Steiner schools, plastic presents and family meltdowns

[WutheringBites]

I’ve namechanged because it’s a bit spottable. Basically, I went to a lot of effort to buy really cute old style fisher price toys for my nieces (who live abroad) and have been told third hand that their parents have hidden them because the children (preschoolers) aren’t allowed to play with anything “plastic”. Apparently it’s against the rules of their nursery.

I’ve now been told, parents are upset because I got them something similar last year.

AIBU that

1. I feel really put out that the children aren’t getting the presents I went to quite a lot of expense and effort to get;
2. That no one bothered to tell me that they weren’t allowed anything except wood?
3. That they didn’t get last years presents either.

And is this rule about only wooden stuff something I should have known? Is it a general Steiner thing?

I’m also really sad that it puts an extra distance between me (as their Aunty) and my DC (as cousins) when we already live in a different country. Due to family pressures it’s really difficult for me to travel to see them; and they don’t come to us at all (but I’ve invited them lots). I feel so upset. I only have one sibling; and no cousins, etc. 😰 I feel I’ve messed up, but didn’t know; and I know I’ll just end up sitting sobbing if I try to phone and talk about it. Arrrgh. 😰

I don't like those faceless dolls very meh and boring. I liked dolls with a nice smilyface.

Well it certainly casts doubt on the scientific basis of the method if the man didn’t have a sound understanding of the similarity between races. Also I wanted my children to be taught about diversity and acceptance from a young age. Is that on the curriculum of a racist?

But he wasn't a "proponent" of the Steiner system, he invented it.

Waldorf is the name of the company that asked Steiner to open a school for their workers. There isn't a separate educational theorist called Waldorf.

fluffy that is not the case. Except in this one where the parents say it is so. You and I have no proof that it is so. My experience tells me not, yours my be different. Unless either of us has direct experience of this nursery then we cannot say. However because my experience contridicts yours, the system per se not cultish as it is being interpreted differently I different places. Your Steiner school may have been a cult mine was not.

There’s a shop here in the Uk called Babi Pur, if you wanted to get them stuff they would ‘approve of’ then that’s your place!
I think they would find kindred spirits there - I joined the linked facebook group for stock updates and there was much angst about how awful it was that relatives/grandparents etc had bought a plastic medical set or a plastic play kitchen when they had only wanted wooden stuff in the house
There is some lovely stuff about but I think some perspective is needed!
Playmobil is plastic but lasts and is brilliant and what’s more ‘eco’ then buying pre loved fisher price classics that will also last! I would either go along with it next year, buy a book or something or not send a present. As their children get older they’ll start realising how ridiculous they are.

It is considered a cult because there is a system of beliefs attached to it. In particular there is the theory of the incarnation of the soul, which is the foundation of the educational approach in every detail.

I dislike Steiner because parents are not told about the spiritual core of the system, Unescorted. They are sucked in by the pretty environment that is presented and by phrases like 'child centered' that are bandied about on open days. People susceptible to a certain visual quality and by certain values as expressed in the wood, the elements of nature, the colours, the buzzwords, are easy pickings. Parents can project onto the Steiner school whatever they seek to find in a school environment. The buzzwords are not expanded upon. They find out later that their child is enrolled in a system that is actually very rigid in terms of what is studied, how it is studied, and in terms of the work the child is expected to produce both in content and in appearance. Steiner schools are perhaps the only schools where children can get Art 'wrong'.

Anthroposophy - the theoretical underpinning of every single detail of a Steiner classroom - is never mentioned. The entire edifice is built on this but it is hidden.

Maybe you yourself are unaware of any of this, Unescorted. If so, then that is further evidence that the spiritual aim of the system is very well concealed.

The man is a racist. That didn't make the system racist - you get to choose what you learn and when.

Have any of you been educated in a Steiner school? Race was not part of my version - it was one of the few multicultural schools where I grew up. Tolerance, imagination, self directed learning were part of my experience.

You absolutely do not get to choose what you learn and when, Unescorted. You do not even get to learn to read until you have lost your baby teeth, and whether you want to or are able to makes no difference.

I did.... I still have some of my baby teeth. Evan even type in a fashion.

Is it Steiner schools that are inherently racist too?

The man not the system... See above for my experience.

My gob is smacked. It really is.

What new wankery is this? Where Aunts are 're-educated' to get their sorry ass back in line in order to further indoctrinate their siblings DC into the 'Steiner' cult; while Russia is massing at the gates; the liberal-metro-hipster vibe (that so-far 'very comfortable' western way of life) is being threatened at every turn; where Uncle Sam has told us to shape up or ship out...and... Brexit, some oh-so-cool momma and papa demands appropriate playthings for their plump little darling?

I'd be sending vouchers- to the 'Grip' factory.

Harsh but

A core belief of Steiner’s was that human souls evolve through a series of incarnations and as a soul develops it will take on different racial forms with black people being the most ‘immature’ souls and Aryans being the highest spiritual form. Steiner called his beliefs ‘Occult Science’ or ‘Spiritual Science’ and that his ‘science’ was the necessary way to ensure the white races did not degenerate. He believed through clairvoyance you could determine the true spiritual nature of the cosmos. This is is the foundation of all his beliefs in education.

The curriculum of Steiner Schools is designed to help children progress through the stages of reincarnation as they grow. Reincarnation does not happen all at once at birth, but develops over seven year cycles. At birth a child is given their ‘physical’ body, at Age 7 (or when teeth develop) the child takes on their ‘etheric’ body, at 14 their ‘astral’ body. At each stage of reincarnation, the child becomes more ready to engage in different forms of education. For example, reading is suppressed until the adult teeth appear indicating the etheric body has taken hold.

I looked into a Steiner school and subsequently read into anthroposophy. The dolls are faceless because....Steiner said this increased their powers of clairvoyancy

One of the main signatures of a Waldorf Education is that children do not start to learn to read until much later than other schools. Parents are often told there is good research to delay reading. But the reason for delaying reading is not based on educational evidence but for occult reasons. Steiner believed reading was bad for a child’s soul development and should be delayed as much as possible. Books are taken from children and parents are discouraged from reading at home.

My sister couldn't be doing with any of our alternative child-rearing routes but instead we've established her place as the fun, modern Aunty who brings a colour and excitment into our childrens lives that we wouldn't provide.

Are your children some sort of experiment? If you are aware that colour and excitement are missing from your children's lives why would you carry on your dreary ways? Bizarre.

is it me or is there a link between technological educated society & some very strange anti science anti technology beliefs? There are times when I seriously believe we are going in reverse instead of forward - sigh

Anyone mentioned the Steiner gnomes yet?

Steiner’s belief in alternative medicine persists in Anthroposophy where homeopathy is seen as legitimate and anti-vaccination views are routine. In the UK, the NHS has reported that the Health Protection Agency views Steiner Schools as “High Risk” as they are “unvaccinated communities”.

The Steiner approach to learning to read involves the loss of baby teeth. I for one can obviously see the connection.

Landmark Forum are also advertised and promoted by some Steiner schools, and that is a cult.