waldorf support thread - Page 2

[sarasprings]

Hi. My son and I went to the parent-child workshop the second half of the year. I was not impressed by it and I think we've decided not to send our son to Waldorf, but I'm interested in learning more since we have 2 years before making our final decision.

Originally Posted by Deborah

Anyway, the waldorf approach of linking ideas together and teaching across subjects was very exciting and opened up my thinking.

This is something that I didn't see. I know that the units lend themselves to this, but I didn't see evidence of the higher lever thinking that should accompanyt it. When attending an informational session, student reports were in the back of the room as examples of student work. They were very neatly done, but completely lower level thinking. In the fourth grade classroom, there was a book report assignment described on the board and, again, it was very basic and would not require much thought to complete.

There are a lot of things I like about Waldorf. I totally agree, as would many educators who are not Waldorf associated, with the things in Understanding Waldorf Education by Jack Petrash. But, those are all the positives and none of the negatives are addressed in the book.

Anyway, I look forward to learning about others' experiences.

[Rhonwyn]

Thank you for restarting this thread!

I went away on vacation and all hell breaks loose on the Tribal board. I don't have time to read everyone's comments yet but I'll get back to you after I catch up with work!

One thing I will say, I don't like having to limit this thread to the learning at school thread. What about all the Waldorf homeschoolers? I would like to have a support/discussion thread that includes them too.

[lauraess]

Rhonwyn< Yes, Maybe theres already Talk of Waldorf homeschooling there. I imagine you have already gone to look and to do something about it.
but, thanks for coming back here. we missed you
laura

[Rhonwyn]

Quick reply on media

The no media - no TV, no movies, no video has to do with brain development and what the visual media does to the brain connections. Most other waldorf parents expect there to be no media during playdates but they won't care if your kid watches TV as long as the kid isn't obsessed with it or wanting to play Power Rangers all the time.

TV is easier to cut out than you think. A big benefit for us is that the kids get bored less.

[momtokay]

hi rhonwyn. so glad to see you posting on this thread. i'm glad parents wouldn't mind limited tv in other kiddos and no way would the tv be on during a playdate. i must admit that is one thing i am thrilled about dd meeting some "waldorf" buddies. no worries about what she might see on tv when she gets to an age to go on playdates without me. we may try cutting out the tv around here, if i can get dh on board with my plan. he's really the tv watcher in our house.

[megincl]

This is a bit OT, so I apologize in advance:

I spent all 15 years of school before college going to Waldorf -- a truly wonderful experience for me.

I now have a 14mo son who needs some part time daycare next year, and I'd love for him to be in a Waldorf-based care. I'm in the Cambridge, MA area and am wondering if anyone knows of folks who do this around here. I have to contact the Lexington school, but thought other folks might know where I should look.

thanks, and if you want to ask me any questions about waldorf growing up, life post-waldorf, etc, feel free!

take care,
megin

[Rhonwyn]

Waldorf daycare

We found Waldorf daycare with an ad at the local organic food market. The woman who had the daycare had an ad at the store. It wasn't a preschool but rather daycare in a home with no TV, natural toys and organic, vegetarian food.

If the local Waldorf school doesn't know of a Waldorf daycare, I would ask if you could run an ad in their school newsletter. You might be able to find a nanny share or someone who watches a few kids in their home.

Good luck!

[Deborah]

Hi,

You might try contacting Sophia's Hearth. They do a waldorf day care training program and might be able to link you up with a graduate in your area. They should have a website. They are in NH. My daughter did their program before she started her home day care (in Vermont, sorry, not close enough).
Good luck!
Nana

[mcmrymoon]

should i even bother now?

my friend's son started waldorf preschool last year. they aren't sure whether or not he will go back because he was unofficially diagnosed with asperger's syndrome and she isn't sure how waldorf will handle that. anyway - whenever she would talk about waldorf my mouth would drool. i told dh about it and he'd listen with half an ear because of the cost. so - ds is signed up for public school kindergarten in the fall.

well - tonite dh says "i want to check out the waldorf school" !!! we had just come back from a b-day party where my friend and her sister (her son goes to a waldorf school too) were raving about it again and it finally sunk into dh's head. YEAH!!!

but - now, after reading these threads i'm concerned they won't accept us. tv is our issue. dh has NOOOOOOOOOOOOO problem letting ds watch as much tv as he wants. also - my mom watches my boys 2x a week. she sits ds in front of the tv ALL DAY! she even feels its okay to put the 13 month old in front of the tv!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i've tried taking to her about this - i've argued extensively about this with her and dh - but to no avail. this is a battle i can't win. my mom doesn't have the energy to play all day with the boys - tv is easy for her.

ds is a very sensitive, very intelligent boy. i think he'd do well at waldorf. what should i do now???

