theres a educational movement called the Waldorf Method thats popular in Europe, that has spread to the US, mostly in the west and the northeast.

they have pre-school through high-schools. its based on a holistic educational method developed by some guy named Rudolph Steiner. so, sometimes called the Steiner method. he developed some some system called "anthroposophy" which was an offshoot of the "theosophical movement" of the late 19th century.

has anyone heard of this stuff? anyone ever go to a Waldorf School, or know anyone who was either a student or teacher there?

There's one Waldorf School in NC, that i know of. its called the "Emerson Waldorf School" in Chapel Hill

http://www.emersonwaldorf.org/

3/4/2007 5:33:45 PM

wheres waldorf?

3/4/2007 7:06:26 PM

well, thats a start.

at least it wont die with 0 replies now

3/4/2007 7:15:52 PM

never heard of it

why do you ask?

3/4/2007 7:19:13 PM

Oh man...I've heard of them. I was even forced to watch their video once where they interviewed kids who went there.

Think Montessori, only way fruitier. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy out there.

3/4/2007 7:20:55 PM

^^ lookin to reserve a space in preschool for our kid.

my wife was interested in Waldorf. I think its kind of like a cult. but all i can get is a bunch of he-said, she-said stuff

for instance, Wikipedia has the article on lockdown because of constant flamewars between its fans and its critics.

wife visited a kindergarten class, and said it looked and sounded awesome, but then you read stuff thats a bit like WTF?

so, i think i'm pretty decided against it, just from what I've been able to look up, but I was hoping to hear from someone who had personal experience with it.

since theres a Waldorf school in Chapel Hill, i figure someone here must have gone to it.

3/4/2007 7:27:42 PM

actually, harvard has a holistic approach to teaching science and such.

they blend bio chem and physics together into 3-4 classes that hit major points in all three

[Edited on March 4, 2007 at 8:12 PM. Reason : d]

3/4/2007 7:56:39 PM

Quote :

"Think Montessori, only way fruitier. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy out there."

That's the impression I have of it, too.

Didn't you make a thread about Montessori schools a while ago? What was wrong with them? They seem just different-enough to be better than public schools, but not different-enough to be scary.

3/4/2007 8:09:07 PM

yeah, i know right.

we're all ready for the montessori preschool. im totally happy with it. she is too. everything we've heard is positive. the worst criticism is it might be too unstructured for some kids.

then my wife starts reading somethign about Waldorf, and gets all excited about it becasue it sounds so great, like just perfect.

now im like gettin why cant we be happy with the first choice?

luckily, ive read some stuff that makes Waldorf look kind of , so shes not as into it now. cant really pin anything totally negative on it, i cant tell really which side is "right", but theres just too much ongoing controversy surrounding it to want to take a chance.

i was hoping to hear a personal experience that might kind of help seal the whole issue.

even if i dont, tho, we're gonna stick with montessori. if shes not convinced, ill just have to put a foot down

3/4/2007 9:11:40 PM

dude, what if she puts 2 feet down???

but hey, look, any school like that which uses a specialty curriculum is going to be better than the public school system.

don't fuck up your kid by putting him into public school.

btw, what are you doing here... shouldn't you go take care of and spend time with your wife and kid?

3/4/2007 9:18:49 PM

^

(1) haha

(2) not necessarily. i wouldnt put my kid in a Scientology or Mormon school.

(3) often, but not always. I intend for him to go to a public high school. a good one. (but if i cant get a good one, ill go private)

(4) owch (they are out and about doing their own thing today... I am *cough* "working")

3/4/2007 9:26:57 PM

Quote :

"(2) not necessarily. i wouldnt put my kid in a Scientology or Mormon school."

true, when i said what i said, i was implicitly referring to specialty curricula developed by educators, psychologists, doctors, scientists, etc, not by FREAKS

3/4/2007 9:34:58 PM

Quote :

"any school like that which uses a specialty curriculum is going to be better"

Eeeh, curriculum is important, but it's also about execution. Any type of school can suck if it's run by crappy teachers/administrators

Find a way to talk to a few teachers one-on-one before you settle for a school. Seriously. We're the most complainingest group of people on earth. If there's a problem with the school, you'll hear it from them within 30 seconds. Even email would be fine, so long as they're not using the school's email



[Edited on March 4, 2007 at 10:10 PM. Reason : .]

3/4/2007 10:09:50 PM

Quote :

"in Chapel Hill"

found the problem

3/4/2007 11:29:37 PM

I've stayed at the Waldorf a couple times in Manhattan. It was aight.

3/5/2007 1:00:39 AM

man, preschool...

i haven't been thinking about that at all.

i should just create the matrix and have him (my son) live in that.

easier.

3/5/2007 11:08:43 AM