First GradeA year of wonder, imagination, and joyful discovery.
Over four days each week, children are gently welcomed into formal learning through stories, movement, art, nature, and meaningful work with their hands.
Throughout the year, festivals and seasonal celebrations create a rhythm that helps children feel connected to one another and to the cycles of the year. As friendships deepen and confidence blossoms, first grade becomes much more than the beginning of academic learning.
Each morning begins with rhythm as songs are sung, verses are spoken, and movement awakens the body before the Main Lesson begins. Fairy tales and nature stories become the doorway into language arts. Letters emerge from the stories themselves, inviting children to draw, paint, speak, write, and eventually read the words they have first created on their own.
Along the way, they build confidence, rich vocabulary, strong listening skills, and a genuine love of language.
Rhythm and Story
Mathematics Through Movement
Mathematics comes alive through stories, games, movement, and hands-on exploration. Children develop a strong sense of numbers while learning the four mathematical processes, skip counting, and the beginnings of multiplication through rhythm, practice, and joyful repetition.
Working with the Hands
That same attention to pattern, sequence, and careful observation continues in handwork. As children learn new skills with their hands, they strengthen fine motor development, perseverance, and the habits of thinking that support mathematical understanding.
Through movement, they develop coordination, balance, confidence, and the joy of working together.
Life Outdoors
The world beyond the classroom is an essential part of each day. Children spend generous time outdoors exploring the changing seasons, tending the garden, caring for the goats and chickens in our little barn, and discovering the quiet wonders of the natural world.
These experiences cultivate curiosity, responsibility, and a lasting relationship with the earth.
A Year of Belonging
It is a year of belonging, where children discover that learning is filled with beauty, purpose, and joy, and where a lifelong love of learning begins to take root.
Ms. Nikkonia
Our Teacher
Since childhood, Nikkonia has known she wanted to be a teacher. She is a mother to two inspiring young adults, and it was through motherhood that she discovered Waldorf education. She was drawn to Waldorf education’s reverence for the whole child, its connection to the spiritual world, and its emphasis on artistic and healing approaches to learning.
Prior to dedicating herself to a career in Waldorf education, Nikkonia trained and worked as a certified massage therapist and birth and postpartum doula, while also gaining valuable experience working with young children at a parent-participation preschool in Orange County. Nikkonia moved to Tuolumne County in 2011 and served for 15 years at Sierra Waldorf School in various roles: parent, after-school caregiver, first grade assistant, kindergarten assistant, administrative assistant, and after-school care director.
In April 2026, she joined Cedar Springs Learning Center as the long-term second grade substitute and is now thrilled to be the first grade teacher of the Banyan Tree Class. Nikkonia is entering her third year of studies at the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training (BACWTT) and looks forward to graduating in the summer of 2027. Rooted in her Chamorro heritage, Nikkonia draws creative inspiration from her cultural roots and hopes to one day bring Waldorf early childhood education to the Northern Mariana Islands, where her maternal family is from. She lives in Calaveras County with her husband and animals, where they enjoy caring for their homestead and spending quality time with family. She dreams of opening a sanctuary for senior dogs and cats, as well as one day becoming a traveling Waldorf handwork teacher.