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Shanmuga Priya V
Founder
Anantham is built on a simple yet profound belief: before children are prepared for school, they must first be protected. Rather than measuring success by how quickly a child learns to read or write, Anantham School focuses on nurturing emotionally secure, physically healthy, imaginative, and compassionate individuals - qualities that form the true foundation of curiosity. Curiosity nurtures life-long learning skills.
A Different Philosophy of Learning
Anantham School is inspired by the educational indications of Rudolf Steiner, a German philosopher nurturing a child’s intellectual, emotional, and physical well-being together instead of treating academic achievement as the sole objective. Shanmuga Priya V, the Founder, worked for 5 years as a teacher in a Waldorf-inspired school before realizing Anantham School as a reality.
The school believes that children below the age of seven learn best through imitation and meaningful experiences rather than structured formal instruction. Every activity like, songs, movements, storytelling and time with nature, is intentionally designed to support their natural developmental rhythm.
“Free play and Imagination occupy a central place in the curriculum. Instead of using instructions, teachers and parents provide a safe environment where imagination can flourish. Wooden blocks become bridges, cloth transforms into rivers or ponds, sand and coconut shells as rice and vessels. This open-ended play strengthens creativity, problem-solving, memory, and social skills in ways structured lessons often cannot”, shares Priya.
Learning Through Living Personality and Rich Organic Environment
One of Anantham School’s distinguishing features is its emphasis on experiential learning. Children do
not simply observe; they imitate the personality of the teacher. Cooking, gardening, painting, cleaning, seasonal celebrations, singing, storytelling and time with Nature are woven into everyday life. A lesson may begin with sowing a seed, continue through nurturing the plant over weeks, and conclude with preparing and sharing a meal using the harvested produce.
Such experiences with conscious adults help children understand patience, responsibility, equanimity and gratitude more meaningfully than textbooks alone ever could. Because, Children perceive the personality of the adults around them which in turn awakens the personality inherent in them.
Every day we critically reflect on the quality of our outer lives and the richness of our inner lives. Quality of food, air and the environment. For example, preparing balanced meals lovingly with the seasonal vegetables, an act of thankfulness before food, alternation between outside and inside activities, differentiate between serious moments and joyful moments, differentiating between workdays, holidays and festival days: All these make an essential contribution to the quality of the sense impressions children take from their surroundings.
Technology also has its place, but not in children’s hands. At Anantham School, educators use technology to enhance their own learning and planning, while children engage directly with people, nature, and real-life experiences. We do not rush into bringing children into contemporary lives. Children still live-in mankind’s earlier dream-like state consciousness. Later, they will most certainly overtake us to take up the torch of the new generation. At no time, are they miniature adults.
Creating Lasting Impact
The school’s child-first approach has already begun creating meaningful outcomes for both children and families. Parents have shared stories of noticeable improvements in their children’s confidence, spoken language, eating habits, immunity, social interaction, and willingness to participate in everyday activities. Children who were once shy have become more expressive, while many have developed healthier routines and stronger emotional resilience.
Beyond the classroom, Anantham School also works closely with parents, conducting expert-led sessions that encourage more conscious parenting. By helping families better understand child development, the school seeks to create consistency between home and school, allowing children to grow in an environment built on trust.
Looking ahead, the school’s vision extends well beyond preschool education. Its long-term aspiration is to grow into a full-fledged Waldorf-inspired institution serving students through Grade 12 while continuing to raise awareness about developmentally appropriate education in India.
However, as any other Waldorf-inspired school, the school faces challenges like “Contemporary” parents who rush children into adulthood inadvertently, curriculum creators lacking love and perceptivity who have no clue about childhood’s needs in a deeper sense, adults who have no idea about nurturing the power of imagination. Lack of quality online materials, online books or professional training. Number of Waldorf schools to support each other.
In a world where childhood is increasingly hurried, Anantham School offers something refreshingly different, a place where learning happens naturally, and every child is given the time and space to grow into themselves.
Such experiences with conscious adults help children understand patience, responsibility, equanimity and gratitude more meaningfully than textbooks alone ever could. Because, Children perceive the personality of the adults around them which in turn awakens the personality inherent in them.
One of Anantham School’s distinguishing features is its emphasis on protecting childhood. Children do not simply observe; they imitate
Every day we critically reflect on the quality of our outer lives and the richness of our inner lives. Quality of food, air and the environment. For example, preparing balanced meals lovingly with the seasonal vegetables, an act of thankfulness before food, alternation between outside and inside activities, differentiate between serious moments and joyful moments, differentiating between workdays, holidays and festival days: All these make an essential contribution to the quality of the sense impressions children take from their surroundings.
Technology also has its place, but not in children’s hands. At Anantham School, educators use technology to enhance their own learning and planning, while children engage directly with people, nature, and real-life experiences. We do not rush into bringing children into contemporary lives. Children still live-in mankind’s earlier dream-like state consciousness. Later, they will most certainly overtake us to take up the torch of the new generation. At no time, are they miniature adults.
Creating Lasting Impact
The school’s child-first approach has already begun creating meaningful outcomes for both children and families. Parents have shared stories of noticeable improvements in their children’s confidence, spoken language, eating habits, immunity, social interaction, and willingness to participate in everyday activities. Children who were once shy have become more expressive, while many have developed healthier routines and stronger emotional resilience.
Beyond the classroom, Anantham School also works closely with parents, conducting expert-led sessions that encourage more conscious parenting. By helping families better understand child development, the school seeks to create consistency between home and school, allowing children to grow in an environment built on trust.
Looking ahead, the school’s vision extends well beyond preschool education. Its long-term aspiration is to grow into a full-fledged Waldorf-inspired institution serving students through Grade 12 while continuing to raise awareness about developmentally appropriate education in India.
However, as any other Waldorf-inspired school, the school faces challenges like “Contemporary” parents who rush children into adulthood inadvertently, curriculum creators lacking love and perceptivity who have no clue about childhood’s needs in a deeper sense, adults who have no idea about nurturing the power of imagination. Lack of quality online materials, online books or professional training. Number of Waldorf schools to support each other.
In a world where childhood is increasingly hurried, Anantham School offers something refreshingly different, a place where learning happens naturally, and every child is given the time and space to grow into themselves.