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Waldorf/Steiner
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I want to preface this post by stating that I AM NOT WANTING TO SWITCH FROM CM to another method of h’sing!!
With that said, I’ve heard several references recently to Waldorf/Steiner in homeschooling. I have heard there are Waldorf schools but also that it’s a way of homeschooling. I was just wondering if anyone could explain what this method is?
There is a lady who works at our natural foods store. She has blue and purple highlights, a moon tatooed on her forehead, and wears lots of jewelry with pentograms. She asked me once, when we were in the store during school hours, if my children were homeschooled. She said she homeschooled her children until high school using Waldorf teachings based on the work of a guy named Steiner. I have a feeling this lady is into some sort of witchcraft, and wondered if this homeschooling method had something to do with her passing her beliefs on to her children.
This is solely to satisfy my own curiosity. I always look for opportunities to share Christ with people I form relationships with at the grocery store and other places I frequent, and I think it would help if I understood a little more about what she believes…without coming out and asking if she’s a witch. That might be turn off, you know?
Thanks,
Lindsey
Waldorf is not related to witchcraft. It IS a humanistic approach, not centered to any one religion but sort of a generic “spirituality” approach. Think kind of new-agey. Steiner did believe in reincarnation. There are Waldorf schools in many places and in many traditions; the ones in the US are popular with upwardly-mobile suburban types who are not very religious, it seems to me anyway. There ARE Waldorf homeschoolers, and there are normal Christians who have used Waldorf ideas and especially some of the early-education things. IMO the theory has appeal to people with young children but sort of breaks down as the children age. There are even a number of folks who combine CM with Waldorf; I run into one occasionally online. She may or may not be into what you are wondering, but Waldorf is not necessarily part of this. There are probably a lot of yuppie moms of Waldorf kindergarteners who would be horrified at that idea. LOL
So, do you happen to know what type of witchcraft she might be involved with? I don’t know anything about witchcraft or cults.
She did tell me that her children didn’t learn to read until they were 8-9 years old and that the literature for the elementary years is a lot of fairies, myths, goblins, and the like. As much as I don’t know about this method or her lifestyle, it does fascinate me to a degree…just not enough to even think about making a change.
Lindsay, there are so many things out there that I couldn’t begin to imagine unless you were to ask her for specifics. There are a multitude of new-agey religions, nature-based religions, “goddess-worship” religions, what we’d think of as traditional witchcraft type things—we have lots of things in our area, plus a lot of things derived from Eastern religions. I ran into some things (unfortunately) when I was a teenager, but have no idea if they would be much like what this young woman might be involved with. I think you’d have to start up a conversation and ask.
Lindsey, Not teaching her children to read until later is a normal idea in many European countries, that should perhaps not be used against her or be a suggestion of witchcraft. Wiccans and Witches may not be our way, but as far as Wiccans go it is considered a religion on its own and military bases have to allow it. Reading later has been proven to be quite effective, and I was raised on fairy tales and folk tales from around Europe as a child and I am certainly not a witch. I wholeheartedly support the idea of learning math and reading later as it certainly does no harm. There are as Michelle says a lot of New Age things out there – personally I would leave her be, she is who she is, and you might want to keep a good relationship with the health store. As for Waldorf, they are pretty popular in some circles and are humanistic, definitely not witchcraft. I am afraid I do not get upset by other people’s beliefs, they are entitled to them, and I believe I should not judge them – if they treat me respectfully, then I do the same. It takes all sorts to make this world go around and I have met super people who do not believe what I do, and some who have had pretty out there ideas, but they were super people:))
I have to say that I LOVE Steiner and the Waldorf approach, and plan on implementing both Waldorf and CM in my kids’ education. I think particularly that the Waldorf principles of rhythm in early childhood education are especially vital. Waldorf certainly does not have anything to do with witchcraft in any way…it is simply an open, non-religious (but definitely person-based), eclectic approach that allows a great deal of freedom and focuses heavily on the development of the child as a whole person, with a strong focus on art and narrative development, and a de-emphasis on premature academics.
Love and whole-heartedly agree with your last post, missingtheshire. 🙂
I’m surprised you’ve not heard of Waldorf Linsey as it is one of the most well known educational methodolgies in the world, up there with Montessori and Charlotte Mason for sure. It is a unique pedagogy, actually with much to commend it. It was developed by Steiner in the 1920’s and reflects many contemporary European attitudes to learning/spiritual exploration and pshychology. It is very popular, though mostly only in part as the anthroposy element (his own ideas on spirituality) are a bit convoluted. Actually the Waldorf method works with the Christian calander celebrating the christian festivals, that is one of the reasons it didn’t work for me, among others. It also expresses a reverence for nature and the natural world as well as the magic and innocence of childhood. The stories of pixies and gnomes are ways of maintining the special time of early childhood and the Waldorf method encourages use of natural materials and gentle rhythms to support a gentle childhood.
As part of this they also recommend delaying academics in order to preserve the dreamlike state of the early years, this is not uncommon in many european countries and has been shown to be the best approach in study after study. They recommend around 7 years. Much of waldorf is a little arcane, there is definitely a vocabulary to it as with any method. There are aspects I enjoy but on the whole it was too ‘other’ for me, it didn’t resonate with what I want to express to my children. There were too many limitations and I found it way too dogmatic. Just a personal choice.
As for the woman you met maybe she is a witch, maybe not, it really isn’t relevant to you. It sounds likely that she has chosen a curriculum for her kids that reveres nature and nature stories and seasonal changes, something that many people connect to. If you are curious about her beliefs why don’t you ask her a little about what her tatoo means to her or why she chose waldorf, rather than jumping to the conclusion that you know what she is about or that she is a member of a ‘cult’. She may have something valuable to teach you
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