Introduction
Tsio Hai Believes:
“All education is self-education.” — Rudolf Steiner
Like seeds, children carry unique gifts and potential within them. Given the right soil and environment, they blossom into their true selves, growing naturally according to their inner nature, and when the time is ripe, revealing their beauty to the world.
Tsio Hai brings to life the principles of the Threefold Social Order from Anthroposophy within our community. Embracing the concept of an organic village community, we walk alongside children as they grow. The Tsio Hai Zhi-Yang Education Foundation encompasses a kindergarten, while the institution itself provides a complete K–12 education spanning elementary, middle, and high school. Within this harmonious community, agriculture, the arts, adult education, and early childhood care thrive together—creating an inspiring, open space where parents, teachers, and students collaborate closely in a creative, symbiotic, and thriving Threefold Society.
Through this vibrant community, we help children grow into free individuals—empowered from within, guided by their own goals and direction, and equipped with a strong foundation for self-directed learning to fulfill their unique inner destiny.
Curriculum Highlights
Tsio Hai designs its main curriculum based on the developmental stages of human consciousness in Anthroposophy, weaving vertical and horizontal learning connections rooted in local island culture.
Waldorf schools feature both Main Block and Specialist Subject classes. While specialist subjects are held regularly once or twice a week, the Main Block takes place every morning for two full hours when students are most alert. Covering four core domains—Language, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Social Studies—the content is tailored to different age groups and subject matters. Each Main Block module runs continuously for three to four weeks, allowing children to focus deeply on a single domain. Through this natural rhythm of learning, forgetting, remembering, and learning further, the knowledge is truly digested and absorbed into their subconscious, becoming a genuine part of who they are.
Complementing and balancing the Main Block, the Specialist Subjects cultivate and nourish a child’s emotional life. They offer a holistic learning experience that integrates physical movement, willpower, artistic sense, and social development. Through the children’s artistic expressions and physical movements, teachers can also better understand their emotions, inner needs, and inner state of being.
The arts curriculum is one of the most widely recognized features of Waldorf education. However, its goal is not to train professional artists or technicians, but to allow children to use art as a bridge for learning to settle deeply into their bodies and inner selves. Beyond cultivating an appreciation for beauty, fine motor skills, and keen powers of observation, the arts classes are carefully integrated with the Main Block subjects to achieve a holistic, mind-body-spirit learning experience.
Children begin learning their first foreign language in Grade 1, with a second foreign language introduced from Grade 4 onward. Foreign languages are learned much like a native tongue—through engaging, everyday, and rhythmic songs and verses in the classroom—allowing children to naturally absorb the tones and pronunciation of a new language. Beyond language acquisition, the goal is to broaden children’s horizons, help them appreciate diverse cultures and ways of thinking, and empower them to become thoughtful global citizens.
Student Assessment Reports
Waldorf education discourages competition and grade-centric, standardized assessment methods. Instead, teachers provide detailed, narrative-based qualitative evaluations tailored to each student’s unique learning journey. These qualitative reports offer parents a comprehensive understanding of their child’s holistic growth and development, encouraging children to unlock their full potential, discover their unique talents, and embark on a path toward self-actualization.
Waldorf education is rooted in Anthroposophy, a philosophy developed by Austrian scholar Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). Drawing deeply from ancient wisdom and his own spiritual research, Dr. Steiner presented Anthroposophy in a way that modern humanity can understand and practice. Based on these insights, he pioneered practical and artistic fields including Waldorf education, Biodynamic agriculture, Anthroposophic medicine, and Eurythmy.
Waldorf education arose in response to the crises and challenges of modern education. Its entire curriculum framework and teaching content are built upon every teacher’s deep understanding of the “wholeness of the human being” and the developmental needs of children at each stage of life. By guiding students to cultivate balanced willingness, feeling, and thinking, the education enables them to know themselves and the world step by step—ultimately becoming mature, well-rounded individuals in body, mind, and spirit.
Waldorf education values the rhythm of the learning process, the integrity of the Main Block curriculum, and the internalisation and transformation of knowledge. Teachers honour individual differences and distinct educational needs; as such, there is no grade retention in a Waldorf school, and competitive comparison among students is strictly avoided. Educational assessment serves not to grade, but to uncover and cultivate each student’s highest potential.
The world’s first Waldorf school was established in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany, with the mission of fostering inner freedom to achieve social justice. Today, there are over 1,000 Waldorf schools, nearly 2,000 kindergartens, more than 300 curative education centers, and over 60 teacher training institutes across 60 countries, making profound contributions to contemporary medicine, agriculture, music, art, philosophy, and spiritual science.