the Waldorf curriculum and the parents' conviction that their children are receiving the best possible education, helping them become socially responsible, clear-thinking, free individuals.

Sunrise School of Miami offers a classical education with a clearly defined curriculum that develops and balances all aspects of the student: intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual. Academics are taught in three-week blocks during which the children create their own text or 'main lesson books.' The teachers interweave their lessons with regular artistic activities such as painting, movement, drawing, recorder playing and singing. From first through eighth grade, the students learn a foreign language, Spanish. Physical education begins in kindergarten with games and daily periods outside. In the older grades, students participate in team sports and outdoor adventure programs. Students also learn handwork skills such as knitting and sewing, and woodworking. The spiritual aspect of the child is nourished through the teachers' shared understanding of each child as a spiritual being.

A key aspect of the Waldorf philosophy lies in Steiner's curriculum designed to complement and enhance the three major stages of childhood as he distinguished them. A Waldorf teacher appreciates the rhythms and cycles that govern the growth of the child, and introduces elements of the curriculum to match not only the children's intellectual needs but also their emotional and physical needs.