early readers in a Waldorf school?

[ecoteat]

The more time passes as a teacher and a mother, the more Waldorf-y I find I am becoming. There are plenty of holes in my understanding of the philosophy, though, and I'm wondering about our options when dd goes to school. She is 2.5 and goes to a Waldorf-based preschool 2 afternoons a week. She is the youngest of a group of 8 kids up to age 5. There is a Waldorf school we are considering starting at kindergarten. She is pretty advanced with language and is already trying to spell and read completely on her own. I'm sure she'll be reading when she is 3. I know reading is not important in the early grades, but what does a reader do in a classroom where people are not reading? If your child was an early reader in a Waldorf school (not homeschooled) what was your experience? Can anyone explain or point me to readings on literacy in the early grades?

[Deborah]

It is possible that your child won't be an early reader, so there may not be a problem. My granddaughter went in and out of being interested in letters and writing and reading but didn't actually start reading until 2nd grade when she was actually 8.

Whether waldorf will work for an early reader depends on the teacher, I think. If your daughter would enjoy playing and cooking and singing and watching puppet plays and hearing stories then she'll like nursery and kindergarten, reading or not reading. My grandson loves it (he is 5 and in kindy).

First grade might or might not work. It would depend on the teacher.

[philomom]

This is actually one of the reasons we didn't go Waldorf. My local Waldorf school had many, many kids that did not read until nine years old. My dd was reading in kindergarten. The teachers said they didn't discourage early reading but there were no books in the first grade classroom. It made us nervous cause the dh and I are avid readers.

Good luck.

[boatbaby]

I'll chime in here.

I agree with the previous poster that she may not be reading by kindergarten even though she is ahead of the curve now. My DS knew ALL of his letter at 20 months and at 2.5 was starting with sounds. But then he dropped it out of the blue. He didn't want to feel pressured (DH pushed it a little in my opinion b/c he was so excited) and he found other more interesting things to engage in.
His thing is, he LOVES books and stories. So reading, he figured out, slowed him down. It meant doing simpler stories, for a short time, than he was used to, so he backed off. He wanted his chapter books. Which is FINE! What's important to me is that he love learning and love books. He is 4.5 and CAN read and sound out words, but most of the time refuses to. Or he will read and page and then say "Mom I am not a performing monkey, let's get on with the story."

We DO plan to home school, but he goes to a preschool 3 days a week now. For ME, I am not worried if he can do things that the other kids are still learning or vice versa. I just want him to have fun and love learning different ways to express himself. It's not like your DD will FORGET to read if they are not doing it at the school. It's not like you won't be able to fill her reading needs at home. It's not like she's going to get bored, because at this age it's going to be a fun, creative, expressive, active place where she will be engaged whether they are reading or not.

It's a tough decision and you know your child best, but take it one step at a time. SO MUCH changes between 2.5 and age 5. Good luck!

[_Kira]

Hi Amy,

I know you're not alone with your concern. But I don't think you need to worry! I went to a Waldorf school myself, and though my mom had done her best NOT to encourage early reading (she did a lot of storytelling, rhymes and verses and so on instead) I learned to read on my own by the age of five - poor mom When I started 1st grade (at age seven, I live in Northern Europe) I was already an avid reader. But despite us not having printed books in the classroom until 3rd grade I loved being in school! There was so much to learn and do in the classroom that I never missed reading - I did that at home insted, for hours upon hours. As children in Waldorf schools don't have homework in the early grades there is plenty of time for that!

I hope this cleared things up a bit for you! Good luck with what ever your choice will be.

Regards,

Kira

[tbone_kneegrabber]

One thing to think about is that school in general is only part of your child's day. There are a lot of things I want to encourage in my child that they might do in school. So just becasue they don't read print books at school, you can read print books at home. ykwim?

[fadedgirl]

Originally Posted by tbone_kneegrabber

One thing to think about is that school in general is only part of your child's day. There are a lot of things I want to encourage in my child that they might do in school. So just becasue they don't read print books at school, you can read print books at home. ykwim?

I totally agree with this. I would actually prefer my child not learn to read at school, because I believe its one of those things that (after adequate exposure to reading and books and various play-oriented pre-skill experience) will happen naturally, biologically. And that trying to force this can be detrimental to the child's brain development. I don't want a well-intentioned teacher or testing requirements messing with this!

I know I'm a homeschooler and you didn't want to hear from me but my daughter was previously Waldorf-schooled, conventionally-schooled, and will probably be Waldorf-schooled again at some point in the future. I disagree with the Waldorf stance of withholding print books and in trying to avoid having a child learn how to read, even if I don't mind that they don't do this in school. If the child is *ready* and seeking it out, then give it to them in the home and let them do what they will with it. My daughter exploded into reading a few months back, but isn't so interested in it currently. I'm sure this will change back into focused interest on her part again in the future. And I'd have no qualms putting her into a Waldorf school right now where they would not address reading, I sincerely think its better that way.

My DD also knew her alphabet at an early age (before 17 mos). As other posters have stated, knowing this and having an interest in reading at an early age doesn't mean the child will read super early, although it happens (I thought the same thing, then began to think she'd regressed several times -- same thing for numbers & counting). It just means they are checking it out, digesting it, and assimilating the information in their own way. I've finally learned that learning is an ebb and flow, and as long as there is quality exposure to things, to just let it be ~~ and it just happens like beautiful magic. (ok its late, sorry for the rambling)

Here is a fairly concise summary on the goals & methods of literacy in Waldorf:

http://www.michaelmaspress.com/guide3.htm