As much info, experience and advice as possible please RE:steiner education.

[BeWorthy]

OK. Where do I start?

My son has always been quit ill so we put him on a very different diet where he only eats all organic, no dairy etc, no sugar etc. So his body stays as healthy as possible.

He is one of the youngest of the academic year as he was four in August. So putting him into school in September just gone was a big concern for me, maybe I'm an over protective parent (but is there such thing?) But I hated the whole idea. Admissions, school uniforms, everything. He started in September as one of the youngest and he has stuggled, and so have I. He has struggled to settle in and go into school willingly, he has struggled to sit at a table all day, he has struggled to eat a very different lunch to his classmates. I have struggled with wanting to talk to a teacher who spends more time with my child than I do but her never having the time as she has 30 four year olds. But what really irritated me recently was when I was doing homework with my son ( he has LOTS of homework, at 4, reading diaries, homework diaries, targets, etc) and he has always been left handed, but on this evening of homework after the teacher mentioning to me about his current inability to hold a pencil properly I noticed him trying to write with his Right hand. I asked him why and he said because maybe it would be easier to grip, and all of his friends do it that way. This broke my heart - I want my son to feel he can be whoever he is and not have to change that to meet expectations of society at aged FOUR.

I don't want my son to feel pressured academically, or left our because his food is not processed and bad for him.

So - my partner mentioned steiner to me. I looked into steiner schools and I had a visit on Friday. I was blown away, almost emotional at how perfect it is for us, how we parent, and for my son.

He's next in line for admissions. However, since my visit I've started to do more research and I am only seeing very conflicted views on the steiner education. I am at a loss on a decision. We are not wealthy, or even middle class. We get by. & by sending him to steiner school we'd be scraping the coins together - but I feel for an education whuch is relaxed, non-pressured, and with outstanding end results that it would be worth it. But I need to be sure, 100 percent sure almost.

So I'm looking for your views, experiences, advice so I can have as much information as possible to base my decision upon. This is a very big decision for me, this is my sons future and well-being. I know there are bad experiences, but 95% of the people I know had bad experiences with state funded schools included myself! So how can it be worse than that? The whole 'processed pea' tarred with the same brush state education system.

All views welcome

Satin this was our experience at the 2nd school a real "Lord of the flies" culture good Steiner teachers can ensure all to get on and think of each other.
There is usually no one in over all charge and no one is helping advising inspecting what individual teachers do, each teachers is very individual, we met one or two truly inspiring talented and able teachers who in any sector would have been outstanding but the majority we frankly mediocre at best.
You need to ask what will happen if your DS is not behaving in the way they want him too. IME most will be politely advised to find a more suitable option we removed our DS's voluntarily but four boys (all coming to what would be the end of yr1) were advised to find alternatives. We kept in contact with two, one lively individual eventually ended up at a grammar and is doing really well now in 12 and another obviously bright live wire but bored boy is now top of a selective independent. You would think it could be ideal for the quirky creative bright child but IME it's not.

Quirky bright children need to be stimulated, channelled and be given boundaries IMO or they are clever enough and quirky enough to use it all in the wrong way, to the detriment of themselves and others!
The only thing to do with any school is visit it on a normal working day and see it 'warts and all' and go armed with a list of questions and above all ask yourself how your child will fit in. It can be a wonderful school but not suitable for your child.

IME quirky very bright boys are poorly catered for in all sectors satin. We left Steiner actually over 11 years ago (where has the time gone) and have tried a variety of schools both state and independent, apart from one notable exception, those who are unable or unwilling to fit the box, who are creative bright or even worse exceedingly bright and articulate are generally misunderstood, they often fail to really engage properly with education and thus never achieve their potential.

