Testimonials

The early childhood education offered at Wondrous Light is unique in Singapore. The Steiner Waldorf method focuses on creative play, storytelling, and hands-on activities, with a strong emphasis on imagination and individuality.

We are so grateful to have found WLCH for our daughter. She was "doing very well" in mainstream school, but we observed a multitude of changes after switching her to Waldorf education. She is much more lively, joyful, and healthy. Caring teachers who invest deeply in getting to know our child, beautiful home-like setup, and nutritious foods result in a stress-free child (I never thought she was stressed until we took her out of the system!).

The mixed age environment means our firstborn is learning from the older kids, including very creative open ended play, and how to treat her little sibling in a caring way. Like-minded parents means our child is surrounded by kids raised with similar values, which I believe is very important as they learn so much from each other. Both mine, and my daughters' separation anxiety were minimal as she transitioned to the drop-off program.

Furthermore, Doreen & members of the community are so generous in sharing opportunities for us parents to learn. Within the last couple of months we had the opportunity to join trainings conducted by Waldorf educators globally, book studies, and handicraft lessons from a fellow parent. Both my husband and I have grown as parents and people since we found Waldorf education, and look forward to thrive alongside our daughters in this community.

Elisa, 2024 

One month before our daughter was born, the Wondrous Light Children’s House was founded. At that moment we were in Brazil planning our move to Singapore and, coincidently, we were seeking a Waldorf kindergarten in this new country for us. My husband was brought up in Waldorf pedagogy and studied in a Waldorf school since kindergarten until the last high school grade. So, as we were very keen on registering our daughter Ayla in a kindergarten with the same pedagogy, we were more than happy when we found the Wondrous Light Children’s House. 

Visiting the place reassured us that we were making the right choice. The first sensation was coziness, as the architecture makes the whole environment embrace every child as a second home. With this feeling, we can tell that everyone becomes more engaged in the sense of community and participates in the school’s activities and celebrations with joy, and this is reflected in our children’s mood. 

Throughout these almost 5 years that Ayla spent at the centre, from 18 months until 6 years, she has developed her senses and skills through playing, singing, dancing, painting, handcrafting, planting, being in nature, as well as doing little chores such as sweeping the floors and washing her own dishes. Even Mandarin being taught through songs has stirred her enthusiasm for learning in such a joyful way that our daughter keeps singing in Mandarin throughout the day, bringing those good moments wherever she is. 

In Waldorf pedagogy, every teacher has a special way of dealing with the children and helping them during these early years in balancing their emotions as well as supporting and respecting them as they are. I believe that, as parents, we also learn from the teachers how to better understand our children’s needs, giving them space to be themselves without forgetting to set some boundaries, so important for them to feel more secure in life, as this is not the moment for them to be deciding but to be guided and supported. 

If there is one thing that I can see through their eyes every day when I come at the pick-up time is the joy of having spent those hours among friends and lovely teachers in such a truly wonderful environment. In short, there at Wondrous Light Children’s House, life is good!

Luciana & Thiago, 2023

My son started schooling at 3 years old and was in 2 childcare centres before he joined Wondrous Light Children’s House (WLCH) in the middle of his K1 year. Prior to joining WLCH, he was fearful of going to school, did not have any friend, faced difficulty with table work and was constantly falling sick.

After meeting Doreen, the Founder at WLCH and speaking to another parent whose children were there, we decided to take a leap of faith to explore Waldorf education and transfer my son to WLCH as it was the most loving place we could possibly find for him. 

Amazingly, he settled in quickly within a week and was excited to go to WLCH every morning. He also started socialising and making friends for the first time! He would be happily singing songs learnt from WLCH back home. Being involved in more physical activities and fed with healthy plant-based food (mostly organic) at WLCH, his health also improved tremendously.

A sense of awe and curiosity to discover the world ingrained in him throughout his time at WLCH has helped him to adapt smoothly into local Primary 1 education this year. He loves to learn and is very comfortable with table work now. He also cares for people around. His teacher praised him for his positive learning behaviour and even encouraged his classmates to learn from him.

Thank you Doreen and teachers for all your dedication, patience and love for my son. It was a beautiful, heartwarming journey for him and our family to grow holistically with other like-minded families in the community.

Joyce, 2022

Imagine a fairy garden with a rainbow bridge and candles… That’s the kind of setting Wondrous Light Children’s House (WLCH) kids will walk through before they enter Primary 1 (P1). A simple yet heart-warming ceremony to tell my son that he’s moving on to a new phase and to fill him with love and courage.

Like any local parent, there were some worries. But, my worry about him not being taught literacy before the age of 7 dissipated when I saw how he developed in his new school. Probably the easiest indication of his literacy is through his weekly Chinese and English spelling tests. From nearly zero to full marks most of the time told me he was easing well into school. During teacher-parent meetings, teachers will feedback to me that he is always attentive, eager to learn and a good team player in his class. That probably earned him the “Gracious Gabrielite Award” for being exemplary in acts of graciousness.

