FAQ
1. What is Waldorf Education?
Developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, Waldorf education is based on
developmental insights that address the needs of the growing child and maturing
adolescent. Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art, educating
the whole child, the heart and the hands, as well as the head.
2. Are Waldorf schools religious?
Waldorf schools are non-sectarian and non-denominational. They educate all children, regardless of their cultural or religious backgrounds. The pedagogical method is comprehensive, and, as part of its task, seeks to bring about recognition and understanding of all the world cultures and religions. Waldorf schools are not part of any church. They espouse no particular religious doctrine but are based on a belief that there is a spiritual dimension to the human being and to all of life. Waldorf families come from a broad spectrum of religious traditions and interest. Monadnock Waldorf School observes the cycle of the year through both traditional and lesser known festivals, such as Michaelmas in the autumn and Advent in the winter. We feel they embrace the qualities of hope, courage, joy, gratitude, love and reverence which are part of a natural religious attitude toward the world.
3. What is the curriculum like in a Waldorf school?
Waldorf Education approaches all aspects of schooling in a unique and
comprehensive way. The curriculum is designed to meet the various stages of
child development. Waldorf teachers are dedicated to creating a genuine inner
enthusiasm for learning that is essential for educational success.
Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children learn primarily through imitation
and imagination. The goal of the kindergarten is to develop a sense of wonder in
the young child and a reverence for all living things. This creates an eagerness for
the academics that follow in the grades.
Kindergarten activities include:
• storytelling, puppetry, creative play
• singing, eurythmy (movement)
• games and finger plays
• painting, drawing and beeswax modeling
• baking and cooking, nature walks
• circle time
• gardening and building
Elementary and middle-school children learn through the guidance of a class
teacher who stays with the class ideally from first to eighth grade. The
curriculum includes:
• English based on world literature, myths, and legends
• History that is chronological and inclusive of the world's great civilizations
• Science that surveys geography, astronomy, meteorology, physical and
life sciences
• Mathematics that develops competence in arithmetic, algebra, and
geometry
• Foreign languages; physical education; gardening
• Arts including music, painting, sculpture, drama, eurythmy, sketching
• Handwork such as knitting, crocheting, cross stitch, felting and
woodworking.
The Waldorf high school is dedicated to helping students develop their full
potential as scholars, artists, athletes, and community members. The course of
study includes:
• a humanities curriculum that integrates history, literature, and knowledge of
world cultures
• a science curriculum that includes physics, biology, chemistry, geology, and a
four-year college preparatory mathematics program
• an arts and crafts program that includes calligraphy, drawing, painting,
sculpture, pottery, weaving, block printing and bookbinding
• a performing arts program offering orchestra, choir, eurythmy and drama
• a foreign language program
• a physical education program
4. Does Waldorf Education prepare children for the "real" world; and, if
so, how does it do it?
It is easy to fall into the error of believing that education must make our children
fit into society. Although we are certainly influenced by what the world brings us,
the fact is that the world is shaped by people, not people by the world. However,
that shaping of the world is possible in a healthy way only if the shapers are
themselves in possession of their full nature as human beings.
Education in our materialistic, Western society focuses on the intellectual aspect
of the human being and has chosen largely to ignore the several other parts that
are essential to our well-being. These include our life of feeling (emotions,
aesthetics, and social sensitivity), our willpower (the ability to get things done),
and our moral nature (being clear about right and wrong). Without having these
developed, we are incomplete—a fact that may become obvious in our later years,
when a feeling of emptiness begins to set in. That is why in a Waldorf school, the
practical and artistic subjects play as important a role as the full spectrum of
traditional academic subjects that the school offers. The practical and artistic are
essential in achieving a preparation for life in the "real" world.
Waldorf Education recognizes and honors the full range of human potentialities. It
addresses the whole child by striving to awaken and ennoble all the latent
capacities. The children learn to read, write, and do math; they study history,
geography, and the sciences. In addition, all children learn to sing, play a musical
instrument, draw, paint, model clay, carve and work with wood, speak clearly and
act in a play, think independently, and work harmoniously and respectfully with
others. The development of these various capacities is interrelated. For example,
both boys and girls learn to knit in grade one. Acquiring this basic and enjoyable
human skill helps them develop a manual dexterity, which after puberty will be
transformed into an ability to think clearly and to "knit" their thoughts into a
coherent whole.
