Ok, so the Waldorf school didn't work out too expensive for just haf days. Anyway since all preschools teach some kind of academics should I just send him to a preschool anyway or keep him home so he doesn't learn reading etc. We are going to send him to a Waldorf charter school.
preschools or home
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Oh I'm not going to homeschool him. Just weighing him learning academics compared to j
play as Waldorf philosophy. He is 3.. I'm not too 7fond of him learning reading, math etc at this age but I do want him to learn how to act in a classroom setting. The charter school starts at kindergarden.
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Most developmentally based preschools are not going to be super heavy on reading and math. All the preschools I know run kind of like this:
arrive/ 'sign in' --to just begin learning to write one's name
free play
circle time --stories, weather, maybe calendar for the 4 y.o. group
choice time at centers (make believe, blocks/legos, water table, crafts)
outside play
snack or lunch depending on length of day
Even in a preschool connected to a public school there is always lots of play time and not much in the way of structured academics. Teachers talk about colors and numbers and counting and that sort of thing but it's integrated into the other activities.
This is also the way most Head Start programs run.
arrive/ 'sign in' --to just begin learning to write one's name
free play
circle time --stories, weather, maybe calendar for the 4 y.o. group
choice time at centers (make believe, blocks/legos, water table, crafts)
outside play
snack or lunch depending on length of day
Even in a preschool connected to a public school there is always lots of play time and not much in the way of structured academics. Teachers talk about colors and numbers and counting and that sort of thing but it's integrated into the other activities.
This is also the way most Head Start programs run.
He will start kindergarden at 6. The cut off date for age 5 in kindergarden is in July. His birthday is in Aug.So kindy would start at 4? 5? and be play-based? I would keep him at home until then. The purpose of those first play-based years at Steiner schools are to introduce them to the classroom setting
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I think a waldorf type kindergarten or preschool would have more outdoor time and almost no formal learning. Singing, movement, crafts (using real materials like wool and wood), puppet plays, stories, quiet rest, helping to make snacks or lunch. Children do learn a lot, but it is introduced in a subtle and rich way.
The slow path to academics has worked out brilliantly for my daughter (49 this year, ouch!) and also for both of my grandchildren, a 16 year old girl and an almost 13 year old boy. They are both smart, interested, involved and enjoy learning. Total bookworms, despite not learning how to read until 2nd grade.
So I think there is a difference between a waldorf setting and a regular preschool, but it might not be so obvious unless someone was carefully observing.
The slow path to academics has worked out brilliantly for my daughter (49 this year, ouch!) and also for both of my grandchildren, a 16 year old girl and an almost 13 year old boy. They are both smart, interested, involved and enjoy learning. Total bookworms, despite not learning how to read until 2nd grade.
So I think there is a difference between a waldorf setting and a regular preschool, but it might not be so obvious unless someone was carefully observing.
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Thanks for sharing Deborah. It is interesting to know that although your grandchildren start reading late, they still love reading. I have read about many studies saying that the earlier the child can read, the more they will be interested to read later on. Thus, what you shared is very encouraging.
Finland doesn't push early reading and I've never heard that people in Finland are uninterested.
I think that interest and enjoyment in reading are built by exposure to stories and poetry in early childhood. Having parents who tell stories, sing songs, read books, recite poems, are all activities that help build interest in reading.
I'm a librarian. I see a lot of children who start working hard on reading in kindergarten. Unless a child has a strong aptitude for the written word, the end result of starting to work on reading in kindergarten is a couple more years spent learning to read. Children spend time with really basic readers, move up to easy readers, go through step-up books and then finally get to start on REAL books.
My grandchildren spent 1st grade learning how to write (and how to knit), spent second grade moving from easy books to harder books and by the end of the year were reading the Little House books. So basically they got lots more time to play, color, sing, move and have fun. And because they were very ready to read and eager to read, the process of learning was quite easy. I remember sitting next to my granddaughter around the middle of second grade while she read to me from Winnie the Pooh. What I found startling was that she read with expression. She had already gotten past struggling to figure out each word.
Do you have links to any of these studies? I just did a quick search and I couldn't find any. I did find a couple of articles but they were on the websites of companies selling "teach your child to read early" programs ;-)
A couple of the benefits of learning to read later are
- brain development. Before children can read they need to rely on their memories more. This creates specific pathways in the brain. Once the child learns to read they use this brain function less and some of those pathways are lost. The more they have, the more they retain. Steiner early childhood programs do a lot of storytelling from memory, using props. My 6yo does this now to and it is wonderful.
- loss of some innocence. Once children can read, it's hard to *not* read. So they are opened up to a whole new world of billboards, newspaper and magazine headlines etc from which they had been protected to some degree. The ability to read does not bring with it the maturity and life experience to process, understand and contextualise what is being read.
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I prefer preschool instead of home study. I think kids also need to improve their social skills not just on academics
Do what YOU believe is right for YOUR child, but please believe me, preschool teachers are not there to in any way to harm your child. They are working every day to help and love your children and do what is best. If you know preschool teacher give them a hug, it’s a thankless job.
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