Am Loolah

Probably a bit random, but ...

We are investigating moving our 11 year old son from his current school and have been looking at the nearby Steiner school.

Just wondering if anyone on here or in the UK has any expereince of Steiner schools and/or the Waldorf teaching methods? A long shot I know.

BEVS

Ask Karonious to pass on a message to Paladin. They are still friends.
He and his ex were heavily into Steiner schools. I went and looked up the school in Mot. for him.

Am Loolah

Thanks for that - will do.

Englishmum

My best friend's daughter (almost 12) attends a Waldorf/Steiner school (formerly in NSW, Australia and now the USA)...and now my friend is wondering if she's done the right thing. Her daughter has always been a bit of a 'dreamer' and struggled in her local public/state school, so she was enrolled in the Steiner system. (It's much cheaper than other private schools). She is now in the year below her peers (due to the international move) but although loves art and nature, doesn't seem to be making much progress in maths or the sciences. Her younger brother also attended a Steiner/Waldorf school for a year and hated it...no reading or writing and he didn't like having to follow the teacher into the classroom with a flute like the Pied Piper lol! He now goes to a local public/state school.

There seems to be some vagueness about what happens to these kids when they leave and go on to further/higher education...if they're gifted in the arts I think they will have some success, but I don't think they are well prepared for business/commerce/industry. I've visited the school and it's in a beautiful setting, has a farm, shop, cafe and students come from around the world to learn the eurythmy (dancing/drumming) and the parents ask if one is involved in 'the community'.... but my impression is that it shelters the pupils a lot from the real world - fine if one is a bohemian type, into green issues and want to be an artist, poet, musician, writer, farmer etc. but if one wants to be say, an engineer, work in IT, finance etc. then maybe it's not the best fit for someone wishing to go into those fields.

Some comments here:

http://www.waldorfcritics.org/active...phGilmour.html

http://sites.google.com/site/waldorf...our-experience

http://waldorfcritics.org/active/art...ive_educat.htm

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1111114056265

http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles.html

http://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/clues

Mgee

Several colleagues of mine have attended Steiner school, become engineers/economists and now have good jobs with an international telecom giant, so I really can't agree with you on that. The only difference I could think of that they seem to be more interested in creative pasttime activities like playing in a band or acting more often than the average IT-people, but that's really the only difference I can come up with.

It's true that the Steiner approach is different from the conventional approach, and I think this difference is emphasised when the Steiner system is contrasted with the British system. The Finnish schooling system differs a lot from the British one (start at 7, same curriculum for all, no national exams before A-levels), and even here the Steiner system is seen as an alternative approach.

I went throught the regular Finnish schooling system, and as a kid I was really jealous when some neighbourhood kids got to go to the Steiner school. Their school seemed much more interesting than mine: when we had a biology lesson, we read about the plants from the textbooks in the classroom, whereas the Steiner kids went to the field to lear about the plants growing there and made their own mini-studies of what they'd learnt. They staged plays in various languages whereas we learnt languages from textbooks. It's a lot more learning by doing approach than the conventional school system, and at least the kids I knew always seemed interested in what they were doing.

There was some voiced critique here in the 80's because the Steiner system relies a lot less on textbooks and more on personal learning through experimenting, but nowadays it's accepted as part of the education system but with a different approach to teaching. It's true that during the earliest years there's an emphasis on arts and play and a child's own learning style and pace, and the academic subjects are then emphasised during the later years when the basics for learning have been laid on an individual basis.

The Steiner system is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, and if a parent decides to put a child into the Steiner system, the parent(s) should be well aware of the teaching philosophy practiced in Steiner schools. It most certainly is different from the conventional teaching style, and in the similar manner as the "regular" system, doesn't suit every kid -or parent.

Am Loolah

Thank you for your comments. I am aware of the basic differences, and the "regular" system as per your quote above Mgee, is definately not working for him at the school he is currently in. Hmmmm, lots to research over the weekend! Thanks for the links too.

Kate in NZ

Hi

I don't have any personal experience of Steiner schools but a friend of mines children attend the Steiner school in Welcome Bay - which is presumably the one you are looking at. They are very pleased with it and if you have any specific questions I could ask her for you.

Him and Me

Hi,

My niece went to a steiner school in the UK and her mum pulled her out this year because she wasn't learnng any of the basic lessons..e.g maths/english/science.

She now goes to a state school but she had to be "home taught" by her mum and nana (who's a retired teacher) over the christmas holidays to help her get up to speed with the others in her class ( i think she's in year 7, she's 12).

Now this was a person who truely belived in steiner schools and even did class room assistant in 1 but had a complete about turn when she realised her daughter wasn't "learning" anything.

In saying all this though my niece is a well balanced happy child who has a great love for music, poetry, arts, and writing so not all that bad came from going there really

Am Loolah

Again, thank you both for your replies. The Steiner school rang back today to say they wouldn't take him at his age for the last 2 years as he'd have missed all their principals and basics. Never mind - back to the drawing board!

Psychopandy

As it looks like our destination is going to be Tauranga i have also found the comments helpful.
A couple of people have mentioned the 'steiner' school in an almost 'wow did you know we had one' sort of way. I didnt really know what to be expecting from one - now i know. Not sure its for me x

Thanks.

Anyone got any thoughts on the welcome bay primary - the website isnt working and i have heard some very 'iffy' reports - but that would be our closest for No2 son if we end up where the OH wants to be.

No worries if it gets missed.

Psycho x