Preparation for life includes the development of the well-rounded person. Waldorf
Education has as its ideal a person who is knowledgeable about the world and
human history and culture, who has many varied practical and artistic abilities,
who feels a deep reverence for and communion with the natural world, and who
can act with initiative and in freedom in the face of economic and political
pressures.
There are many Waldorf graduates of all ages who embody this ideal and who are
perhaps the best proof of the efficacy of the education.
—From "Five Frequently Asked Questions" by Colin Price; originally printed in
Renewal Magazine, Spring/Summer 2003
5. Is it possible for a child who has attended a public school to transfer to a
Waldorf school?
New children enter into the Waldorf schools at every grade level and can be fully
integrated into the learning and life of the classroom and school community. Each
school conducts interviews and evaluations with the child and parents to assess
what is needed for a good transition in individual cases.
6. Why do Waldorf schools recommend the limiting of television, videos,
and radio for young children?
A central aim of Waldorf Education is to stimulate the healthy development of the
child's own imagination. Waldorf teachers are concerned that electronic media
hampers the development of the child's imagination. They are concerned about
the physical effects of the medium on the developing child as well as the content
of much of the programming.
There is more and more research to substantiate these concerns. See:
• Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don't Think by Jane Healy
• Failure To Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds For Better
and Worse by Jane Healy
• Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander
• The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn
• Evolution's End: Claiming The Potential of Our Intelligence by Joseph Chilton
Pearce.
7. What about computers and Waldorf Education?
Waldorf teachers feel the appropriate age for computer use in the classroom and
by students is in high school. We feel it is more important for students to have the
opportunity to interact with one another and with teachers in exploring the world
of ideas, participating in the creative process, and developing their knowledge,
skills, abilities, and inner qualities. Waldorf students have a love of learning, an
ongoing curiosity, and interest in life. As older students, they quickly master
computer technology, and graduates have successful careers in the computer
industry. For additional reading, please see:
• Fools Gold, a special report from the Alliance For Childhood
(www.allianceforchildhood.org)
• The Future Does Not Compute by Steven Talbot
8. How is reading taught in a Waldorf school?
Waldorf education draws strongly from the oral tradition, typically beginning
with the teacher telling the children fairy tales throughout kindergarten and first
grade. The oral approach is used all through Waldorf education: mastery of oral
communication is seen as being integral to all learning.
Actual reading instruction is deferred. Instead, writing is taught first. During the
first grade year the children explore how our alphabet came about, discovering, as
the ancients did, how each letter's form evolved out of a pictograph. Writing thus
evolves out of the children's art, and their ability to read likewise evolves as a
natural and, indeed, comparatively effortless stage of their mastery of language.
9. Why do Waldorf schools teach reading when they do?
There is ample evidence that normal, healthy children whose reading instruction
is deferred are not disadvantaged by this, but rather are able to move ahead
quickly when the developmental moment is right, and may overtake children who
have learned to read early. Additionally, they are much less likely to develop the
"tiredness toward reading" that many children taught to read at a very early age
experience later on. Instead there is lively interest in reading and learning that
continues into adulthood. Some children will, out of themselves, want to learn to
read at an early age. This interest can and should be met, as long as it comes in
fact from the child. Early imposed formal instruction in reading can be a handicap
in later years, when enthusiasm toward reading and learning may begin to falter.
If reading is not pushed, a healthy child will generally pick it up quite quickly and
easily. Some Waldorf parents become anxious if their child is slow to learn to
read. Eventually these same parents are overjoyed at seeing their child pick up a
book and not put it down and become from that moment a voracious reader.
—From "Five Frequently Asked Questions" by Colin Price; originally printed in
Renewal Magazine, Spring/Summer 2003
10. Why is so much emphasis put on festivals and ceremonies?
Seasonal festivals serve to connect humanity with the rhythms of nature. The
festivals originated in ancient cultures, yet have been adapted over time. To join
the seasonal moods of the year, in a festive way, benefits the inner life of the soul.
