kufunda village school
Waldorf inspired education in nature
About us
At kufunda village school, you’ll find a creative and nourishing learning environment for your child. Located at Kufunda Village, Our school buildings are nestled in indigenous forest on a farm 25 km from Harare. The school is part of Kufunda Village, a farm-community and learning centre for people of all ages, and from all over the world.
We strive to teach our children to love learning. We address the whole child in their unique way of being - harmonizing the thinking, feeling and willing. As teachers we create a safe environment for the child to freely explore and discover him or herself. In addition to the intellectual development, there is great attention placed arts, crafts, music."
Creating the rainbow
Our Philosophy
Waldorf Inspiration
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The inspiration for our teaching methods comes from the Waldorf curriculum, an approach to education which has proved its efficacy and value for over 100 years. Today there are thousands of Waldorf schools around the world. The Waldorf method and the curriculum lends itself to be varied and applied in different ways in different socio-cultural-economic situations. At the heart of this education is the development of the individual person as a socially responsible, creative and integrated member of society.
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The Waldorf approach works with the inherent joy of learning, curiosity and imagination of our young. Part of the role of education is to enable each child to discover and develop his or her unique gifts. This means education is far beyond simply teaching technical or even philosophical knowledge. We work with an approach to learning that meets the child where they are at. In primary school children learn more readily through stories and images and learning that inspire, and that give an understanding of the fundamental principles of nature and life.
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Reading, writing and maths are taught and integrated with story, art and movement, thereby being able to more fully enter the child's understanding.
Our education inspires their sense of goodness, beauty and truth.
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Have a look at our blog: You can build a rocket ship, that explains the benefits of integrating head, hands and heart into our children's education.
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How do we Work?
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Subjects which would normally be taught as separate entities are combined in the lessons. For example history, painting and creating a play can be brought into one lesson so as to give the children a sense that the world is an organic and harmonious unity, and not simply series of unrelated information. Stories are brought into the maths lessons to enliven and elevate the maths experience to something less abstract and therefore more meaningful for the pupils. The geography lesson can be enhanced by building a relief map of a region, doing drawings of animals found there, etc.
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Essentially, the lessons are taught on three levels:
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Intellectually through factual and imaginative teaching
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Artistically through engaging the feelings and emotions in creative activities
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Practically through hands-on classroom activities
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By using these three levels the teacher can deepen the child’s understanding of the world in ways which cannot be done only through intellectual learning and the memorizing of facts.