rudolf steiner

[goldenboy]

is waldorf education any good?

[libertie]

My cousin's daughter attended the Rudolf Steiner school in Edinburgh until a couple of years ago and it was a very unstructured kind of place ~ no set time table, no uniform, in fact children were encouraged to choose their own clothes every morning and much emphasis is placed on children doing the things that they enjoy rather than following a set curriculum! Music and art also feature quite highly in the school day, as for the education being any good I can't say for sure but she did go on to art colledge to study design!

Can I also add that the school is quite small so I suppose that also plays a huge part in terms of children doing well!

[goldenboy]

cheers libertie, im flirting with the idea for my son, hes only 7 months at the mo, but im intrigued by the idea of withholding literacy until the child can touch their ears over their heads. im not sold on the national curriculum myself and would rather have a happy creative kid.

[orange-gnome]

I know of someone who can't read very well at all after attending a Steiner school, years behind his age group! Arts and crafts is all very well, but you have be able to read and write!!!

[bandy]

My children attend Steiner Waldorf Education. I don't think it is something that you can just dip your toe in. You need to become very practive in your childs education for it to work. It needs to be supported in the home too or it becomes confusing for the child.

There is a little more to it than it just being based on arts and music too. They treat the child as an individual and work with their qualities and developmental stages.

Foe example: If you had a 5 year old child who was reading, writing and such but was physically underdeveloped they would reccomend that you didn't push formal education at that stage. Children who are developed in intellect in a big way tend to be underdevelpoed in their emotional capacities and it's all about balance.

Of course it isn't at basic as that, it was just an example.

If you have a 7 month old child and are thinking about it I would suggest that you put your child's name down now as they tend to have waiting lists.

[goldenboy]

thanks bandy for the answer. i realised its very much more than a creative thing as i know that its tied up with anthroposophy. it just excites me that its possible to bring up a child in an educational philosophy that isnt tied so closely to much i disagree with in society. however im also aware that i shouldnt be forcing my child to be an experiment in a method of education i might have liked to have been taught in. we as a family plan to move to finland before junior is 5 and i know that theres a school in helsinki thats there, my concern was that would this be too late developmentally wise?

[bandy]

I don't think it is too late at all for him to start at that age. He would still have around 2 years in Kindergarten. I know of people who have put their children through Steiner education at the age of 14 and it still been beneficial. Infact one of them is now in her 30s and training to be a steiner teacher as she loved it so much.

I must say that the anthroposophical element is never passed on to the children (as some think) it is a philosophy that the teachers work from. They are trained to value each child individually and this is the main focus of the teacher training, reflection each day on all the children etc. etc.. No child is seen as a problem, the teachers see any problems as theirs to work on not the childs.

Good luck to you and your family with your move, sounds like you made a good decision. I wish you all luck and a peacful relocation. I have found it a very positive experience for my family.