About our Kindergarten
In the very center of the our small town Gorodenka, in a cozy courtyard near the ancient Armenian church, there is the Waldorf kindergarten "Buzkove Hnizdo".
From the outside, it is very different from a typical preschool. On the playground in front of the kindergarten, there are homemade wooden ladders, logs and a swing. There are many trees around, which children learn to climb. And at the entrance to the kindergarten there is a carved wooden sign with the name "Buzkove Hnezdo". In the local dialect, "buzko" means stork.
The Waldorf kindergarten in Horodenka is one of the first and oldest kindergartens of this type in western Ukraine. Back in the late 1990s, it was founded by the residents of Horodenka, who discovered Waldorf pedagogy. “We understood: in order to build a new independent Ukraine, we need to build education in a new way.
When we got to know Waldorf pedagogy, we were amazed at how profound and necessary it is for today’s people,” says Mykhailo Mykytyuk, a philosopher and one of the initiators of the Waldorf movement in Horodenka.
Dzvinka Nikorak-Gayda, a Waldorf teacher and representative of the Ukrainian diaspora in the USA, helped open the kindergarten “Buzkove Hnizdo” and organized the first Waldorf seminar in Horodenka. And a resident of Horodenka, Maryana Terletska, became the first teacher.
Currently, there is one mixed-age group of up to 20 children in the kindergarten “Buzkove Hnezdo”. The kindergarten accepts children from 3 to 7 years old.
What is special about the Waldorf Kindergarten "Buzkove Hnizdo"?
Every child is important here: the teacher and the teacher's assistant knows the characteristics of each child's character and temperament and seeks an individual approach to the child.
Preschoolers learn by imitating adults. It is by observing their elders that children under the age of 7 master the world around them, learn new things, and develop their skills. Therefore, in the "Lilac Nest" the teacher does everything together with the children: sings, leads a round dance, embroiders, sculpts, draws, kneads dough, weaves a rug, or says a prayer. There are no writing, reading, or math classes here, because the children are just getting ready to study at school. With the help of finger games and rhymes, they easily get acquainted with numbers, and by drawing with wax crayons and modeling from wax, they develop hand motor skills.
In a Waldorf kindergarten you will not find plastic toys, because all the things that children play with are made of natural materials (wood, felt, threads, fabrics) by the hands of parents and educators. Chestnuts, shells, pine cones are also wonderful toys for the development of children.
The life of a Waldorf kindergarten is rhythmic. Activity and rest are wisely alternated throughout the day. Classes, drawing, fairy tales and performances are replaced by free play, walks, a joint meal and sleep. This allows children to grow healthy, without excessive excitement and fatigue.
Education in a Waldorf kindergarten is divided into "eras" - periods dedicated to changes in nature or the Christian calendar. For example, the era of Harvest or Christmas. At the end of each era, a holiday is held. There are no show concerts with reading poems in front of parents here! Children experience the holidays in a common circle, without stress, with reverence, together with their teachers and parents.
The main thing for us is love for children, care for their healthy and harmonious development.