Move my children to a private Waldorf school?

[Peanutbutter10]

My children are currently attending a public school (YRS2 & Reception) and one at nursery.

Me and my husband were seriously considering taking them out and sending them to a Waldorf school but upon doing some more research have found some strange things online.

Does anyone have any experience with Waldorf education and would I be doing them more harm than good taking them out of “main stream”school?

There are kids in my extended family who were sent to Waldorf Steiner schools, lovely kids, academically not great (if you want to give your kids the option of higher education, then formal learning is not a strength from what I've seen). Kids learnt a lot about whittling and woodwork in general, spelling or maths? Not so much.

the philosophy behind waldorf schools is bizarre and possibly racist. I wouldn't go anywhere near them.

OP you don't say why you are thinking of moving out from current school, or what other options are. You should have started with that first instead of focusing on Steiner.

By the way I for one would stay away but you really need to look at what problem you are trying to solve.

I would be too troubled by the weird beliefs underpinning their curriculum that you won't find on any of their brochures, but if you look for Steiner Survivors online you will learn more. I've learned a lot about them (for professional reasons) and am very sceptical. I don't doubt that many children do fine there and it suits a large number of parents, but if you are outside the main group in any way or different, the experience may be hard for the child. And that's before the creepy gnomes that 'watch' the children, the linking of learning to read and write to the start of adult teeth coming through, a demon talking through the TV screen, and having to do wet on wet painting as a small child with all parts of the page covered in water and paint so the demons can't manifest. It's seriously disturbing when you look into the actual practices and beliefs, which are deliberately hidden from prospective parents.

The only comment I would have is that by all accounts the individual schools used to vary quite a bit. I know a couple of adults who went to Steiner schools who have done perfectly OK in life.

Look into the advent of adult teeth meaning and curved surfaces v sharp edges scenarios
If you are okay with that ……

well i have no knowledge of them really, but even i've heard they are creepy, or have a creepy aspect and underpinning, which seems to be supported by posts above.
i'd give it a swerve, OP.
what's wrong with the current school ?

Thank you all, nothing wrong with current school but I never felt I never really did well in the “current” school environment. I don’t want my children to get caught up in this wheel of you must do “this” and you must do that or you haven’t succeeded in life. With everything that’s happened recently (home schooling ect) I was just curious to what else was out there in terms of schooling.

The schools website does a very good job of drawing you in so I must admit I was sold before I have even looked into Steiners background

Forgot to mention home schooling isn’t a long term option for us as we both need to work

If you have the money for the independent sector and are not in London, you will be able to find a very nice, laid back prep school that has small classes and isn't pressured.

We affectionately call our prep the free range farm because of how much time the children spend outside and playing, right up to Year 8.

I'd give Steiner a wide berth. If you dig up the ofsted reports for the one in Exeter, you'll see it can go pretty wrong.

@2reefsin30knots I was thinking this, I will go an have a look

The schools website does a very good job of drawing you in so I must admit I was sold before I have even looked into Steiners background

Hopefully now you know about the horrific philosophies you'll steer clear and look at other options. I'd also suggest ignoring the school websites and visiting the school. Some of the best schools have the worst websites.

I was like you OP, but after doing research and visiting a Steiner school I realized they are very much "you must do this". One of the things I queried with them was why the kindergarten children's artwork was all identical. I was genuinely surprised as there wasn't any sign of free hand drawings or pictures that you would expect. The teacher who I suspect was on something seemed very annoyed that I hadn't appreciated the beauty of this uniformity. I later read that even the art is very prescriptive - it was literally just stripes on a page - and has some really sinister meanings. I got the very strong feeling that a lot of children with SEN and behavioural issues are moved from mainstream into Steiner judging by some of the behaviour of the children. Flicking through their workbooks confirmed that academics is not high on their priority list at all, they must spend 90% of every lesson colouring in the pages.

I don’t want my children to get caught up in this wheel of you must do “this”

Then Steiner is probably not for you. It has the most rigid and undifferentiated curricula I've ever come across.

