[aspenleaf]

I've been reading through these threads to get a sense of waldorf ed, but could someone please tell me whether very young children are "allowed" to
1)go to public library and read children's books, since some contain character stories like sesame street, or clifford, arthur, etc.
2)can a parent teach their kids numbers or letters
3)up to what age is the 7 pm bedtime?
I would really appreciate if anyone wants to add any other info of the "do's and dont's" for young children.
THANK YOU

 

[raksmama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aspenleaf I've been reading through these threads to get a sense of waldorf ed, but could someone please tell me whether very young children are "allowed" to 1)go to public library and read children's books, since some contain character stories like sesame street, or clifford, arthur, etc. 2)can a parent teach their kids numbers or letters 3)up to what age is the 7 pm bedtime? I would really appreciate if anyone wants to add any other info of the "do's and dont's" for young children. THANK YOU

Hi!
It depends on the school since some Waldorf schools are more hard-core than others but the more traditional ones would definitely not approve of the first 2 activities you mentioned.
I am not sure about the Bedtime. Honestly I remember them saying children needed to go to bed early but I don't remember being told it has to be exactly 7.
Lorraine

 

[Deborah]

My daughter is a very serious waldorf mom (she had 13 years in a waldorf school herself) and she takes both of her children to the library regularly and reads them books...lots of books. She simply chooses books that do not contain media type characters (which seems to me to be simply a matter of good taste <g>).

She has been trying to delay reading for my granddaughter, who is almost 6. Her approach has been quite simple. When gd asked to learn how to write letters, at around 4 1/2, my daughter simply taught her the alphabet in all caps. Lately she has begun to teach herself lowercase, but she hasn't figured it all out yet, and hasn't been reading more than single words. If she reads out a set of letters and asks what it spells we tell her.

This is not mainly coming out of waldorf worshipfulness. My daughter became a fluent reader at an adult level between second and third grade, but she remembers, gratefully, her extended period of pre-reading. She felt that she benefitted from having a longer time of "dreaminess" before plunging into being a serious bookworm.

My family are all fanatic about reading and will learn early with slight encouragement. I learned at 6 and went in a few days from not being able to read more than a few words to reading everything. Unfortunately, my parents had their hands full with five children and I read a lot of stuff that was way too old for me and was scary and disturbing (1984 by Orwell at age 10, for example) and this was one reason I was very comfortable with the delayed reading approach at waldorf. It is okay to shelter children!

My two cents,
Nana

 

[aspenleaf]

I REALLY aprreciate your answers since I'm trying to "get the feel" of this approach. I read something about beeswax crayons. Can the children use crayola stuff like markers and also what if you have plastic toys at home, are you supposed to get rid of them and only have wooden ones and only fabric dolls.

 

[Rhonwyn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aspenleaf I REALLY aprreciate your answers since I'm trying to "get the feel" of this approach. I read something about beeswax crayons. Can the children use crayola stuff like markers and also what if you have plastic toys at home, are you supposed to get rid of them and only have wooden ones and only fabric dolls.

There is the Waldorf ideal and then there is the Waldorf reality. At our school, you will find that only the teachers themselves and a few families come close to the Waldorf ideal. Our family has plastic toys (Playmobil and Lego) but we try to keep out the cheap, tacky variety. My kids have crayola crayons and beeswax crayons available at home. (Beeswax crayons make great Holiday presents along with beeswax.) They seem to prefer the beeswax crayons. We also have markers and stamps that they use sometimes. We have never done the 7 PM bedtime due to when dh gets home from work. We go to the library all the time and were never discouraged. Every family should do what makes sense for them. If you jump into Waldorf with both feet and want to strive for the ideal you will be encouraged but most teachers are realistic and don't expect families to achieve the ideal. The teacher may suggest some things that would help your particular child. Our teachers asked us not to listen to music or the radio in the mornings before school but that was the only thing we were asked to change about our lives.