Waldorf education is a worldwide independent school movement developed in Europe nearly 100 years ago by Austrian philosopher, social reformer, and visionary, Rudolf Steiner. Today, Waldorf education is represented across the globe, with about 1000 schools and nearly 2000 early childhood programs in over 60 countries. In Waldorf education, the learning process is essentially threefold, engaging head, heart, and hands—or thinking, feeling, and doing. This is the basis out of which Waldorf teachers work to nurture and engage each child through a curriculum and methodology that integrates academics, arts, and practical skills.

Although Waldorf education has been available in the US since 1928, with the founding of the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City, it has never been especially well-known here. But with increasing dissatisfaction over the high-stakes testing currently consuming mainstream education; the growing recognition of the many benefits a child receives through experiences with art, movement, and nature; a concern over a reliance on technology by younger and younger students; and the news that leaders in the high-tech industry are touting the lifelong benefits of low-tech Waldorf schools in educating their own children, more and more parents and educators are taking a closer look at the Waldorf approach and what it has to offer.