Academic, Creative, Purposeful
EDUCATION
Now Also Available Online
ABOUT US
LIFELONG LOVE for learning
Satrangi Gurukul is an online and on-ground learning space designed for the unique needs of children, parents, teachers, healers and anyone who is interested in working in the field of alternative education through arts. All the activities carried out at Satrangi Gurukul are to harmonize the spirit-soul to the life-body of the human being.
Our prime goal is a movement towards health through CURATIVE EDUCATION. If you are a parent who wants their child to freely explore learning as an on-going and ever-changing dynamic process then this is the place that nurtures the inner core of your child while not disturbing the organic developmental stages he/she is meant to go through.
We educate the child by letting the child be.
Come experience this new age Online learning space at Satrangi Gurukul that is striving to make our children the change-makers, leaders and artists of tomorrow.
Our upcoming Homeschooling conference
LIFE SCHOOL
For Grade 1 to 5 age group
Educating through “Head, Heart and Hands” has been the mantra of Waldorf educators for decades. The idea behind the phrase is that learning should involve the whole child and be based on relevant and multisensory experiences, which is a more intuitive and natural way to learn than a passive, blackboard copying style of learning.
With classrooms dysfunctional worldwide and most children now learning at home, how do we plan on continuing to engage the whole child? What does experiential learning look like outside of a classroom in real life?
We are rising to the challenging task before us, adapting and working creatively to not just deliver a curriculum but to make sure children continue to feel safe, welcomed, supported and a part of a greater learning community. This task also includes a new layer of family support seen through open lines of communication between us and children, us and parents, and children with their peer group.
The task of the curriculum is also multi-layered. While distance learning may be more suited towards delivering short term memory learning such as facts, vocabulary lists, or math worksheets, We continue to focus on applying and linking learning concepts to wider real-life experiences.
Experiential online education is, at its heart, about adaptation and innovation around children’s unique learning strengths and needs. We are excited to announce our ONLINE learning program for children.
What will these sessions look like?
Weekly LIVE interactive sessions
Recorded videos for the week
Assignments for the week
Sharing and review daily
The child has to set aside 60minutes to watch the lesson content and another 20-45mins(depending on the grade) to complete the assignment and submit it.
There will be only 15 children in a batch. A separate Whatsapp group will be created for assignments and reviews. Every three weeks there will be a parent-teacher meet to share and review the learning process.
NOURISHING THE SENSES
Early Childhood program
(Please note currently this program is not available in accordance to the directive of the Government of no online classes for preschool children)
Our Early Childhood Program offers parents and their children (ages of 2 – 6 years old) an opportunity to come together once a week in the comforts of their home through the virtual live video session. Under the guidance of a Waldorf-trained Early Childhood teacher, we share insights about life with a toddler through lively class discussions. This structured program includes free play, circle time, songs and poems as well as storytime. We also prepare and share recipes for a wholesome snack. In this way, teachers and parents work together to provide a model of what community means for young children.
Discussion themes include:
Rhythms in the Home
Healthy Development of Movement
Sleep
Meals with Children
Discipline in Early Childhood
Media/Technology and Family Life
Children in Nature
Who can attend this program?
Parent with a child aged 2 to 6
How many days a week?
At least once a week to 3-days a week.
Duration of each session
30minutes
When do the sessions take place?
Monday to Friday Mornings
SOUL JOURNEY
Meeting the special needs child
The philosophical and theoretical anthroposophical forms present the basis of teaching methods that are being practically applied in the educational work with children with special educational needs. The keyword in Waldorf pedagogy is freedom. However, freedom does not refer only to the free will of the teacher or the child, nor does it refer merely to the absence of obstacles. Freedom implies the right of each and every human being to mature and develop into whatever they desire to be.
This pedagogy which calls for a kind of teaching to aid children in their development and maturity, points out the need for creating appropriate conditions for the child to recognize and develop their potentials, to be prepared to make use of their head, heart and hands in completely unusual circumstances, atypical situations as well as for new goals.
The syllabus for this school does not differ at all from the educational model which is being applied at the regular Waldorf schools. No matter what kind of handicap the children possess or what problems they are confronted with, by being admitted at this school, they technically pass all the grades in elementary and high school.
Each child individually develops as much as they can.
The number of children in the groups and the grades is different, but it never exceeds the number of 10-15.
Who can attend this program?
Parent with a child aged 2 to 15
How many days a week?
3-days a week.
Duration of each session
45 minutes
When do the sessions take place?
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
11 am to 11:45 am
Waldorf Education FAQ's
1. What is Waldorf education?
Waldorf education is a unique and distinctive approach to educating children that is practiced in Waldorf schools worldwide. Waldorf schools collectively form the largest, and quite possibly the fastest-growing, group of non-profit, independent schools in the world. There is no centralized administrative structure governing all Waldorf schools; each is administratively independent, but there are established associations that provide resources, publish materials, sponsor conferences and promote the movement.
2. What is unique about Waldorf education? How is it different from other alternatives (public schooling, Montessori, unschooling, etc.)?
The best overall statement on what is unique about Waldorf education is to be found in the stated goals of the schooling: "to produce individuals who are able, in and of themselves, to impart meaning to their lives".
The aim of Waldorf schooling is to educate the whole child, "head, heart and hands". The curriculum is as broad as time will allow and balances academics subjects with artistic and practical activities.
Waldorf teachers are dedicated to creating a genuine love of learning within each child. By freely using arts and activities in the service of teaching academics, an internal motivation to learn is developed in the students, doing away with the need for competitive testing and grading.