Do not confuse a later start to reading, or wooden toys, with a child-centred flexible approach

I went to a Steiner school until the age of around 9 or 10 and I would consider the same approach with my children. All the 'weird' background stuff - I was never aware of any of that and it really doesn't align with what I felt to be a very warm, creative and child centred experience. Saying that, I am grateful that I was sent 'main stream' in later years, because ultimately that's the world I would end up living in. So I like the approach in early years (focussing on the child, learning through play and song etc, and not reading and writing at a really early age etc) but not sure how I feel about later years.

I went from one extreme to the other. Started off at a Steiner school before going to a traditional public school.

There is a lot about the Steiner system that is easy to mock but I think its central philosophy if fairly sound in terms of creating a holistic learning environment that very much focuses on developing independent and creative thinking processes, individual responsibility , the understanding of ethical principles and building a sense of social responsibility. It is the execution of that philosophy that tends to vary wildly as Steiner schools (well the one I went to anyway) seemed occasionally guilty of recruiting staff who were employed on the basis that they were ardent believers in the Steiner system rather than them actually being good teachers.

One thing I do remember was that for the most part the kids were very happy. Additionally, Steiner schools do offer much more diversity with regards to the subjects taught compared to mainstream schools. For instance when I had classes in geology, astronomy, Greek mythology and architecture . They also excel in languages, introducing French and German at primary level and often even at Kindergarten level. The schools are very arts/humanities/crafts orientated which is great if that is the direction you want to head but if you wanted to do hard sciences you were f*cked really. I left as I wanted to be an engineer and there was bugger all chance of that happening if stayed at the school. But it was the quirky stuff I remember, things like moving a lesson outside if it was a warm sunny day, building a footbridge across a river or taking part in the acting and full set production of a play.

On the downside the schools seemed to attract the worst elements of the very vocal batshit crazy vegan hippy community, the sort of folk who think television is evil and insist on making their own organic clothes. My dad used to love winding them up. There were no competitive sports, homeopathic treatments were ‘encouraged’ ,science subjects were not taken too seriously (and were at times even bankrupted by members of staff who had a slightly different take on a particular well established peer reviewed and historically robust theory. Mad really.

I am still in touch with many of my old Steiner mates and they predictably all work in the arts sector but they seem like decent folk who have enough self awareness to laugh at the more looney aspects of a Steiner education.

Google Anthroposophy before deciding OP.

To me it feels like a mixture of Christianity and Nature Religions, with the reincarnation elements in particular causing race and disability controversy.

Although the schools say they have no uniform, you can spot a Steiner kid instantly as they all dress the same, likewise their artwork all looks the same too.

If you're a family that uses IT (and you're posting on Mumsnet so probably do) and watches TV then you might struggle to fit in there.

To me it feels like a mixture of Christianity and Nature Religions, with the reincarnation elements in particular causing race and disability controversy.

While I appreciate my experiences are decades old but Anthroposophy was never actually taught in the classroom at the Steiner school I went to.

You might want to read up on the news and Ofsted reports about ‘Wynstones’, a Steiner-Waldorf school near Gloucester. It has never re-opened.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-51480050

Just be careful you don't make baseless decisions cos you're projecting your own childhood onto 2 different people in a different school. I had a terrible school time and have been on hyper alert for my own 2 dc. One has now left primary having met none of the issues I did and is now at secondary and again none of the issues I had. Schools can vary in culture quite a lot even within the standard state sector. The one mine were at was all about learning through play, forest school, learning being supported by emotional well being so strong on supporting positive emotional development etc but good on academic too. So if you think your school is the wrong one look around, but as a pp said have something you can hang your hat on in terms of what you're trying to fix.

You will struggle to get a fair opinion of Steiner schools on here. Most of those giving opinions have never actually set foot in one. I went and had a look for myself and for one of my children it was the perfect option . He went straight from there to a Russell group uni despite everyone telling me on a thread I started that it would never happen and graduated last year.

Weaverspin

Ditto, Kings Langley

You will struggle to get a fair opinion of Steiner schools on here

In fairness, the thread so far is a mixed bag or people with direct experience of a Steiner education (i.e. they attended one) or parents who have done extensive research on the schools before making an informed decision.

Primary schools today have taken on many of the best elements of Steiner and Montesori anyway - more outdoor play, more creativity etc. It is very different from when we were kids. If yours are happy leave them be?