About
Malamalama Waldorf School is the only accredited Waldorf school on the Big Island of Hawai'i, educating children preschool through eighth grade.
“Mālamalama” means “The Light of Knowledge”. We are committed to educating the thinking, feeling, and will of the child. Methods and all related activities are taken from a new psychology of childhood oriented toward a real knowledge of the developing human being – educating the healthy growth of body, mind, and spirit:
In the first seven years, the emphasis is on physical growth of the child. Hence, learning is done along with physical activity and the provision of good habits for imitation and a healthy environment.
After the age of seven, the emphasis changes toward the inner life of the child. A good “feeling” for the subject he/she will later thirst for in an intellectual way is developed, and a love of learning is nurtured. At this time, the child wants to be himself; the child’s desire for knowledge comes out of a strong sense of belonging to a class and respect for the teachers.
Having concentrated on the healthy growth of the body and the “feeling” life, the thinking mind can fully begin its task. As Emerson so beautifully put it, “Man feels through knowledge the privilege to be.”
