This is purely anecdotal, so take it for what it’s worth, but my brother (now almost 40, so this isn’t exactly recent) briefly attended a Waldorf school and there were some very weird beliefs–like the idea that playing with dolls that have faces gives kids stomach problems later in life. (Also, there was no discipline of any kind, and, since my brother was always The Weird Picked-On Kid, this did not end well for him–some of the other kids were pretty much physically abusive even in the classroom. My parents pulled him out after a year, I think.) Might have just been his particular school, in suburban Maryland, and not at all representative…but, while I definitely like some of the Waldorf tenets, I have mixed feelings, as you can imagine.
OK, yeah, this is so totally anecdotal as to be virtually worthless. Feel free to ignore it.
I think that every school, no matter their philosophical leanings, can have problems.
For instance, my kids went to a Montessori-based school for four years. They were supposed to be progressing at their own pace, but what that meant for Will is that he eventually was ignored for two years. It was infuriating when we learned (finally, from HIM) what was going on. It was a mess. For a kid like Kai, who is naturally curious and driven, their system was fine. But for a kid like Will who is constantly in his own little world, it was terrible. It may be that a Waldorf-light school would work.
My MAIN issues are that tech in schools AND standardized testing are out of control in this country. Whatever I can do to take those out of the classroom is good, to me.
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This is purely anecdotal, so take it for what it’s worth, but my brother (now almost 40, so this isn’t exactly recent) briefly attended a Waldorf school and there were some very weird beliefs–like the idea that playing with dolls that have faces gives kids stomach problems later in life. (Also, there was no discipline of any kind, and, since my brother was always The Weird Picked-On Kid, this did not end well for him–some of the other kids were pretty much physically abusive even in the classroom. My parents pulled him out after a year, I think.) Might have just been his particular school, in suburban Maryland, and not at all representative…but, while I definitely like some of the Waldorf tenets, I have mixed feelings, as you can imagine.
OK, yeah, this is so totally anecdotal as to be virtually worthless. Feel free to ignore it.
I think that every school, no matter their philosophical leanings, can have problems.
For instance, my kids went to a Montessori-based school for four years. They were supposed to be progressing at their own pace, but what that meant for Will is that he eventually was ignored for two years. It was infuriating when we learned (finally, from HIM) what was going on. It was a mess. For a kid like Kai, who is naturally curious and driven, their system was fine. But for a kid like Will who is constantly in his own little world, it was terrible. It may be that a Waldorf-light school would work.
My MAIN issues are that tech in schools AND standardized testing are out of control in this country. Whatever I can do to take those out of the classroom is good, to me.