The Philosophy

The Yellow Train Kinder Garden is  firmly rooted in  celebrating  the joy of ‘Unhurried childhood’

‘A Child from birth to seven years is a whole sense organ’, in these seven years, the child experiences the whole world through their senses. In the kindergarten, the child explores the world around them through free imaginative play, social relationships with one another and enriches their imagination through stories and most of all the joy of being oneself. The environment provides beauty, joy, love and happiness to nourish their senses.

There are very few years during which a child can practice open-hearted kindness, sharing, consideration of others, building habits of making things beautiful, habits of appreciation for the abundance received in a meal. These practices done while young are likely to make an impression, build skills, cultivate inner quiet, and foster deep emotional intelligence and respect for everyone, to last a lifetime.

‘  If, during the first period of life, we create an atmosphere of gratitude around the children, then out of this gratitude toward the world, toward the entire universe, and also out of thankfulness for being able to be in this world, a profound and warm sense of devotion will arise . . . upright, honest, and true.’ 

Rudolf Steiner, The Child’s Changing Consciousness .

This is the premise and promise of the Yellow Train Kindergarten

The Rhythm - A day in our Kindergarten 

‘Childhood is Magical’ says the yellow t-shirts that the children wear as they walk down the flower laden path to the white picket fence where they are met by hugs, smiles and a fingers to hold. 

The teacher is at the door, to receive every child over the threshold into the classroom with a hug, some words to connect and lots of warmth to begin a beautiful day.

The indoor spaces come alive with the sounds of children playing - satin cloths become capes and fairy wings, rag dolls are being put to sleep, food is being cooked and served in the dolls’ house, wooden blocks lay strewn on the floor. The child engages in imaginative play with treasures of Nature and toys of natural materials.

Chop, chop with the knives, rolling the dough for chapathis, the aroma of soup wafting in the air. The children are engaged in purposeful work, cooking and enjoying what they cooked together is part of everyday life in the kindergarten.

Let’s make a circle

As round as the sun

We make a ring

That includes everyone

By the hands by the hands

Take your neighbour by your hands

Singing, moving, jumping, crawling and gesture play  - The morning circle brings purpose and movement, language and speech, rhyme and rhythm into the child’s body. 

This Little Daisy small and fine,

Is waiting for the sun to shine.

When the sun climbs up to his height,

Daisy opens her blossom white.

Goes the sun to sleep at night,

Daisy shuts her blossom tight.

Work while you work and play while you play, the children move into the outdoors. Climbing, swinging, exploring, playing in the sand, all the senses come into play outside. It is a time for the whole body to see, touch, smell, feel, taste, explore and align with nature.

We dust our hands , We dust our dress 

And stamp our feet together 

We dust our head , we dust our shoulders 

And stamp our feet together 

We dust our knees, We dust our legs 

And stamp our feet together

A little seed for me to sow,

A little soil to make it grow,

A little sun and a little shower

Here is my flower and my fruit!

Hands in the soil, smile on the lips, joy in the eyes, watering the plants, picking the weeds and harvesting their crop, it is gardening time.

The nature table is set, hushed little ones are seated in a circle, awaiting the arrival of the story fairy who the teacher invokes with a beautiful song and a candle, 

Fairies of a story time

Come and share your stories with us

We are listening with our ears

And we are sitting quietly

Story time is when forests, animals, birds, flowers, gnomes, fairies and seasons come alive in the imagination of the children. Something they will carry home and to their sleep.

It is lunch time and what it so special? It is a time to share, to belong, to be one; with sumptuous, hot community lunch prepared by the parents in turns for the whole class.  The lunch hour always begins with grace and gratitude to the elements of nature and to the parents who have made this happen. With joy and pride, the child serves the food to everyone. 

 Knitting and weaving, working with clay, wet on wet painting- It is time for artistic work where focus, fun and creativity come into play.

The day is done - With a Circle song and a soothing hug the children say good bye for the day.

Waldorf kindergartens employ a regular daily rhythm that includes free play, artistic work (e.g. drawing, painting or modeling), circle time (songs, games, and stories), and practical tasks (e.g. cooking, cleaning, and gardening), with rhythmic variations.  Periods of outdoor play are also usually included. The classroom is intended to resemble a home, with tools and toys usually sourced from simple, natural materials that lend themselves to imaginative play.

The Yellow Train kindergarten is open to children from 3 years to 6 in integrated mixed age group classrooms. Days in our kindergarten are wholesome, engaging, harmonious and filled with love and a breathing quality to meet their soul life. 

The Toddler Program

Yellow Train offers a Toddler Program in the Garden campus located on Trichy road, Singanallur. It is an exclusive program for children between 2 and 3 years of age. The toddler program  runs 5 days a week for two hours and one parent is required to be present with the child in the initial months.

