My dd goes to Steiner.
To address some points in this thread: the supposed shut down of anti-Steiner threads on mumsnet? Often I see a lot of anti-Steiner comments and the pro-Steiners are a lot fewer. There are several people who are vehemently anti-Steiner, one or two of whom have actually had Steiner experience.
Black paint? There are paints of all colours used in DD's school, and the artwork of the older children is really, really excellent. I have not seen the oft-mentioned "sameness" anymore than my own school days when we would all have to paint a viking scene, or create a piece of art using a certain technique.
Bullying - not saying it doesn't happen. DD's school has an anti-bullying policy in place, in common with most schools, state or otherwise. Funnily enough, bullying happens at quite a lot of schools, Steiner or otherwise. I'm really sorry some children had a horrid time at Steiner, I'm also really sorry some children had a horrid time at private school and I'm really sorry a lot of children had a horrid time at state school.
Discourages free-thinking? The young adults at DD's school are brilliant - confident, educated, articulate, healthy, open-minded, semi-typical teenagers.
No TV - actually, Steiner Schools are aware of the pressures of technology. They discourage the use of computers, TV, etc. rather than an outright ban. Most parents seem to go for limited access, e.g. at weekends. The technology thing is quite interesting, this link might be of interest Steiner in Silicon Valley.
The woo thing. Steiner believed in woo. Some Steiner teachers believe in woo. Some Steiner teachers don't believe in woo. My next door neighbour believes in a different type of woo. I believe in woo sometimes but othertimes I'm a hardcore rationalist. To be honest, I don't care what Steiner or the teachers believe, they don't teach what they believe to the pupils, so they can believe that the earth is made of toffee for all I care, or even that 2000 years ago some guy died and came back to life three days later and will take all our sins away, as long as they don't teach my child that as a truth (which is why I would never send a child to a Christian school).
Reading/writing. There is nothing to stop you teaching this at home if it bothers you that much. DD's class is about 50/50 split. The important thing is not forcing a child to do something so that they come to dislike doing it. DD loves reading, we don't force it. She likes writing, we don't force it. We aren't going to judge her for not doing it to the same standards as a child at the local prep who has been pressured by parents to be top of the class at reading/writing, nor are we going to judge her against those state school children who leave primary unable to read/write either. When I see the upper school pupils and the genuine passion they have for Shakespeare, it doesn't bother me one bit what she is doing now. There is a genuine love of the subject demonstrated by the older pupils so the school must be doing something right.
Tests. Last year several of my FB friends had children going through SATS. Two children at one school had been sent home due to panic attacks and another was off with severe stress. All so teachers can see how well a child is doing? Really? Like a teacher can't tell how well a child is doing without SATS? No wonder the state system is screwed. If ever I wonder if I've done the right thing, then that seals the deal for me. DD is so happy at her school, she has great friends, some of whom come from lentil-weaving families, and some of whom come from big black shiny executive 4 x 4 families, and most of whom are like us, somewhere in the middle families.
Sorry, that post turned into a bit of a long one. It does annoy me that there is the whole "not allowed to say anything anti-Steiner" when the Steiner threads are usually filled with people saying woo-black-paint-sameness-woo-bullying-woo-run bullshit.