I know nothing about Steiner education but when you said your child had not been immunised and Steiner education was against immunising, alarm bells rang. If your child has a suppressed immune system then the last place he needs to be is being surrounded by a bunch of kids who may well be carrying any number of childhood diseases. I remember when my DS was only 7 months old and too young to have the MMR vaccine during the middle of the anti MMR debacle. He was at a daycare nursery and an older child there got measles. We had a horrible few weeks hoping he hadn't caught it.
I wouldn't worry about the food thing either. My attitude to children's diets is:- they have 21 meals a week, you feed them a healthy diet for all but 5 of them and that doesn't include the holidays, so if they eat something unhealthy 5 times a week it is not going to do them any harm. As someone else said you can't control what they eat at a party. It's hard for mums when your child starts school because you have to get your head round the fact that your child has a part of his life that doesn't include you. If you are worried that this school is not right for him then go and have a look at a couple more state primaries. Now your child has actually experienced school it may be worth revisiting a few that you saw last year. Now you know what you are looking for, you could ask more informed questions than this time last year.

Thanks - yes I've been trying to find out about this one and its reputation in particular but not finding anything at all, can't decide whether that's good or bad. It's Bristol stiener school, so if anyone knows anything that would be helpful.

To be honest, as my son is often unwell and it being a concequence of medicine in early life I myself am very anti conventional medicines and immunisations (and doughnuts lol! ;-) )so that part really does not bother me.

I think I need to find out more about the school itself - and not base my decision on one visit - so if anyone knows anyone who can shed any light on Bristol stiener school in particular that would be great.

I'm sorry yotty but i completely disagree with your views on food where my child is concerned, a few bad meals, treats etc DO harm him. And yes I can control what he eats at a party - or he doesn't go.

My son has a very good diet, because he needs it and without it he suffers. Infact, most children do but parents do not realise and do not do any research as it is the norm of society to feed our most precious little beings full of artificial and harmful chemicals. That is not what I want for my son, and his body would not cope. So yes I am worried about the 'whole food thing'. and him feeling left out to the others who eat junk and processed meats, fruit shoots, etc.

But this is about stiener schools - so views on that are what I am looking for.

Thanks.

But Beworthy He will be far more at risk in an unimmunised community.

Hello?? Are you reading posts, OP?

Can you please answer my question?

E^xplain what you meant by

"I personally feel AT THE MOMENT that state schools just create processed pea cash cows to use within society to make themselves richer."^

I'd like to be able to respond to you, but I do need to understand where you're coming from.

With apologies for lack of formatting

BeWorthy, if you're in Bristol you may be in luck because there's a Steiner Free School opening there in 2014. Assuming your child will be in Y1 then they won't be able to start in the opening year, but it looks like they're having a Y2 intake in 2015 (see Annex 1 of this doc for entry points).

If you're determined to go down the Steiner route, then that option will at least be affordable for you.

The bullying I mentioned earlier was in Bristol. And Lord of the Flies is a very good description. I would be really interested to know which school your DS is at now. Just an initial would do! I may be able to recommend somewhere that would suit.

in what way is your son ill a lot? i would also be concerned about sending an unimmunised child to a school where lots of other children were unimmunised. surely that is a recipe for illness?

My daughter goes to Steiner and she (and we) love it. I always say the best advert for any school is the young adults it turns out into the world. My daughter's school turns out confident, inquisitive, polite young adults with a thirst for knowledge and self- motivated learners. Despite not putting pressure on, the school gets very good exam results and has a relatively high number of Oxbridge alumni.

There are a lot of Steiner nay-sayers, but I can only presume they have seen the worst of Steiner, and I must be seeing the best. A bit like all sectors of education - you get good, bad, middling and appalling in private, public, state and grammar.

You're also wrong about immunisation. The Steiner view is that it is down to individual choice, they are not "anti vaccination". A quick Google will show this. My daughter has had all of the vaccines she needs.

....and we love doughnuts, and just about every other cake, of which rather a lot were sold at our recent Advent Fayre.

