École Rudolf Steiner de Montréal offers an approach based on Waldorf pedagogy.
While respecting the standards of the Quebec Ministry of Education, ERSM offers an alternative to the standard education system. A Waldorf school is not just another place of learning.
Here, children are welcomed as they are. The learning process takes place on a daily basis with a keen awareness of the child’s need to move, experiment, touch and create. By nurturing each child’s body, heart and soul, self-esteem, well-being, curiosity, willingness and interest in school and learning in general emerge.
Respect for the child’s rhythm and stages of development are at the heart of the program, from early childhood through to adolescence.
The link with nature is forged every day through play, sports, class outings, hikes and gardening or farm projects. At home, thechildren spend a lot of time outdoors, rain or shine.
Storytelling, mythology, history, poetry and literature support the learning of academic subjects. Music, singing and acting are all part of the curriculum.
In the classroom and workshops, students engage in modeling, drawing, painting, knitting, sewing and cooking. As the years go by, projects become more complex, to help develop age-appropriate motor skills.
The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America is a non-profit organization of independent Waldorf schools and institutes in Canada, the United States and Mexico. AWSNA's mission is to support schools through regional collaboration, professional and resource development, accreditation, community awareness and advocacy.
WECAN works closely with its sister organization, AWSNA. WECAN's mission is to encourage a new cultural impetus for work with young children, from birth to age seven. WECAN is committed to nurturing childhood as the foundation for the renewal of human culture.