To wish parents realised that Steiner/Waldord Schools are based on anthroposophy?

[abacucat]

Anthroposphy is a system of belief that believes amongst other things, that people are reincarnated.
The way schools are set up and run is set by this belief system. Everything from the colour of the walls, to the curriculum, to the use of wood and no plastic.
And any schools that are listed as Steiner/Waldorf schools do follow anthroposophy.
If parents are happy with anthroposophy influencing every aspect of the school, then fine.

Recent Steiner thread It's all very interesting.

There are plenty of parents who I am sure do not realise when the nursery teacher talks about gnomes to their children, that the teacher believes the gnomes are real.

Gnomes?? Gnomes?? Do they have little painted gnomes sitting around the gardens?

Steiner don't teach reading till 6 or 7.

Then they read pretty quickly.

Does this mean due to the the age? They are older so read more quickly?

Each classroom usually has a gnome.

More like a soft felt toy.

A "real" soft felt toy? Does it come alive at night when everyone has gone home?

@ScrambledSmegs @BeanCalledPickle if that's the Steiner school near me with safeguarding issues and repeated closures; teacher friends from London and Scotland got in touch with me because the Ofsted report started trending on teaching forums as the worst report anyone had ever seen...

Steiner starts formal academic teaching at age 6/7. Like in Europe. They usually read pretty quickly. That is a total red herring.

They do start formal teaching of reading later, 6-8 but once the basics are in place the move to confident reading and understanding occurs rapidly. The understanding is often lost when a child reads very early, being 7/8 seems to allow a greater comprehension of the content.

What is the research for that? I suspect there is none.
I was reading at 4.5 and my comprehension was good.

Personally I think some kids will read whatever system is used. What matters is the kids who struggle. And the internet is full of parents complaining that their kids who go to Steiner schools are illiterate at 9 or 10 years old.

We had piskies in most of the rooms and around the grounds. There was never any mention of them actually being real though. We had lots of crazy storyteller come and visit and these piskies and various other random bits quite often got used as part of acting out these stories. But I really can’t remember ever thinking they were real or it even being suggested.

This was at the South Devon Steiner, which I was there was considered to be one of the more batshit ones. That was mostly down to the pupils parents trying to outweird each other though. My purple haired, donkey riding dm was one of the more pedestrian parents.

There’s two Steiner schools in the next council district over. The only thing I know about them is that last year one had a measles outbreak because a lot of the kids aren’t vaccinated (not entirely surprising, because Stroud) and the head of the other won’t allow Harry Potter or Pratchett books because he thinks they might cause mental health problems. Sounds like a reasonable chap

heartshapedknob is that the acorn school that doesn’t allow potter or pratchett? They’ve got a huge list of rules for kids that go there, pretty sure the head teacher insists on inspecting people’s homes/the kids bedrooms

We looked at the South Devon Steiner. I actually liked that someone had put cling film over the loo for visiting parents.
Unfortunate that a teacher said "It'll be nice to have some normal kids"

I do remember looking at some of the pupil books and being impressed with beautiful handwriting and artistic annotations.

Steiner starts formal academic teaching at age 6/7. Like in Europe
In many countries it is generally expected that children starting the school at that age already have well developed basic skills, like counting up/down to 20, alphabet / phonics, shapes etc.

I fell into the ‘creative’ trap and my DC went to one for six months.

Not creative at ALL. Very fixed and prescriptive about everything. Totally unable to deal with my DC. Unwilling/able to intervene/facilitate with social groups during play (for which read happy to let them all get on with it and ‘work things out for themselves’ - AKA bullying).

As for the actual financial management and governance of the school - OMFG.

That’s the one Pippilotta - wtf is he looking for? Rogue TVs and tech?

The gnomes sound like the elves on the shelves to me.

Oh totally OP YANBU
I read the education boards a lot and there are quite a few asking about these schools as they seem to be presenting as some kind of forest school great for people keen on a less academic approach in the early years... luckily there are plenty on MN to put them straight...

heartshapedknob I think that’s literally it yeah, they’re not allowed to use screens (at home or school) til they’re 12 and there’s weird rules about birthday parties and how many other children they’re allowed to hang out with at a time and all sorts. I think it’s not actually a Steiner school but ‘Steiner influenced’ (I have a few friends who went there, and loads who went to wynstones. They all have very beautiful handwriting and very little knowledge of basic science)

As an aside... people are mentioning that in Europe children do not learn to read until they are 6... this is true in France, and compulsory schooling doesn’t start until then either. But something like 98% of children aged 2/3yrs to 5 yrs attend maternelle, which is basically full-time school and where they learn all the basics. As a result, they are totally primed to learn to read quickly in their first yr of “proper” school. Oh, and Macron is proposing to make attendance at maternelle compulsory.

I think if you look at most / all European countries where children learn to read later than the UK you’ll find that they have far better, more accessible pre-school setups where the children are learning the basics.

I had friends who sent their children to a Steiner school, exactly because they wanted an artsy outdoorsy primary setting.
We drifted apart as they became increasingly critical of my parenting, and visits became awkward as kids were not allowed to share toys or touch tablets (and were obviously very upset about it). Last time we met, their older child was quite bright and destined for a good secondary school, but the younger could not read properly at 9 - which was ok as not all of his adult teeth came through yet.

Cuckoo in The Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria (i think) formal academic learning doesn't start until age 6. It's not that they do nothing until then, more that learning is often play based or shorter bursts interspersed with play. Kind of like foundation stage in the U.K.

And maternelle in France has children having longer school days and having a nap every afternoon (or a lay down). So it's not that they start formal schooling at 3. It's more of a daycare-school hybrid!

All of this is besides the point. Academically Steiner is ok if you're self-motivated and academically inclined. If you're not you can get lost in it. And that gets compounded because it's the child's expletive karma so there is a burden placed on them for their lack of academic ability.

Saying that, the strong focus on non-academic skills means that children who flounder academically often flourish elsewhere in the curriculum.

The point is that they should never be left to flounder in the first place.

I feel that any adult who believes children have any responsibility in the circumstances of their lives or intellectual-academic abilities shouldn't be allowed to be around children.

• I should say academic success, not ability - the two aren't the same. Although the system does equate the two removing the burden from the teacher and subtly placing it on the struggling child.

YANBU. Part of the philosophy is to hide it from non-members. You will never see it advertised on the prospectus or any other info the school sends out.

I went to see a Steiner school as the thought of children stomping around in their wellies and making wooden dinghys would have been a good fit for one of my dc. Within about 10 minutes of arrival I could see that they were trying to pull the wool over eyes.

Also to add in my experience- they expressly will not ever change their ‘pedagogy’ in the light of ANY research, evidence or modern science. A pedagogy (educational method) founded 100 years ago. Maybe quite forward thinking and innovative in its time, but expressly denying any update whatsoever? No thanks. Doesn’t even matter what that pedagogy says - if it can never change that’s a deal breaker

Religion/cult more like