The first three years of life are unique. Besides their innate capacities, the children are totally open and trusting towards the world, and nevertheless fully dependent on the adults and on how their needs are met. Care for children under the age of three requires very specific qualities. It requires awareness of each child’s individual needs within a group. Adults need to strive to develop and nurture children’s physical health as well as their qualities of soul and spirit.
By understanding and respectfully meeting the child’s needs, we can consciously live our daily lives. This understanding must penetrate our attitude and activity. The adult must be aware of what it means to be a role model, because children learn primarily by imitation. It is important to develop a safe, warm, and continuous attachment between the caretaker and the child.
Through a conscious daily rhythm, the child is guided into life, which should be based on authentic work. We must also consider that a child needs plenty of time to explore the outer world, meet others, meet himself, and develop all the senses, especially the senses of touch, life, movement, and balance.
Educational principles
- The attitude of the adult
It is important to cultivate an attitude of trust, openness, and gratitude towards life and the child. It is necessary to understand the importance of meaningfulness in every activity we carry out with and in front of the children, appropriate to their age, and to pay particular attention to our gestures, movements, and speech.
- The environment of the child
To meet the child’s needs, the environment must be quiet, simple, warm, protective, and nourishing, enabling exploration. Toys should be simple and made of natural materials.
- Rhythmical daily life
Rhythmical daily life is permeated with an understanding of the child’s need for:
- quality and quantity of sleep in a good environment
- healthy nutrition
- movement
- experiencing and relating to nature
- caretaking filled with warmth, presence, and joy.
This makes it possible for the child to feel safe and secure and thus develop healthy self-esteem.
- Encounters between adults
The child learns to meet the world through relating to others. For this reason, any encounter must be respectful, warm, and professional, whether with children or adults.
Healthy child development unfolds most fully in the context of a community with healthy social relationships among parents, teachers, and children. Steiner Waldorf educators strive to create such conscious, collaborative communities around the children in their care and their activity as a part of a worldwide impulse.
IASWECE, October 2025
See also:
- Our Guiding Star
- The Spirit and Aims of IASWECE
- Essential Characteristics of Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education for the Child from Birth to Seven
- Guidelines for Training for Educators working with Birth-to three-year old Children
- Digital Literacy and Digital Media Use in Early Childhood Education
- Developmental Observation and Educational Documentation