The Kindergarten Teacher

‘These children have come from spiritual realms before coming down to Earth. It is our task and responsibility to rightly guide what their eternal being willed, by incarnating them in these earthly bodies. ‘

When a teacher begins her day reciting this verse, the enormity of what she carries as her task is evident. With an intention to bring a difference to a child's life, the teacher is involved whole-heartedly in the learning process, just as the children are - actively, emotionally, and thoughtfully. And with persistence and understanding, call forward characteristics and capacities in a child that were previously dormant and unrecognized. The teacher works with the golden words – Receive the child in reverence. 

With the profound awareness that young children learn through imitation, the teacher works to become worthy of imitation both internally and externally. The Teacher is the unwritten curriculum is true in our Kindergarten than anywhere else.

Parent Community

The  Kindergarten has a strong sense of community where we uphold the  Children, the Teachers and the  Parents like the three pinnacles of a triangle. Our parents are an integral part of our community as they work hand in hand with the teachers to create a nurturing and thriving environment for the children. 

The first and most beautiful way we come together with the parent is when we unravel and understand the mysteries of their child with awe in the Parent teacher interactions across the year.

We come together to learn, imbibe and facilitate Waldorf education. Our parent education workshops  conducted in-house and by mentors from around the world,  offer an excellent opportunity to understand the Waldorf  philosophy.  Parents take in far more knowledge both for themselves and for their child and leave with an everlasting impression.

Our ‘Mom and me’ workshops for the parent and young child is a peek into the pedagogy of the school which helps foster a deeper understanding of the world of Waldorf education. 

The Birthday Story

Once upon a time in a land high up in heaven, there lived a little angel with her loving Guardian angel. The little angel loved to play with her golden ball. She would toss it up in the air and catch it, she would tap it on the ground and roll it too. One day, as she was playing with her golden ball and jumping from cloud to cloud, the little ball bounced away and suddenly disappeared. The little angel immediately ran to the place to see what happened to her ball. There, the soft fluffy clouds had parted and the ball must have slipped down. As she peered down to spot her ball, down there, in the distance below, she saw a very beautiful land. Something that she had never seen before. It was a very colourful place.

She saw the beautiful green forests and fields, the blue flowing rivers and beautiful lakes, the mighty  mountains and the wavy seas. She saw the butterflies visiting the pretty flowers and the birds flying in the air. And she saw little children climbing trees, running and jumping in the meadows and walking  through the crunchy leaves. It was all so beautiful! She saw fathers and mothers caring for their children and doing their work.

She looked even more closely through the clouds, and saw a beautiful garden. There, in the garden, was a woman with a welcoming smile, and the angel loved her very much. The angel saw a man with a warm and loving heart full of goodness, and the angel loved him very much. She saw that the couple wanted to have a baby. She wanted to be with them. This little angel then ran to her Guardian angel and said “I saw a beautiful place and I want to go there”. The Guardian angel said, “Show me what you saw”. The little angel took her Guardian angel to the place where the clouds had parted and showed the place. The Guardian angel smiled and asked, “Ah! You want to go to earth? And where do you want to go there?”

The little angel showed the parents she had chosen. The Guardian angel assured her that she may go  but has to wait until the time is right. The little angel waited through three seasons and it was finally time! The Guardian angel said, “Now you are ready, and I will accompany you on your journey”. The Guardian angel took the little angel by the hand and they walked to the twinkling stars, who gifted the

little angel with wonder. “Blessings of the stars…”. Then, they walked to the radiant sun who gifted the little angel with love “Blessings of the sun”. And finally, to the silvery moon, who gave the little angel the gift of kindness “Blessings of the Moon”.

At last, it was time to go and there stretched a beautiful rainbow bridge from heaven to earth. The Guardian angel wrapped the little angel in a soft, celestial blanket and cradled her as they slid together

down the rainbow bridge. They crossed through each of the many colours of the beautiful rainbow  bridge, one by one and came down to earth. Little angel fell asleep to the beautiful sounds of lullabies

and the Guardian angel returned to heaven. When the little angel awakened as a tiny baby, she was in

the arms of her new mother and father, the same couple the little angel had spotted before. They looked in awe and said, “Our little baby! We shall call her “……”. The family and friends gathered around and sang

Welcome welcome happy day

With candles bright and flowers gay

And loving playmates round you too

To make you kind and good and true

Your angel brought you from a star

That shines above in heavens far

He led you to your house of birth

Upon this kind and loving earth

And so, four years ago today “……”

was born upon the earth.

The child is asked to come to the Birthday table and take the ‘earth’ in his hands, The child walks around the table as all sing

The earth goes round the sun

The earth goes round the sun

The earth goes round the sun And “…….” Turns One.

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To read more about how we celebrate our festivals, click here