Free to Learn
Introducing Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood education

Lynne Oldfield

Free to Learn is a unique guide to the principles and methods of Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood education.
This authoritative introduction is written by Lynne Oldfield, Director of the London Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training Course. She draws on kindergarten experience from around the world, with stories, helpful insights, lively observations and pictures.

This inspiring book will interest parents, educators and early years students. It is up to date, comprehensive, includes many photos and has a 16 page colour section.

Lynne Oldfield invites you to explore Steiner Waldorf kindergartens. Here teachers and parents believe that children's early learning is profound, that childhood matters and that the early years should be enjoyed, not rushed through.

Lynne Oldfield is kindergarten teacher at The Lindens, Stroud and Director of the London Waldorf Early childhood Teacher Training Course. Her daughter Rachel works as an artist and illustrator.

Free to Learn addresses the following issues:

• How do kindergartens enable healthy child development?
• What is 'movement based learning'?
• Creative play - why is it so crucial?
• How do children learn through imitation and rhythm?
• Why is nourishing the senses important?
• When are children ready for school?
• Support for parenting and daycare?

256pp; 216 x 138mm;
1 903458 06 4;
paperback; £11.99

'Free to Learn gives a picture of stress free childhood, exciting ways of seeing children, recognises the crucial roles of parents and teachers, and above all it values and respects the child. It is a book for our times.'
Sally Jenkinson, Alliance for Childhood; author, The Genius of Play

'This well established approach to early childhood education nurtures the whole child: body, mind and soul.'
Dr Cathy Nutbrown, Department of Education, The University of Sheffield

'Faced with the stark reality that childhood is fast disappearing, Lynne Oldfield quietly convinces us that there is still hope: the richness and quality of the Waldorf early childhood experiences she evokes recreates and protects the lost world of childhood, but the benefits spill over, touching the lives of parents, educators and community alike. Vividly and sensitively written, this book has a powerful message for anyone concerned with the state of childhood today.'
Dr Helen Prochazka, Chairman, Montessori Education, UK

   From the Foreword by Sally Jenkinson:

For almost eighty years in as many different contexts and cultures, from the Favelas in Sao Paulo to the townships in South Africa, Steiner Waldorf Education has provided early years care and education for some of the world's children. Described as 'this most modest movement' its kindergartens and schools have consistently striven to give children the highest quality of educational nurturing in their early years.

Different kindergartens vary according to local need but what remains constant is a deeply held belief that childhood matters; that the early years are not a phase of life to be rushed through, but a stage of tremendous importance needing to be experienced fully in its own right.

Underpinning this book is the conviction that the child's early learning is profound; that quality of early experience is every bit as important as quantity. It is a book which implicitly acknowledges that the way we learn, as well as what we learn, will set the arrow of our future on its particular course, for better or for worse.'