I have read plenty about Waldorf and honestly I consider it to be verging on cultish, or at least quite nutty. However, I do like the heavy emphasis on outdoor and pretend play and natural materials. We have a really poor selection of preschools available to us presently and Waldorf might be the best of a set of poor choices, but I'm nervous. It would just be two or three half-days a week for the 4 to 5 preschool year, so really not much time. DS really is outgrowing his current in-home situation; a new school is a must for next year.
DS (almost 4) is a very sweet and enjoyable child--less prickly and intense than his sister. He loves pretend play and is socially skilled and pretty easygoing in many ways. However, he is getting kind of...laser-focused lately. He is very good at chess for his age, is very focused on learning everything possible about his topics of interest, and is a strong beginning reader, probably at mid-K level, though this seems to be changing daily. Math seems strong as well and he is able to write. I expect him to be reading fluently long before he would start at this school in the fall.
The school is well-established and beloved. The director knows and likes my son and many of my friends go there. I am comfortable with the group of parents and like them, but I honestly do think a lot of it hogwash and worry that my son would be seen as problematic due to his high ability. However, I am thinking it may be no worse and possibly better than, for instance, a heavily academic religious preschool or corporate center care. We would never get into the one MOntessori in town.
Thoughts? Am I crazy to even consider it?
