The 1st Steiner-Waldorf Kindergarten opened in 1998…
…in a small house along the Magadi Road on the outskirts of Nairobi. It was led by 3 teachers from Germany (Florian, Vojko and Irmgard).
The following year the school moved to Mbagathi extending the kindergarten to a 1st Grade primary clas… read mores. The Mbagathi Steiner school continues to run successfully; now a fully fledged kindergarten and primary school known as the Rudolf Steiner School, Mbagathi, transitioning their children successfully into Kenyan Curriculum Secondary schools.
In 1994 a new Waldorf Kindergarten opened its doors in a beautiful residential suburb – the Kileleshwa Kindergarten. This was initiated by a group of parents who had been impressed by the Mbagathi kindergarten but needed something in a more central area.
As the new millennium approached, another parent group around a core of Kileleshwa parents, now more familiar with the Waldorf philosophy and its practical results, felt a great need to continue the initiative into the primary level. Both the Kenyan and British institutions were offering instruction that was wholly formal from such a young age, promoting ‘The Hurried Child’ syndrome.
Media reports about school unrest were pandemic and views from other parents clearly indicated dissatisfaction with the lack of creativity in education. Some of their children were already feeling stressed and unhappy in school. There was a very conscious feeling that Waldorf education would not only benefit the families and their own children, but would contribute towards the ultimate transformation of education in Kenya for the better.