I'm curious as to how you would rate the overall learning experience at your school. Do you feel you were adequately educated in the basics a child should know by that age? It seems to me that Waldorf spends vast amounts of time on religious mythology and the ancient world, for instance. OTOH, the math curriculum looks rather good.
My overall learning experience was pretty positive. In reflecting back I would have liked the opportunity to learn more and faster, but I think that desire is more reflective of me than of Waldorf. With out digging up my old main lesson books I can think of a few things that would not work for a child like my DD. For example we didn't really do any reading until 2nd grade at which time most childrens reading progressed rather fast from what I can recall. So, while educating children happened at different times from when they may have happened in public school, by the time I graduated I didn't feel significantly behind or any less prepared. I believe Waldorf had a very positive influence on my love for learning. While I am probably hard wired to love to learn, Waldorf certainly nurtured the beauty of learning a new topic in a fairly holistic manner. I wish I could ask my mom how she felt about the experience, but she passed away some time ago. When I did eventually go to public school there were some holes in my math curriculum. I am not a particularly math oriented person, but I feel the way Waldorf incorporates real life and nature into the math curriculum is pretty awesome. I still remember drawing my first nautilus in 3rd grade.
As for the mythology, it was a portion of the education I really enjoyed. For example we did a whole block on the "stories of creation." They were presented as stories and nothing more. However, I am sure YMMV based on the teacher. I am sure others are correct in the religious undertones of the curriculum, though I cannot say I remember any of them. As for they Mythology being Eurocentric, from what I remember that seems correct.
I think it's also reflective of the real world - there are going to be a lot of circumstances for most of us where we are numbers... life as adults is going to be a mix of "being just another adult" vs finding your meaningful place you fit in.
As always Polarbear, you have so eloquently said what I tried to say. My early years were fairly hippy-ish and non-mainstream, who am I kidding, sometimes we were totally off the grid. So in that sense Waldorf meshed with my upbringing. However, as a fairly intense person, I have a hard time being "just a number." I do think if I had more exposure to some of those aspects of life a bit younger I would have been better able to manage those sorts of experiences in high school and especially in college.
I should add I do think Waldorf has an amazing place in educating children. There is really a lot of beauty in how Waldorf approaches education and I totally understand why a parent would choose Waldorf. However, I do think of it as more of a lifestyle choice. I can see very significant issues arising from the combination of MG+ kiddos and rigidity of Waldorf.
