Waldorf Steiner & changing to mainstream

[suzun]

Hi My 2 boys 6 and 8yrs are at a steiner school for various reasons we are unhappy and want to remove them.

They will be very behind their peers and 6 yr old is in kindergarten and if we went mainstream he would be in class 2 by now.

My 8 yr old is in class 1 but in mainstream he would be in class 4.

My 6 yr old can only write his name.

We made a huge educational mistake with them but i feel really awful to put them through all this but we know the school is not right.

Also they are only used to half days.

My 6 yr old is not interested in reading or writing.

How do i go about getting them interested and catching up with the others.I dont want them to stand out like a sore thumb

Any advise welcome.

regards
s xx

Our 7 nearly 8 yr old was in exactly that position this time last yesar.She learnt to read in about a fortnight, and after a couple of months I found her reading Harry Potter...

I think they're both terribly young, and if it's a good school, with support they will be absolutely fine. I think the reading and writing is the least of the problems actually.And they'll be so delighted to be in an environment where there are books, different toys and learning materials, they can use any colours they like, draw with lines.....they'll also respond to the order and boundaries of a normal classroom, unlike kide at steiner, which is a free for all, except when they're meant to sit by candlelight and listen to a sing song hour long story about fairies without moving....

Christ alive, is that really what Steiner is all about? WHY do so many Mners rave merrily about these schools??! Poor kids.. no books and an overdose of fairies by candlelight..

Eponine, there aren't many mnetters who rave.... where? Have you seen the Steiner threads? Their philosophy - anthroposophy- is based on a belief of reincarnation about black races being lower spiritually than blond aryan ones..... Steiner believed that blond hair bestowed intelligence... really.....

Sorry was probably a bit of an assumption/exaggeration but have certainly seen some "virtues extolled" before.. haven't we also got Mners with Steiner in their name?

Northernrefugee thanks again for replying.

The thing is my boys want to stay but we are not part of 'the community' and they don't have many friends.

My youngest has become quite withdrawn around most of the kids there and when he is away from the school he becomes himself again.

In KG the children seem really aggressive and the teacher deals with it in an airy fairy way.Which does not work.

After my dds experience you can see why i want out quickly.

I'm out on a flippin school trip with them tomorrow and it so hard to keep smiling lol.

Yes, you're right....they just don't discuss the scandalous beliefs of their guru an founder...... it scares them... and they probably don't know about it and would rather not. they prefere fo the schools to brainwash them or keep them in the dark; easire that way.

I thin k the thing that gets to me almost more than anything on these discussions, is when the anthroposophists( Steiner's name for he philosophy/religion the schools are based on) try to argue their way around his statements about negros, aryans and the white and black races. oit makes me really {angry} There's no argument out of it .NONE, but they try....sick

I have to admit that I have never had any experience of Steiner schools. Steiner never appealed to me.

I think that the summer holiday gives you time to teach your children the basics of reading.

I suggest you buy the "Jolly Phonics Handbook" from Amazon. A lot of state schools use Jolly phonics. If you do twenty minutes a day of Jolly Phonics you children will be able to read a little bit by September.

www.amazon.co.uk/Phonics-Handbook-Teaching-Reading-Spelling/dp/1870946073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books &qid=1214426531&sr=8-1

Prehaps your child would also like the Jolly phonics DVD and Jolly Songs CD to listen to in the car.

I think you need to sell it your eight year old that these things are for his younger brother. The problem with Jolly Phonics is tha its aimed at 5 to 7 year olds and an eight year old might find it a bit babyish.

If your eight year old finds jolly phonics too babyish you might try something like
toe by toe

Once your children have learnt to blend letters then they might benefit from some decodable books, like jelly and bean or Jolly readers or Ruth Miskin books or Oxford Reading Tree songbirds.

Have you spoken to your children's new school. They may be able to help you with resources and set up an IEP (individual education plan) to help your children catch up.

I would second Reallytired's recommendation, Jolly phonics is fab. We didn't do tv until then so the novelty was still there.
they use puppets in the dvd's so it's a gentle and fun way to learn.
we got some stencils to go with it, I think they were called stencilets or something, will try and find on amazon...

they really are called stencilets

The website www.starfall.com is really good

I have recently met a couple of mothers who are very interested in sending their children to steiner schools, I have pointed out this site to them. There is also a new nursery which has the same philosophy been advertised in the local nct magazine.

hi suzun, I just wanted to give you a bit of reassurance re. catching up - the local state primary school my children attend happens to be next to a US military base, and there is a constant influx and turnover of US army/airforce children who have only just moved here. They get children at your kids' age who haven't had any formal school all the time, and are very routine at getting them up to speed. It doesn't seem to take long at all with a little bit of extra help outside the classroom, and often these children have no input/help at all from their parents due to difficult social circumstances... I am sure yours will be fine.

Thank you all and geekgirl that was reasurring (stories i need to hear).

I phoned the new school today and she reasurred me there was a lot of support and it was the least of things to worry about.

Will get the jolly phonics books though.

bws
suzun