Verein zur Förderung der Waldorfpädagogik, Villach

Our Waldorfkindergarten is located in Villach, a medium-sized city in the border-triangle between Austria, Slovenia and Italy. It was founded in 2013 as the first Waldorfkindergarten in Villach. Since then it has grown from ten to about 100 children. Our childcare is organized as follows: We are located at two different spots in Villach, one at Mühlenweg in Villach-St.Martin and the other one at Schillerstraße in Villach-Landskron. In both places we host two Kindergarten groups with children aged from three to six and one toddler group for children from one year on. Additionally, we run a Waldorf school at our location in Mühlenweg. Altogether our Kindergarten and early childhood-care counts about 100 children, which are divided into groups with 15 to 20 children. On each group comes at least two kindergartners. According to the Waldorf-philosophy we pursue a child-centered approach with the commitment to an individual and integral advancement of each child. The early childhood curriculum therefore centers on experiential education, allowing children to learn by example, and opportunities for imaginative play. For this reason, our kindergartenage children for example play in the forest once every week. On the other days a big garden is available to play outside. Furthermore, the cooperation between educators, children and parents is a central point in Waldorf philosophy.