Rooted in Nature: How Outdoor Learning Nurtures the Whole Child at Richmond Waldorf School
A nature-based education is beneficial for children for a multitude of reasons. Research highlights that education with a strong nature component helps reduce stress, improves focus, increases resilience, enhances discipline, and encourages healthy physical activity. Waldorf Education emphasizes scientific field work, nature-based play, and hands-on learning, which all support academic growth, engagement, strong social skills and overall well-being.
In a world that often feels fast-paced and digitally saturated, Richmond Waldorf School takes every opportunity to explore and observe nature as essential elements of how children learn, grow, and thrive. At Richmond Waldorf School, nature isn’t a backdrop to education—it’s a teacher in its own right.
Decades of research affirm what educators here have always known intuitively: time in nature supports children’s well-being in profound ways. Outdoor time reduces stress, improves concentration, and encourages healthy movement. It fosters resilience, cultivates discipline, and inspires curiosity. When children engage with the natural world, they connect more deeply with themselves and their learning.
Waldorf education is uniquely positioned to harness these benefits. From our Early Childhood program through the Grades, students at Richmond Waldorf School experience an education that is grounded—literally and figuratively—in the rhythms and lessons of nature.
Children in the younger years spend about 90 minutes outside every day, rain or shine. In the gardens and play yards, they dig, build, and imagine, developing both gross motor skills and collaborative play. The natural materials and seasonal rhythms woven throughout the curriculum nurture their sense of wonder and reverence for life.
As students grow, this nature-based foundation deepens beyond their daily recesses. In our 1st and 2nd grades, students take a weekly nature walk. Our 3rd graders have a Gardening class to complement their Farming curriculum and prepare them for their 5-day trip to Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY. Our 5th graders spend time observing nature around them on their trip to Floyd, Virginia to the Spikenard Bee Sanctuary, where their classwork and scientific journaling continues. Our middle schoolers don’t just read about geology, they experience it through visits and trips to Virginia caves!
This hands-on, nature-integrated learning builds more than just academic skills. It develops grounded, confident, capable young people—children who are not just knowledgeable about the world, but in relationship with it. And perhaps most importantly, it builds joy and enhances engagement in the curriculum and world around them.
At Richmond Waldorf School, we believe that when children are rooted in nature, they blossom in every way: academically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. In our urban campus gardens, our playgrounds, and in our classrooms, we are growing not just students—but stewards, scientists, artists, and adventurers.
Because when education begins in nature, it leads everywhere.
Want to Learn More?
We would love for you to explore the Waldorf approach! Sign up for a tour, or watch our school video where students talk about life at Richmond Waldorf School. Get to know us and see if RWS is right for your child.
At Richmond Waldorf School, we recognize that our student’s physical, social, and emotional well-being are a key part of their ability to learn and thrive. We look forward to meeting you and sharing more information about Waldorf education!
Alexandra Mazeres
Director of Enrollment & Development
admissions@richmondwaldorf.com | 804-377-8024 ext 3
Richmond Waldorf School is a non-profit, private school in Richmond, Virginia offering Waldorf education for grades Pre-K – 8th grade.