From not being able to read at the beginning of the year to winning the “Top Presenter Award” for his P1 Reading Journey Presentation at the end of the year assured me that I didn’t need to worry about literacy. His determination to learn during the first year eventually earned him the “Reap the Laurels” award which is the school’s annual prize-giving ceremony that commentates students for their outstanding performance. In addition, he also received the Edusave Certificate of Learning Achievement and Merit Bursary to recognise his constant improvement in his work. This leads to getting CCC-CDC Education Merit Award from the North East Community Development Council.

I would attribute all his accomplishments to the hard work of the teachers in WLCH as well as the influence of Waldorf Education during his pre-school years. Allowing him to play and develop as a child gave him a strong foundation - to be a considerate and compassionate friend, hardworking student and striving child. What more can I ask for! It was not an easy decision; however, whenever I see the laughter and joy when my child and his WLCH friends meet for play dates, I feel it is all worth it. A memorable and joyful childhood matters more to me than anything else.

Jolyn, 2022

The moment I stepped through the wooden door, I decided to send my children to WLCH because the atmosphere and people embraced us warmly. I'm sure many people will feel the same way when they step foot into WLCH. 

During their lessons, my children actively participate in different arts and crafts, play in nature, play with open-ended toys and even clean up after themselves well, in a collaborative manner. I can see that my children have built the ability to think, imagine, be flexible (both body and mind), have good self-esteem and be self-confident through their amazing adventure at WLCH. These abilities will help them survive any hard times in future.

These experiences fill their hearts with joy and make their eyes sparkle with delight. Often that also means that their shoes are drenched in mud and clothes stained with paint and food. But I am always happy handwashing their muddy shoes and stained clothes since I know that they were immersed in nature and eating nutritious food. My son has graduated, and my daughter has moved from the Twinklelight Program to the Starlight Program.

Thank you for your love, teachers, parents and friends!!

Mika, 2022

It is honestly quite difficult to put into words what a gift Wondrous Light Children’s House has been for my son who is currently in Primary 2. I enrolled him when he was 4 years old after trying out other conventional childcare centres. The last one he went to was beautiful and had such a large outdoor space, lots of natural light, etc. But I can still hear his wails in my ears and feel his arms wrapped around my legs as I tried to get him out of the door, even after one month there. Much later, he told me that he was told he could not go to the toilet unless he finished his activity.

Things were very different at WLCH – no tears and there was a lot of joy each day. No need to deal with separation anxiety (he wouldn’t mind spending his full day there!) as he had the best set of teachers ever. I remember, within the first few weeks, we had a minor crisis involving a toilet latch and the gentleness of the teacher (as opposed to this high-strung mummy!) calmed him down.

As an educator, I feel that the most important ingredient to be a passionate learner is eagerness and that is what WLCH was able to imbue him. From the child’s growth perspective – he had everything! Outdoor play, indoor play, free play. Through play, he developed physically, socially and mentally. I noticed as he was growing up that he had some sensory overload/issues – the need to touch everything with his hands and legs, inability to cope with certain kinds of sounds, and being unable to focus on tasks for long. WLCH gave him a non-judgmental space where he could learn acceptable ways to manage these issues.

But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious when I enrolled him in P1 because I know other children were already attending schools where they were learning to write and spell, and some others were even going for enrichment classes to train the mind at the age of 5 and 6. Also, how was he going to sit through hours at his desk?

When P1 started, my son learnt slowly how to read the common sight words but by the end of P1, my son was reading vociferously everything he could get his hands on - even chapter books. In every parent-teacher meeting, his form teacher has glowing feedback on his eagerness to learn and how “he is a pleasure to have in class”. No issues focusing or grasping concepts. He makes his own comic strip books, was “Artist of the Term” for his class, and has a great bunch of school friends too. 

Thanks WLCH for giving my son (and me!) lifelong friends. We continue to gather, play and grow!

Zaitoon Baker, 2022

Before attending the Starlight program at Wondrous Light Children’s House (WLCH), my daughter had been throwing tantrums every day and disliked going to school.

On the first day at WLCH, she found her best friend and has been very happy ever since.

The Starlight program enables her to be expressive and imaginative in her play. Even though there is no literacy programme offered, she picked up good English from her teachers.

My daughter has become very imaginative and is a good storyteller after observing creatures from nature. Once she told me about how the ants and a cockroach were becoming good friends. She told me the ants were so kind and welcoming to the cockroach. They hugged, carried and invited the cockroach to the ants’ home. The ants were so cooperative, helping each other to carry the cockroach back.

She has also learnt how to care for the younger children in her class and has been very loving at home. 

Teachers at WLCH are passionate and dedicated to caring for our children.

 Lisa, 2019