I don't think the teacher who runs the school/environmental education center would get into power struggle with five year old children over group activity participation.
Actually...I would advise against Waldorf for a child like this. While my kids have not gone to Waldorf schools, I am personally familiar with them and they are rather more dogmatic and rigid than they appear. There is a lot of complex philosophical structure behind the seemingly natural/hippie Waldorf environment, and their basic beliefs are not friendly to an academically oriented young child.
This is going to be very Waldorf school-specific, same as not all Montessori schools are the same. Also not all gifted kids are extremely academic - not even EG/PG kids. Kids like my ds sometimes have personalities that are more into inventing, creating, experimenting and thinking outside the box than they are into sitting down and zooming ahead in reading or math when they are in early elementary. I've known similar kids who've fit in well at a local Waldorf - *but* again, it depends on the Waldorf school. And you also wouldn't want to send your child to Waldorf if *you* as the parent are really bought into feeling you want your kid to be breezing ahead in reading/math etc because Waldorf isn't going to be teaching those things specifically in the early years.
I think that ultimately what helps students the most who are challenged with anxiety etc over school is not so much the school philosophy as much as the teacher-student ratio (smaller is better) and having a kind, caring teacher staff who really want to pull the child in and integrate them with the class, make them feel loved, safe, and a part of the "team" that makes up the classroom or student body.
polarbear
