Blond hair actually bestows intelligence Brown- and dark-haired people drive the substances into their eyes and hair that the fair people retain in their brains. Lectures from Anthroposophic Press, , pp. Those views were "mainstream" at the time of Rudolf Steiner and doesn't reflect what the Steiner movement is nowadays. This quote also divides and you will need to make up your own mind.
Pro-Waldorf here , against Steiner here. As that idea is so wrong, it made me rethink some of his other ideas and I don't see them in line with what we know of the child's development. From what I read about Steiner schools, it's not clear how they present Steiner's ideas and the influence of the original ideas in today's classroom. Steiner died in , only 6 years after he had set up the first Waldorf school. It's likely that the movement has evolved greatly. He also died before the Nazi's regime was in place.
I wonder if he would have make some statements about his original writing about races. Maria Montessori went through the 2 World Wars, flew 2 fascist regimes and it shows her pacific view all along.
But don't get me wrong, she first was delighted to be financially supported by Mussolini. On the orderista blog , the author said: "As the years went by, Dr. The situation became particularly worse in when Maria refused to order her teachers to take the fascist loyalty oaths, as all teachers, government employees and professionals were ordered to do. Furious, Mussolini closed the Montessori schools, and by Maria fled Italy to escape political surveillance and harassment".
Historically, the Waldorf movement was mainly in Europe until the 50' then started to grow and develop in the 70' in the United States. It's likely although I cannot pinpoint you to a specific source that the movement has evolved and has been interpreted by schools and teachers in their own way. I can imagine that parents have taken on board some principles and made Waldorf extremely appealing. I am also attracted by the beauty of Waldorf toys and celebrations as I was attracted by the Montessori materials to start with.
The Montessori movement is still very similar to its original ideas as Maria Montessori supervised and developed the schools and trainings to a set of standards for nearly 50 years. Her family is still the garant of her work and that makes it a strong, scientific and evidence based method. Angeline Stoll Lillard,a Professor of psychology, wrote the book "Montessori: the science behind the genius". She shows that science has finally caught up with Maria Montessori.
Choosing a Waldorf or Montessori approach for your child is an individual choice and both have many benefits. You might decide that one fits your child best and place them in a preschool or school that follows that methodology.
Due to the fantasy-based aspect, the lack of scientific evidence and the connection with racist ideas, I chose not to send my children to a Waldorf school. When it comes to choosing an alternative method of education, it's not simply about choosing something that it's not mainstream. I invite you to visit schools, Montessori or Waldorf schools, and to question them about their principles, their curriculum, the way they make their school inclusive.
The structure of Waldorf Education divides childhood into 3 developmental stages and learning strategies are appropriate to each phase. The stages each last approximately 7 years. The focus is on the arts and inner life. Waldorf is outspoken about children not being exposed to popular media and social media.
Computers are limited to the upper school grades as children should develop and create their own worlds. Waldorf schools as well as their teachers require strict certification.
A curriculum is followed which is developmentally appropriate within which the child has a certain amount of freedom to determine their own learning. Waldorf place a strong emphasis on imagination and children are encouraged to make their own toys from material at hand.
A strong sense of society is incorporated into the methodology — teaching children to look after themselves, think for themselves, caring for others and avoidance of violence. Teachers are encouraged to explore new ideas and to allow them to be guided by exploration of students. This encourages true learning and not merely memorising to pass an exam.
The main subjects such as history, language arts, science and mathematics are taught in main lesson blocks of 2 to 3 hours per day with each block set for a period of 3 to 5 weeks. Subjects are re-visited several times, but each new exposure provides more depth and insight into the subject matter.
The arts, which are usually limit in a mainstream school is the crux of a Waldorf school. Creative activities such as knitting, foreign languages and the playing of musical instruments are actively promoted. All children learn to play the recorder and to knit. Textbooks are limited and mostly used to supplement learning such as maths and grammar in the higher grades.
It is common that teachers stay with a class from first to eighth grade. This way a deep human relationship can be built, which is not possible where teachers frequently change. Reading is not taught until second grade. Waldorf educators believe that in the early years children should be read to, be told fairy tales to stimulate imagination and be allowed to play. This encourages oral skills before reading skills commence.
In the Waldorf School writing is taught before reading and the alphabet is explored as a tool to communicate with others through pictures. In the Waldorf School, as in Montessori, testing and grading are not part of the teaching approach. The typical Lower School Curriculum would be likely to follow the following structure:.
Waldorf schools do not follow a specific religion and they educate kids from all religious denominations.
The school does believe that there is a spiritual dimension to the human being and to all of life. Children who transfer from a mainstream school to a Waldorf School during the first 4 grades are usually not at a disadvantage as reading, mathematical and basic academic skills should correspond.
Children might find that they lack coordination skills, posture, artistic and social activities, cursive handwriting and listening skills. Listening skills are important in Waldorf Schools as information is conveyed orally. Students who obtained most of their information from computers in the mainstream environment might struggle to adjust in a Waldorf environment.
Children who transfer from a Waldorf school to a public school during the earlier grades probably have to up skill their reading ability and adjust their approach to science differently. Science in a Waldorf school emphasises the observation of natural phenomena rather than the formulation of abstract concepts and laws.
On the other hand, the Waldorf transferees are usually well prepared for social studies, practical and artistic activities, as well as maths. Children moving during the middle grades should experience no problems at all. What research exist mainly relates to schools rather than childcare. Some studies show students at Steiner-inspired schools get better academic scores when using the same test methods and social outcomes than students at public schools.
Dr Maria Montessori was a medical doctor and psychiatrist. She opened a school for disadvantaged children in early 20th century Rome, to test her education theories. There are now Montessori schools in more than countries. The focus is on play and work, as children like to model adults and be involved in real-world tasks. The philosophy sees children as capable of self-directed learning, who can independently choose resources to use in their learning. The first learning materials a child is likely to encounter in the Montessori environment will be used for practical life activities.
These include pouring different materials, using utensils such as scissors and tongs, cleaning, preparing snacks, laying the table and washing dishes, arranging flowers and gardening.
The aim is to develop independent skills and to build their gross and fine motor control and hand-eye co-ordination. Montessori resources are specifically designed, often sensory. They are to encourage matching, rhyming, sequencing, sandpaper letters and numbers for finger tracing, cutting, writing and drawing, sewing, weaving and woodworking. Resources help children learn through repetition and self-correction. Unlike the Steiner approach, children in Montessori settings are grouped according to ability, not age.
Montessori system supports the guidelines provided by the teachers while Steiner system prefers the choice of children. Keep reading to learn more about Montessori and Steiner system of education. Maria Montessori is the founder of Montessori system as she was not happy with the prevalent education system of that time. She introduced Montessori system of education in order to give a proper guideline and direction to children in order to make their grown in a systematic way.
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