Some distinctive features of Waldorf education include the following:
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Academics are de-emphasized in the early years of schooling. There is no academic content in the Waldorf kindergarten experience (although there is a good deal of cultivation of pre-academic skills), and minimal academics in first grade. Literacy readiness begins in kindergarten with formal reading instruction beginning in grade one. Most children are reading independently by the middle or end of second grade.
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During the elementary school years (grades 1-8) the students have a class (or "main lesson") teacher, who stays with the class for a number of consecutive years. Many teachers stay with their class from first to eighth grade. However, in a number of schools, teachers are likely to stay with a class for a shorter period: a class may have one class teacher for grades 1-5 and another for grades 6-8, for example.
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Certain activities that are often considered "frills" at mainstream schools are central at Waldorf schools: art, music, gardening, and foreign languages (usually two in elementary grades), to name a few. In the younger grades, all subjects are introduced through artistic mediums, use the children to respond better to this medium than to dry lecturing and rote learning. All children learn to play the recorder and to knit.
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There are no "textbooks" as such in the first through fifth grades. All children have "main lesson books", which are their own workbooks which they fill in during the course of the year. They essentially produce their own "textbooks" which record their experiences and what they've learned. In some schools, upper grades may use textbooks to supplement skills development, especially in math and grammar.
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Learning in a Waldorf school is a non-competitive activity. There are no grades given at the elementary level; the teacher writes a detailed evaluation of the child at the end of each school year.
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The use of electronic media, particularly television, by young children is strongly discouraged in Waldorf schools.
3. What is the curriculum at a Waldorf school like?
The Waldorf curriculum is designed to be responsive to the various phases of a child's development. The relationship between student and teacher is, likewise, recognized to be both crucial and changing throughout the course of childhood and early adolescence.
The main subjects, such as history, language arts, science and mathematics are, as mentioned, taught in main lesson blocks of two to three hours per day, with each block lasting from three to five weeks.
The total Waldorf curriculum has been likened to an ascending spiral: subjects are revisited several times, but each new exposure affords greater depth and new insights into the subject at hand.
A typical Lower School curriculum would likely look something like the following:
Primary Grades 1 - 3
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Pictorial introduction to the alphabet, writing, reading, spelling, poetry and drama.
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Folk and fairy tales, fables, legends, Old Testament stories.
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Numbers, basic mathematical processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
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Nature stories, house building and gardening.
Middle Grades 4 - 6
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Writing, reading, spelling, grammar, poetry and drama.
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Norse myths, history and stories of ancient civilizations.
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Review of the four mathematical processes, fractions, percentages, and geometry.
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Local and world geography, comparative zoology, botany and elementary physics.
Upper Grades 7 - 8
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Creative writing, reading, spelling, grammar, poetry and drama.
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Medieval history, Renaissance, world exploration, American history and biography.
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Geography, physics, basic chemistry, astronomy, geology and physiology.
Special subjects also taught include:
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Handwork: knitting, crochet, sewing, cross-stitch, basic weaving, toy making and woodworking.
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Music: singing, pentatonic flute, recorder, string instruments, wind, brass and percussion instruments.
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Foreign Languages (varies by school): Spanish, French, Japanese and German.
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Art: wet-on-wet watercolor painting, form drawing, beeswax and clay modeling, perspective drawing.
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Movement: eurythmy, gymnastics, group games.
4. How did Waldorf education get started?
In 1919, Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher, scientist and artist, was invited to give a series of lectures to the workers of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany.
As a result, the factory's owner, Emil Molt, asked Steiner to establish and lead a school for the children of the factory's employees. Steiner agreed to do so on four conditions:
- the school should be open to all children;
- it should be coeducational;
- it should be a unified twelve-year school; and that
- the teachers, those who would be working directly with the children, should take the leading role in the running of the school, with a minimum of interference from governmental or economic concerns.
Molt agreed to the conditions and, after a training period for the prospective teachers, die Freie Waldorfschule (the Free Waldorf School) was opened on September 7, 1919.
5. What is the philosophy behind Waldorf education?
Consistent with his philosophy called anthroposophy, Steiner designed a curriculum responsive to the developmental phases in childhood and nurturing of children's imaginations. He thought that schools should cater to the needs of children rather than the demands of the government or economic forces, so he developed schools that encourage creativity and free-thinking.
6. Who was Rudolf Steiner?
Dr. Rudolf Steiner was a highly respected and well-published scientific, literary and philosophical scholar who was particularly known for his work on Goethe's scientific writings. He later came to incorporate his scientific investigations with his interest in spiritual development. He became a forerunner in the field of spiritual-scientific investigation for the modern 20th-century individual.
His background in history and civilizations coupled with his observation in life gave the world the gift of Waldorf Education. It is a deeply insightful application of learning based on the Study of Humanity with developing consciousness of self and the surrounding world.
7. How does Waldorf deal with kids that don't get it academically?
Waldorf schools hesitate to categorize children, particularly in terms such as "slow" or "gifted". A given child's weaknesses in one area, whether cognitive, emotional or physical, will usually be balanced by strengths in another area. It is the teacher's job to try to bring the child's whole being into balance.
A child having difficulty with the material might be given extra help by the teacher or by parents; tutoring might also be arranged. Correspondingly, a child who picked up the material quickly might be given harder problems of the same sort to work on, or might be asked to help a child who was having trouble.
8. Is Waldorf education relevant to Special Needs children?
The Anthroposophy-based Camphill Movement has a particular focus on special needs individuals. The social, cultural, and economic principles of the International Camphill Movement were developed by Dr. Karl König (1902 - 1966). In Pennsylvania, for example, Camphill Soltane attempts, "to build healthy social relationships in an environment dedicated to personal and social renewal, healing, and caring for the land. In these activities, both independence and interdependence are fostered by recognizing the full potential of each individual. This enables each person to grow into the life of the community while allowing the community to grow within the individual".