[Deborah]

Don't give up! Go visit the waldorf school and talk over the TV problem with the admissions person. They have seen it all and may have some suggestions. It is worth trying, anyway. Good luck!

Nana

[Rhonwyn]

After school care, break care and summer care.

Does your school support it? Ours is being totally rearranged and the woman who ran it has been laid-off with no replacement in site. She will finish out the summer care camps but after that who knows. Some of the teachers believe that one parent should be home with the kids which I agree is ideal, but excuse me, I can't afford the school on one salary! My husband and I have been able to arrange our schedules so that we don't need after school care but we really do need break care and summer care. Where do they want me to send my kids during the summer? To the YMCA camp where they watch videos and eat crappy snacks?

Sorry for the vent. I am really worried about this.

[Mama Lori]

Hi, we're a Waldorf family here. Rhonwyn, re: your question about summer care. Our Waldorf school has afterschool care. They don't have summer care, but they certainly are supportive of the fact that parents need to work. In terms of "where do they want me to send my kids...", in our case, it is not up to them to tell me where to send my kids, that is up to the parents! Do what you think is best for your own kids. In our area there are a couple of Waldorf preschools that provide summer childcare for school-age children, but we did not opt for those because they are too far away in distance from us. You could also look around for moms that provide Waldorf-based care in their homes, or just care that you like - this can be the "next best thing" to your child being at home with you. Or, depending on how much care you need, you could organize a co-op of 4 or 5 moms to take turns watching each other's children in your homes. For us, we like the idea of another responsible mom taking care of our son, so we have our friend who has 2 girls take care of him when school is not in session (for like 4 hours a day). I like this option because I know she is a good mom and she is already mothering her own children and so I know she will mother mine. Hope this helps!

[Rhonwyn]

We need full day care during the summer.

Unfortunately my husband and I both work full time and we need summer care from 8 until 4. I could pay another Mom to watch them but that is a lot to ask of another family and I wouldn't be able to pay for the care through pre-tax dependent care account that my company lets us set up. The summer camp at the school is the best thing because the cost is a tax deduction for us, it is all day and the kids are in a low key camp with crafts and lots of playtime, and no TV or media crap. We have tried YMCA camp and Boys and Girls Club camp and while they often have great counselors, the camps are also often loud, choatic and not media free.

Asking what the school wants me to do is a rhetorical question. I don't expect them to tell me what to do but I know that the YMCA camps, etc. are not conducive to a Waldorf education so if the school wants to have kids that are in the Waldorf groove, they need to provide some sort of care program during breaks and summer. If the camps are planned right, they can even make money for the school because they attract neighborhood kids whose parents are looking for low key options.

I think it is the Denver School whom I received an enrollment packet from, that has a great program from what I can tell in the literature. The have before school, after school, break and summer care. They seem to grapse the reality that many families have two full time working parents. Our teachers (while I love them and they are great teachers) seem to be disconnected from reality when it comes to the fact that you have to have two people work to afford the school. In a perfect world, the school would be cheap and one parent would be able to stay home or only work part time.

[Mama Lori]

Well if you found a program at the school that you like then that's great!! It sounds like a good program! I agree with you that Waldorf schools should support the reality of both parents in many families needing to work, and it helps a whole lot if they can offer a program themselves. I wish our school did, but it is a public school so I'm not sure how that would work. They do offer afterschool care during the school year. That "perfect world" can also be achieved by having a Waldorf school that is a public charter school, rather than private. Obviously that's not available in all areas. Even then, though, parents are expected to donate SOME money (only what they can afford) and LOTS of time to help the school run, as is the case with all public schools but especially a charter.

[Rhonwyn]

It is a great program.

That is why I am concerned that it may disappear.

If our school was a charter school, then one of us wouldn't have to work negating the need for summer care. I don't see that happening here in WA. Charter schools haven't passed the voters yet and also there is a strong separation of church and state feeling here that would shoot down almost all of the spritual stuff in Waldorf.

[Mama Lori]

That does sound frustrating. Maybe ask the other parents at your school in similar situations what they do?

Ditto about strong feelings of separation of church and state here too; but this doesn't have to matter for the Waldorf charter school movement because it's very possible to have a school based on the Waldorf curriculum and not be overtly spiritual about it. But obviously it does take it being passed as law, and, a group of very dedicated parents and teachers to start it.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

I wanted to mark this thread. DC is starting a Waldorf "inspired" pre-school on Tuesday. I'm sure I'll want to discuss with you.

[Rhonwyn]

Thank you Cynthia!!!!! Blaah. What a depressing few days it has been here.

We just had our latern walk. It was nice but not as nice as the ones in Kindergarten. The Kindergarten teachers seem to be the best at having meaningful rituals. The parents talked too much and no one knew the songs at this one. The luminary path was beautiful. It is too bad more of the parents weren't inspired enough to quell the chit-chat.