Steiner School

Bunks

Hi all

My wife and I are thinking of sending our daughter to a local Steiner School. It starts with Kindergarten (she is 4 today and is just doing one day a week there at this stage) and goes through to Grade 6.

Anyone go to a Steiner School or have kids at one? Any comments / feedback appreciated. I like most facets of it (some of the spiritual stuff is a little kooky though IMO).

Thank you.

Simonthepilgrim

My son Jack went, for a short time, to a Steiner primary school. We were seduced by the apparent principles on which the school was founded. The reality was that, coming from a non-anthroposophist family, Jack was bullied and marginalised by both the other children and some of the staff. We withdrew him when it became clear that the school was not prepared to confront and deal with the problem.

This is one of the real drawbacks of 'faith' schools vis-a-vis pupils who are outsiders, and Steiner schools are 'faith' schools, using the strange developmental and cosmological views of Rudolph Steiner. @Bunks: you may want to read some of the vast stuff written by the man himself, in particuar his ideas about 'rays', planetary influence, etc.

lobster

some of the spiritual stuff is a little kooky

I am sure your daughter is doing fine there at the moment . . .

I stayed at a Steiner school for a week, working on the food gardens whilst the kids were on holiday. The growing methodology on the whole was organic, using a no dig method. However Steiner views on rock and plant development were indeed kooky. A Buddhist would fit right in . . . if able to question the indoctrination, which of course kids are not . . .

Would you allow your kids to be brought up in a Catholic, Muslim, Steiner Occult school or Hogworts? If it was a good school and you could afford it you might send them to a private school to learn elitism or a military academy to learn self discipline and killing arts. Education is not a precise art . . .

Agree with @Simonthepilgrim do not indoctrinate your children to be secularist consumers - that is the States job . . . eh wait a minute . . . some mistake there . . .

Good luck. Think carefully. Education is dukkha too, not perfect . . .

Citta

I worked with a colleague, a vigorous, articulate, feisty woman, whose education before university was entirely within the Steiner system. She said it had taken her years to forgive her parents for leaving her at the mercy of ' well meaning loonies '...
Make of that what you will.

Bunks

Thanks guys. So far I have only had positive feedback on Steiner from a couple of people I know who sent there kids there.

It's nice to get some balance! Food for thought.

Dakini

Steiner schools? In the US I think those are called Waldorf schools. There are warnings about those schools on a cult education forum. From what I've read, some of the schools are more into the beliefs and philosophy of the founder than others. You might want to do a good deal of internet research on the topic to help you figure out what questions to ask of the administrators, to help you decide whether the school is on the level or whether it has a hidden agenda.

Vastmind

You can find good supplemental education material online,
nowadays. Home schoolers love sharing that stuff. I don't trust
my public schools...The books are wrong. haha
Private school I'll never afford, so I admit to doing extra
stuff on week-ends. Hands on....exposure to different stuff
and discussion and thinking afterwards. Couple prints a week..
that's it. Never stressful. Keep the learning fun...and save the
extra money...lolololol My kids test scores are through the roof...
yes!

Maybe you'll surprise yourself!

footiam

Bunks said:

Hi all

My wife and I are thinking of sending our daughter to a local Steiner School. It starts with Kindergarten (she is 4 today and is just doing one day a week there at this stage) and goes through to Grade 6.

Anyone go to a Steiner School or have kids at one? Any comments / feedback appreciated. I like most facets of it (some of the spiritual stuff is a little kooky though IMO).

Thank you.

Where I am living, we have not heard of the Steiner school but children get educated one way or another. At least, at home.