ACORN WALDORF SCHOOL

A community where the young  child’s play is valued

as the lens through which they make the world their own.

Here, we cultivate a space for intelligent play, allowing the children to engage with the physical world and each other.This is the true work of childhood, the essential basis for critical thinking, problem solving, and social interaction.


In our warm, home-like atmosphere, the children are guarded from sensory overload (so ubiquitous in our culture) that can disrupt and even arrest this fundamental activity from finding expression.


Journeying through the year we honor the seasons and celebrate festivals. The daily rhythm balances time spent indoors and out, restful times with active, and individual with group activities. This provides a nurturing and sustaining creative space, fostering self-confidence, physical health, and social intuition.


At ACORN WALDORF SCHOOL, experiential tasks, great and small, build the foundation for cognitive learning. With song and story, literacy and linguistic capacity are strengthened, along with a sense of the beauty and expressiveness of language. Counting games and rhyme provide a solid basis for memory and mathematical skills. Concentration, small-muscle development, and hand-eye coordination are all skills significantly promoted through tasks such as baking, braiding, finger crocheting, sewing, modeling with beeswax, and watercolor painting.


All these elements work together, creating not only a superior foundation for elementary school learning, but also a basis in areas such as artistic ability, ethical values, social awareness, resilience, and health.

ACORN WALDORF SCHOOL is a member of the

Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America.


Waldorf Early Childhood programs provide children and families with a warm and nurturing experience. Free play alternates with group activities, such as circle time for songs, finger plays and games, movement, painting, beeswax modeling, crafts, cooking, storytelling and puppetry. Children experience all the activities with a sense of joy, yet each develops capacities, including fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and language. Daily outside play encourages children to engage in larger, more active movement. The seasons of the year are observed and celebrated with festivals.

What Parents Say

“For over three years, Mrs. Shuhan’s Kindergarten has been a paradise for my children. She applies Waldorf Education principles in a gentle and potent manner, creating an atmosphere that is ideal for the development of young children. Her communication with the parent body through regular updates, sharing of articles, and parent meetings allow parents not only to understand and participate in our children’s learning process, but also to engage in the process of learning ourselves. The principles and values parents receive from Mrs. Shuhan’s engagement provide a natural segue for sensible education, parenting, and life principles to find their way into our homes and lives.”


Jason Stern /Chronogram Magazine, kindergarten class of 2011

“We feel very fortunate that our daughter Annabella had Motria as her kindergarten teacher. With no other person have we felt so confident that our child’s needs would be taken care of, both on a physical and emotional level. Motria has become our role model as a teacher with infinite patience, serenity, deep perception and playfulness. She epitomizes the nurturing and caring teacher that every child deserves.”


 Samrat Pathania / kindergarten class of 2012

“Motria has led Wild Earth’s young children’s summer camp (ages 4-7) for many years to wonderful reviews from participants and fellow staff alike. She brings creativity and consciousness to all she does. Motria possesses the unique gift of being able to hold an extremely safe space for children while at the same time freeing and empowering them to discover the world and their place in it.  I highly recommend Motria Shuhan and Acorn School as you consider preschools for your children.”


 David Brownstein / Co-Founder & Executive Director of Wild Earth

“We were lucky enough to have Mrs. Shuhan as a teacher for our son for four wonderful years. Her patience and knowledgeable guidance was invaluable to our family. We watched our son flourish in her classroom and I am forever grateful for her kindness and dedication to the children at Mountain Laurel.”


 Laura Gharrity / kindergarten class of 2009

“Motria Shuhan has been a true blessing to our family. Her wisdom, experience, and creativity have clearly been a boon to our son (and us!) during the two years he has been in her class and care. Motria’s grounded, gentle presence creates spaces in which children can discover their own foundation, their own creativity, and flourish within themselves and the community. My gratitude as a parent to Ms. Shuhan can not be adequately expressed in words, but the positive impact she has had in our son’s life speaks all that needs to be said.”


 Tobias Anderson /kindergarten class of 2012

“When I asked Henry (10) what he remembered about kindergarten, the first thing he said was “the tasty-toasty tortillas.”  Then he said there was one time when he was outside and it started raining and Mrs. Shuhan told him he had to “run between the raindrops” to get his coat.  He didn’t seem to recall the crying and struggling he had saying goodbye to us every morning for those first weeks — it was a struggle for us too, made bearable knowing that he was with Motria, who cared about him and would help him.  That he remembers food first is not surprising to us.  That he remembers a moment of poetry next and not the hardship of transition (like I do) is the best testimony of his great, great time in preschool.”


 Peter Ferland /kindergarten class of 2008

“Mrs. Shuhan truly embodies the spirit of a waldorf teacher. While always acting with each child’s best interest at heart she is much loved and admired by us parents for her eloquently worded and always insightful guidance and expertise as well as her quiet and humble wit. Our experience in her class has been of immeasurable value to us as a family. While in her loving care our daughter was given the freedom to thrive and flourish as a child should.”


Mia & John Reed /kindergarten class of 2012