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I attended Waldorf K-8 and can say the observations and reservations others have voiced are real. I can say the best things for me looking back were
-being evaluated based on your own ability. IOW if the teacher doesn't think you tried your best and produced sub par work based on their observation you received a lower evaluation.
-a love and respect for nature
-an appreciation of others differences (the ability level in my class varied greatly)
-the emphasis on the arts

But the list of negatives is HUGE and most have been mentioned above. One that has not been mentioned was a lack of exposure to standardized testing and the culture of public schools. It was very jarring for me to learn how to navigate and succeed in a school where you were just another kid to educate and not viewed as a person.

While I liked my time in Waldorf, the educational philosophy is not right for our family. While my DD would love some parts of the education It would be disasterous in the long run for her.

Although this is more of a negative comment on public education, not Waldorf.

I must say, I understand why people are drawn to Waldorf. Our local school gives the kids something like 1.5 hours a day of outdoor time (some of which is lesson-based, but still). Compare this to my 5th-grader's 15 minute-recess. The materials are lovely and the homework is quite limited/nonexistent until the children are fairly old. You don't have to deal with the insane standardized test culture. If you are hippie-ish/non-mainstream, you are surrounded by others who share your values. I have days where the school looks nice to me, especially since I pass by it often and see the children playing in the fields and trees. But then I think about the root beliefs which I consider bizarre and how much of the curriculum would drive my exact-minded, impatient children insane...

TNC, 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.

It is also worth mentioning here that Charlotte Mason has very similar primary educational philosophy and pedagogy-- while not specifically Steiner-derived, and Biblical rather than, well-- whatever-Waldorf-is-- it has the same reliance on fairly rigid copywork and curricular choices, and has the same dogmatic belief in child development.

We used elements of CM while homeschooling, because I thought that the expectations suited my then-4yo rather well, and the focus on natural science and literature was a good fit for her-- but it did her no favors to limit her written expectations like that, and frankly we then spent the following TEN YEARS playing "catch up" with that skill set, which lagged all the others.

CM believes that until children are 7 or 8, memorized "recitation" work is about what they are capable of. We clearly didn't believe that, based on the child we had in front of us. We did have DD keep a nature journal, and do some copywork beginning at 5. We also (being non-theist) skipped the Biblical memory work, which is otherwise a pretty core thing in CM.

It's an interesting philosophy of education, however, and one that I found had a lot of positives. As a homeschooling thing, though-- I think that a SCHOOL based on CM, if I could imagine such a thing, would wind up looking very much like a Waldorf school, with the attendant shortcomings (IMO).

TNC, thank you for sharing your experiences with us!


ITA! Although, our ds is (or was for the first part of this school year) going through this transition back to public school (not from Waldorf) during his first year of high school, and while it's been frustrating at times seeing how he is suddenly in a situation where he's more of a "number" than an individual, 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.


I don't have much of anything to add to the info that's already been shared above, but fwiw, one thing that I didn't see mentioned that I found very limiting (jmo) at our local Waldorf was that the "ancient world" was the European world - there was a whole 1/2-3/4 of the globe that seemed to be completely inconsequential according to our local school curriculum. Please know, I only am assuming this based on reading the school's literature and talking to school staff briefly when looking into the school, and I have no idea if this applies to Waldorf schools in general.

polarbear

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.


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.

I agree--I've noticed this Eurocentric bent as well. It's another way in which the curriculum feels very dated/traditional to me. I also notice traditionalism regarding gender roles--girls always portrayed wearing dresses, etc. Note, I think in real life most people involved in Waldorf have progressive attitudes, but the materials do send a message IMO. The schools here also are almost 100% white. Then there's the whole "We don't use black crayons" business. Oy.

One complaint I have heard IRL, too, is that social issues between children are not well-addressed in Waldorf--they are left to work things out in a way that could be described as a bit Lord of the Flies. I believe there is some kind of philosophy behind this regarding inherent personalities, past lives, etc.

If I seem oddly knowledgeable/interested in all this, I am, largely because it is a big part of my social world.

Thank you for sharing more, TNC. I am always very interested to talk to adults who have been educated in this tradition.

It has to be noted, though, that the Waldorf view of the individual is very much constrained by the 7 year developmental stages and the combination of the four temperaments "assigned" to the child, and if a. Child has special needs it may be attributed to bad karma...(says the great granddaughter of one of the first Steiner adepts of the era and granddaughter of a girl educated at the very first Waldorf school...I am the first real sceptic of the family!)

The traditionalism was alive and well when I was there. I spent the traditional 2 years in Kindergarten and we learned how to make bread from scratch, card wool etc. IMO super cool for young kids! However, starting in first grade my teacher was covertly chauvinistic (bad luck I guess.) We didn't mesh well, and I had him for 8 years! While he did a nice job in his art (he was also the art teacher) and in creating an enjoyable learning experience, there was a lot of boys vs. girls in our class and it was very frustrating for me.

As for the black crayons! I truly laughed out loud when I read your comment. I don't remember when we were able to use black colored pencils, but it was quite late and we were all totally excited to use the "forbidden" color.

I have to say I had not given much thought as to how social issues were addressed. I can say I was bullied quite a bit and had always thought it was just the way school was when I was growing up. In reflecting upon it, not much was done about the way I was treated. I was encouraged to speak up for myself, but I think that is what got me into trouble in the first place. I don't know if that is still the way it is today given the heightened awareness around the ramifications of bullying. As for the past lives, well that doesn't surprise me at all. My mom was into past lives and their influence upon our personalities today. While the influence of past lives on life today seems fairly ridiculous to me today, their incorporation into Waldorf makes sense based on what I experienced.

My understanding is that past lives and the 4 temperaments Tigerle mentions are considered to be the driving force behind many childhood relationship problems. I think birth history also factors in. It is thought that children need to work this out mostly solo AFAIK.