Many aspects of our approach to early childhood education are inspired by the philosophies of Rudolf Steiner and the traditions set forth by Waldorf schools. However, there are many aspects of our curriculum that are completely original, and some instances where we deviate from the traditional philosophical aspects of Steiner’s writings.

Waldorf is an approach to education founded by the Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner, in the early twentieth century. With over 100-years of its own history and culture, Waldorf schools have become a global phenomenon that have changed the way we look at childhood development.

Not at all! Our carefully crafted curriculum, coupled with our supportive community app, will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of our Waldorf-inspired approach without being constrained by it.

The Wondergarten Curriculum is an early childhood education designed for children between ages 3 to 6 years old.  However, its adaptable nature and enriching material make it suitable for all ages, including older siblings, grandparents, and parents. Many of our homeschoolers have reported that their older children have found it just as enjoyable, leading to stronger bonds between siblings.

The Autumn curriculum consists of 12 weeks of a 3-day a week curriculum. A daily rhythm includes an outline for a quiet activity, circle time with original weekly stories and songs, a main lesson, and a snack. Our weekly main lesson rhythm consists of three days devoted to Living Arts (Life Skills), Baking, and Art/Painting.

There will be a Winter and Spring curriculum as well to round out the entire school year.

We have created a non-academiccurriculum that is an incredibly rich source of original art, music, stories, and lessons that will nurture your child's head, heart, and hands and fill their childhood with goodness and beauty. It will not only bring your child's imagination to life, but will bring rhythm to your household and offer a new way to connect with your children, build strong relationships, and create lasting memories. The curriculum does not formally teach letters or numbers, but lays the important foundation for pre-literacy skills through stories and songs, and lays groundwork for number sense through baking lessons.

Our Autumn Curriculum includes September, October, and November. We will be releasing a Winter and Spring Curriculum for a full school year experience later this year so families will be able to use the full curriculum.

Yes. After we release our Autumn curriculum, then subsequently we will also release our Winter and Spring curriculum. You will be able to follow the Wondergarten Curriculum in it's entirery for the school year!

Our curriculum is currently tailored to the Northern Hemisphere. If you reside in the southern hemisphere and desire to experiment with our curriculum, the Autumn curriculum will align with the months of March, April and May. Once our full year of curriculum is complete, we will also introduce a bespoke version for the Southern Hemisphere.

The Gnomes of Wondergarten (based on the four temperments) are stories that follow Mr. Hamilton Squirrel as he discovers the magical world of Wondergarten, and meets the four gnomes: Thumbkin, Petipom, Rutabug, and Puddleblume. Each week of the season has an enchanting story that celebrates friendship and the Autumn season. Your family will discover moral guidance and tales of friendship with these beautifully written stories.

Nathaniel Santa Cruz and Lisa Santa Cruz, as the creators of Wondergarten, maintain exclusiv eand all copyrights to the curriculum, stories, songs and recipe books.

You can learn more about us here.

Our curriculum is “festival rich, but holiday neutral” 

Festivals within the curriculum are contained within the world of the Wondergarten stories. This means there is no reference to real world holidays. However, the festivals we’ve written are designed to be reminiscent of many of the holidays celebrated within Waldorf traditional or commonly celebrated cultural or religious holidays, but are not specific to those holidays. The activities you’ll see within the curriculum often support traditions of these common holidays that parents can tie either to the original Gnomes of Wondergarten stories, or directly to whichever holiday that family celebrates. 

For example, around the last week of September, the gnomes celebrate the Autumn festival, and the children make leaf crowns and dye golden playsilks. For a family who celebrates Michaelmas, this will support traditional Michaelmas celebrations, but for those who don’t, these activities will simply be honoring the Autumn season!

Our curriculum is secular and does not include any religious instruction.

Other than our “Peek inside” images, we do not offer curriculum samples.

While we do not provide curriculum samples, by purchasing the $50 digital download option, you will also receive a $50 coupon code towards a soft or hard copy upgrade! This way, you can enjoy our product in whichever format you prefer.

To use our Wondergarten curriculum in a classroom or in-home preschool setting, you will need to register your business in our licensing portal that will be available before September 2024. There will be a monthly licensing fee based on the number of children you are using the curriculum with, even if you are only using parts of it.
When you sign the usage agreement, it will state that Wondergarten cannot be a part of your business name but you can mention that you are utilizing the Wondergarten curriculum within your classroom. If you are choosing to use only partial aspects of the curriculum and/or are adding to it, you should state this clearly in your program descriptions.
Once our business portral is live, it'll cover more details. If you have any immediate questions, please contact us directly prior to purchasing.

Nope! Community participation is completely optional and not required for curriculum purchase. While community participation is not mandatory for curriculum purchase, we highly recommend joining our vibrant Wondergarten community. In our community, you’ll be able to connect with other families across the world, share your experience with our curriculum, seek inspiration, ask questions, and receive additional support. Plus, you can see how others are adapting the curriculum with their children. 

The curriculum includes one weekly baking recipe for our baking day lessons, specifically written for baking with children! For those with allergies, or would like additional snack recipes, we also offer ingredient swaps and extra snack recipes that you’ll find in the Autumn cookbook.

The curriculum includes the lyrics to all the Autumn songs (written poem-style.) 

We also have video and audio recordings to the songs linked via QR code within the curriculum for easy listening! The songbook includes full sheet music of the songs for those who would like to learn and play the songs that way. 

The curriculum includes instructional versions of the Autumn stories from the Gnomes of Wondergarten. These are shorter summaries with practical tips on how to tell stories to children within circle time. 

The full, chapter length stories are available in the Autumn Storybook. Audiobook recordings of the full stories will also be available on many streaming platforms.