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Family Matters:  Steiner/Waldorf education  |
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vintagechica
True Blue Farmgirl
438 Posts
Eren
Poolville
TX
USA
438 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 16 2007 : 11:43:55 AM
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Thank you all for this thread and this information. I have been reading so much about learning styles, unschooling, etc. and you all have proved again to be a wealth of information!!!
Oh, and Megan...I have a few friends who homeschool and what they do is if there is a subject that one of them is week at and another is stonger, they make up lessons for each other. Sometimes do work at one or the other's house with all of the kids together, etc. So I guess they tag-team so to speak. They feel like it is a great solution for them. Just thought I would share.
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A sure way to avoid housework...live outdoors.
www.vintagechica.typepad.com |
Edited by - vintagechica on Jan 16 2007 11:45:55 AM |
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kjweldon
Farmgirl at Heart
8 Posts
Kathleen
Cambridge
MA
8 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2007 : 11:35:40 AM
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Hi. I don't have kids, so I'm not an expert, but my boyfriend grew up in Waldorf schools (his mother is very active in the Steiner community), and I have friends who have children in the schools now. Overall, the experience has been very good for them, and my boyfriend greatly appreciates most of what Waldorf schooling gave him - a connection to nature, a supportive environment, removal from the media-obsession of general American culture. When he hears what went on in the Catholic schools I attended, the bullying and pettiness and so on, he can't believe it.
However, one caveat. If your child has a learning disability, you may need to be very careful in choosing a Waldorf school that can provide support. The general Waldorf philosophy on learning disabilities is that children grow out of them and teachers shouldn't focus on doing anything out of the ordinary for these students. My boyfriend had a very severe learning disability (could not read until he was twelve, though otherwise he was of high intelligence and capability - it was something like a dyslexia, but not exactly). He was not given skills to cope with his problem, and only now, in mid-life, is he starting to understand how much he still needs to learn. My friends with children in the Waldorf school told me that a friend of theirs had removed her child from the school because he had a learning disability and the staff refused to give him any particular attention to work on the problem. Sure, that's a statistical sample of two, but there seems to be an underlying philosophy behind the resistance to dealing with these issues. I think the education at Waldorf schools is generally excellent, and the environment a good and healthy one for children, but some children might not be best served there. |
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daffodil dreamer
True Blue Farmgirl
805 Posts
Jayne
Hamilton
Victoria
Australia
805 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2007 : 5:08:44 PM
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Hi Kathleen and welcome to MaryJane's!
Thanks for the input. I think I have decided that I would like to really follow my heart and homeschool them. Now I am really putting the cat amongst the pigeons!! I have been reading heaps about Waldorf homeschooling and it seems the best way - so you can take the best parts of Waldorf and also use other resources as appropriate. Any other Waldorf homeschoolers out there? They are few and far between here in Australia, but there are plenty of sites from America on the web. I have found one support group in Australia and luckily it is right near where we want to move when we move back home - maybe it is 'meant' to be!
They went back to their old school yesterday as the new school year has started and no other plans had been set in concrete - my oldest daughter hasn't had nightmares all holidays and had one last night (maybe just coincidence, I don't know). She has told me though, that even if we change schools there will be bullies there as all schools have bullies. I can't draw anymore information than that from her. All the signs are pointing towards homeschooling being a good idea - it is just very daunting.
Best wishes,
Jayne |
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Family Matters: Steiner/Waldorf education |
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Steiner/Waldorf education
