Nestled back in the woods of the Paradise Valley is a school. There are no hallways, lockers, gymnasiums, multiple classrooms, overhead projectors or computers. Instead, there is a wood stove, a handful of desks, a piano, a kitchenette and chalkboards.
It is a Waldorf-inspired school called Persephone School.
Waldorf education is an independent school movement that teaches without focusing solely on academics. Waldorf schools are designed to foster a sense community, a reverence for nature, and a social conscience.
"Schooling is not something that should be regimented," said Ferdinand Vondruska, an instructor at the school. Vondruska was the founder of the Vancouver Waldorf school, and has Waldorf teacher training.
The Persephone School, which started in September, has five students from Grade 5 to 9. They attend the school four days a week, and study music, an herbal form of biology, botany, geography, sewing, sports, cooking and math. But all the classes are studied in a very hands-on and artistic way.
"Music is very important in Waldorf terms," Vondruska said. "Geography is an artistic, artful thing."
When Persephone students learn about a country, they learn through a variety of methods.
"We eat something together from that country," Vondruska said. Speakers from the country come it to talk about it and students are immersed in the country.
"Students have a little bit of closer connection," he said.
Shannon Smith teaches sports and cooking at the school and she has two children who attend it.
"I discovered I wanted them to be more active in their learning," Smith said. "From an early age the children learn in a way they don't have to remember facts and figures."
She said they learn times tables by clapping them.
Vondruska used snow as an example of how things are taught in an entire way in a Waldorf school. Children make a snowman and then write a poem about snow. Then the organisms that live in the snow are discussed, as well as how snow and water can change into ice, and the organisms that live in that. From ice, the students move to learning about stone, which covers geology.
"We touch everything around us in a scientific way," Vondruska said. "We also paint water or snow."
When the students learned about mushrooms, they went out and picked the fungus, examined them, ate some, and grew some.
"I think it's more interesting for the kids, being involved like that," said instructor Christiane Nauen.
Suzanne Glick teaches creative design and fibre arts, which include puppet making, play writing and sewing. The students sew geometric shapes, and the skill also develops dexterity, motor coordination and brain development.
"This is an older group, so they work with a more intellectual project," she said.
"I like the environment where it's placed in the forest," said Cele Smith, a Grade 7 student. "I really enjoy music. That's probably why I like all the classes a lot."
Officially, the five students are registered in the Howe Sound School District. They still have to meet the provincial required learning outcomes so they can move from one grade to the next, because they will enroll in a recognized public or private school in Grade 10. The students stay involved with the curriculum by working on the Internet.
The school district is a member of the Consortium of Online Learning (COOL) school program. Regular academic courses are online, and students can do the required work.
"The courses are actually built by teachers who are part of COOL," said Scott McLagan, a teacher at the Howe Sound Outreach School. "We teach all kinds of kids with these courses."
The Waldorf students work through the prescribed learning outcomes, typically in the areas of math, science, English and social studies. Due to changes the provincial graduation program, Grade 10 credits now count towards graduation diplomas.
