Music
(pentatonic up to 2nd grade, diatonic from 3rd grade onwards): diatonic, baroque and alto recorders, guitar, percussion, choral and orchestral ensembles, music reading and notation, basic music theory
Waldorf Pedagogy is characterized by offering each child and young person what they need according to their stage of development, setting aside an unnecessary and even counterproductive tendency toward mechanization and intellectualization.
In this pedagogy, fundamental importance is given to experiential learning guided by teachers specialized in specific methodology and didactics, where abstract concepts are set aside to make way for the artistic and humanistic presentation of school subjects in Kindergarten, Elementary, and Middle School.
In Waldorf-Steiner Pedagogy, imagination and the child’s natural evolutionary development are fostered: there are no grades, no competitions, no comparisons of who is better than whom. Waldorf schools and initiatives promote collective development based on the natural strengths and weaknesses of each human being. The aim is for children to mature over the years through essential fundamental capacities, such as being determined, imaginative, and responsible, with an awakened perception, clear thinking, the ability to evaluate life situations independently, and a deep sense of being alive.
At Waldorf Los Caracoles, we nurture early childhood by honoring the child’s innate capacities for imitation and sensitivity. This fundamental stage of life is cared for with reverence and attention, as we accompany children in their first steps of discovery. In our Kindergarten, healthy and rhythmic daily routines support their natural growth, cultivating imagination, responsibility, and joy in learning.
The curricular progress in Elementary and Middle School is supported by music, verses, performances, mural newspapers, festivities, and research, following the path of students’ integral and natural development. The Mexican civic and cultural calendar is an integral part of the education we provide, giving children and young people a sense of belonging while maintaining a global perspective on humanity’s progress.
We are, in fact, a farm-school, where systematic and rhythmic work in the farm and garden becomes an open classroom for Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School.
We also integrate specialized subjects that support the developmental process of our students:
(pentatonic up to 2nd grade, diatonic from 3rd grade onwards): diatonic, baroque and alto recorders, guitar, percussion, choral and orchestral ensembles, music reading and notation, basic music theory
from Kindergarten
with Cambridge certification
(from 6th grade onward)
a pillar of Waldorf education, from Kindergarten through High School
from 5th grade. #EducationInAction
(non-competitive), according to the physical needs of a growing body
in 5th grade
domestic electricity, basic carpentry, practical cooking, elementary automotive mechanics, among others (from 7th grade onward)
in clay and ceramics (from 3rd grade onward)
theatrical performances
To sustain the evolution of our students’ learning in a changing world, it is essential that the teaching staff at Los Caracoles remain constantly updated and professionally trained. For this reason, we have both a weekly and a monthly development program, elements that strengthen the pedagogical and didactic capacity of our team, so that together we may achieve our best version with the children and young people in our care.
Waldorf Los Caracoles began as a dream, which gradually became reality thanks to the effort, dedication, and will of its founders, Svea Lara and Arturo Cervantes.
The original idea was to create a small space -in the village- for our own children and a few others, where anthroposophical pedagogy would be the axis and the Valle de Bravo environment the setting for this project.
Sooner and more exponentially than expected, the initial group grew, as children drew their parents into a new pedagogical proposal in Valle de Bravo.
In the first year of operations, more families joined, some already from Mexico City, and other parts of the country, and abroad. Thus, the consolidation of Los Caracoles was already a reality. The following year came the move from the town to the campus in the forest, with two hectares of land and stables, enough space for the envisioned future and to make Los Caracoles a farm-school with Waldorf Pedagogy: a sustainable, independent model contributing many elements to the development of the locality.
Each year that followed, the grades advanced along with the students, and so we reached from Kindergarten to Elementary and then to Middle School, offering a comprehensive education for children from 2 to 15 years old. Our hallmarks: priority to music, the arts, Mexican culture, Waldorf teacher training, and the integration of a humanistic and active community.
Since 2004, we have had a faculty trained in Waldorf Pedagogy —fully or in process— and collaborators deeply committed to childhood. We serve our students in five Kindergarten classrooms, in Elementary and Middle School, as well as in the farm and garden. We maintain a permanent Waldorf-Steiner training and specialization program, frequently welcome visits from external teachers and advisors —Mexican and international—, and are a founding school of AMEWS, as well as an international reference for the contemporary and dynamic application of Anthroposophical Pedagogy, keeping us in constant relation with schools and organizations in this field nationally and worldwide.