world without a doubt Steiner schools vary enormously the first one a newly established one that my DS went too never even mentioned anthroposophy, cakes were frequently consumed and in fact made in the classroom and the last day of term we all staff included (who were young and enthusiastic) went out and hovered up fish and chips sausage rolls chocolate and zoom ice lollies. I'm hostile to homeopathy and crystal healing and am pro immunisations and conventional medicine and although some felt differently it was you have your views and I have mine culture and that's fine and neither will inflict their views on the other. The only two things they frowned upon was TV and labelled clothes e.g. GAP.
In contrast the 2 nd Steiner school in an idyllic setting was and in fact still is a very long established one was hot on anthroposophy, homeopathy, crystal healing, anti immunisations and very anti conventional medicine tutting when children were taking antibiotics inhaled steroids etc. or ever consuming sweets, biscuits, sausage rolls doughnuts chocolate spread sandwiches were as far as they were concerned only one step down from nuclear waste, parents controlled their children's diets obsessively never allowing a pink panther wafer biscuit to pass their lips, force feeding them cherry tomatoes instead of hula hoops at parties but weirdly TV and labelled clothes didn't concern them. Most of the staff had been there for years, were very poorly paid and unimaginative, bizarrely as they are meant to encouraging children to be creative, and seemed to have little control or interest in the children. It had a very high turn over of boys who have struggled in reception in conventional education, they do a year there and then return to the state/independent sector.

My son does not get immunised, because these drugs are lined with harmful metals

well actually they are not. But you seem to believe a lot of what you read without getting both sides of the facts & I am not going to turn this into a vax debate.

Infact, most children do but parents do not realise and do not do any research as it is the norm of society to feed our most precious little beings full of artificial and harmful chemicals

I could say the same about vaccines & you, op.

You ask if the 1930s values of Steiner still exist within their schools today. I would say, as what I have read about them is that they rarely move forward wrt their views.

happygardening that is a really interesting post. My thoughts are that the TV and clothes with labels cause longer lasting damage than a bit of chocolate spread, because those are what cause esteem issues.

I am a fan of holistic medicine, but like yourself, think homeopathy works as a placebo, albeit an interesting one.

Whichever school they go to you are going to have to deal with the real world where they will go to birthday parties and get given doughnuts and fizzy drinks etc and you can't hover over them once they get past a certain age.

You also can't know what they will think, I know many a child who plays lip service to their mother's views and scoffs the 'wrong' food when out of her sight.

How true satin we've always shall we say down played MacDonalds not actually discouraging it although I have tried brainwashing them by repeatedly playing Morgan Spurlocks's film Supersize Me but without any success. My children love going there my objections are that are primarily about taste or lack of it rather than a paranoia about harmful ingredients. Ditto Pot Noodles again my objections are primarily based on taste and my belief that fresh ingredients make better tasting food and I dislike the way they are consumed in a hurry and straight from the pot food but one of my DS's absolutely loves them.
OP we cannot control our children to this extent you will drive yourself and your DS up the wall trying.

What are you going to do when they go for a birthday party- refuse?
Mine went sometimes and I am glad to say that as adults they don't- probably because it was no big deal. We never had pot noddles, DS felt deprived! I got him one and he didn't like it anyway!

I feel this post is definately steering far away from the topic i wanted to discuss.

My son has a very comprimised immune system and was seeing an oncologist for a very long time due to thoughts of lymphoma cancer. I let my son eat MCDONALS etc before this and so did I. But when you are faced with something that scary you put your life, soul, time and money into research and that is what I did.

Testing showed my sons comprimised immune system and we worked from there, and the results have proved to me just how much our food is our medicine.

He will not have sweets buscuits or processed non food mcdonalds and hasn't for 2 and a half years because i want him to have a healthy and happy long life. I will educate my son as much as i possibily can for the reasons why, and I have seen and met many other older children who have this lifestyle and they are fine and understand and sit with there lunchboxes whislt their friends eat mcdonalds happily and proudly. Our bodies are not designed to be able to consume this 'food' if you can call it that. Do not think my son misses out, he has cake, burgers etc which are very nice, if not nicer and full of taste and they are made without crap and chemicals.

This is not the conversation I wanted and I do not see why you have decided to judge me based upon this - I just stated about food as I said my son would not feel left out, if you read my post you would see that this stiener school in particular all the kids do it healthily and the same.

Any who - I will do my research elsewhere as this hasn't really given me much but hostile very biased views. I do not ever tell people what or how to bring up their kids I just have my views and know some people don't like them, like i don't agree with others but I never tell them they are wrong or to change. We are all different.

P.S

Thank you to those who gave helpful comments.

Sorry- obviously food is quite different if it is for health reasons and easy to explain to the child. I would however do very full research on the Steiner school in question.