Celebrating is an art. There is joy in the anticipation, the preparation, the
celebration itself, and the memories.
11. Why do Waldorf students stay (ideally) with the same teacher from first
through eighth grade?
Between the ages of seven and fourteen, children learn best through acceptance
and emulation of appropriate authority, just as in their earlier years they learned
through imitation. In elementary school, particularly in the lower grades, the child
is just beginning to expand his or her experience beyond home and family. The
class becomes a type of "family" as well, with its own authority figure - the
teacher - in a role analogous to parent.
With this approach, the students and teachers come to know each other very well,
and the teacher is able to find over the years the best ways of helping individual
children in their schooling. The class teacher also becomes like an additional
family member for most of the families in his/her class.
It's worth noting that this approach was the norm in the days of the "little red
schoolhouse" and is also a common practice today in many schools in Europe.
12. What if my child does not get along with the teacher?
This question often arises because of a parent's experience of public school
education. In most public schools, a teacher works with a class for one, maybe
two years. It is difficult for teacher and child to develop the deep human
relationship that is the basis for healthy learning if change is frequent.
If a teacher has a class for several years, the teacher and the children come to
know and understand each other in a deep way. The children, feeling secure in a
long-term relationship, are better able to learn. The interaction of teacher and
parents also can become more deep and meaningful over time, and they can
cooperate in helping the child.
Problems between teachers and children, and between teachers and parents, can
and do arise. When this happens, the college of teachers studies the situation,
involves the teacher and parents—and, if appropriate, the child—and tries to
resolve the conflict. If the differences are irreconcilable, the parents might be
asked to withdraw the child, or the teacher might be replaced.
In reality, these measures very rarely need to be taken. A Waldorf class is
something like a family. If a mother in a family does not get along with her son
during a certain time, she does not consider resigning or replacing him with
another child. Rather, she looks at the situation and sees what can be done to
improve the relationship. In other words, the adult assumes responsibility and
tries to change. This same approach is expected of the Waldorf teacher in a
difficult situation. In almost every case she must ask herself: "How can I change
so that the relationship becomes more positive?" One cannot expect this of the
child. With the goodwill and active support of the parents, the teacher concerned
can make the necessary changes and restore the relationship to a healthy and
productive state.
—From "Five Frequently Asked Questions" by Colin Price; originally printed in
Renewal Magazine, Spring/Summer 2003
13. What is Eurythmy?
Eurythmy is the art of movement that attempts to make visible the tone and
feeling of music and speech. Eurythmy helps to develop concentration, selfdiscipline,
and a sense of beauty. This training of moving artistically with a group
stimulates sensitivity to the other as well as individual mastery. Eurythmy lessons
follow the themes of the curriculum, exploring rhyme, meter, story, and geometric
forms.
14. How do Waldorf graduates do after graduation?
Waldorf graduates are prepared to meet a multicultural, multifaceted world with
enthusiasm and have the ability to make a positive impact in any field they choose
for themselves. Self-confident and creative, Waldorf graduates benefit from a
base of interdisciplinary knowledge from which they may pursue any passion in
any direction. They are enthusiastically involved in their education, and eagerly
partake of the challenges that meet them in the world today, well-equipped with
creative thinking and problem solving capacities.
Waldorf students have been accepted in and graduated from a broad spectrum of
colleges and universities including Stanford, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, and
Brown. Waldorf graduates reflect a wide diversity of professions and occupations
including medicine, law, science, engineering, computer technology, the arts,
social science, government, and teaching at all levels.
According to a recent study of Waldorf graduates:
• 94% attended college or university
• 47% chose humanities or arts as a major
• 42% chose sciences or math as a major
• 89% are highly satisfied in choice of occupation
• 91% are active in lifelong education
• 92% placed a high value on critical thinking
• 90% highly values tolerance of other viewpoints
For more information about Waldorf graduates, refer to the whywaldorfworks.org
articles:
• “Life After Waldorf High School” by Abraham Enten
• “Standing Out Without Standing Alone: Profile of Waldorf Graduates” by
Douglas Gerwin/David Mitchell.
15. Is Waldorf similar to Montessori?
These two educational approaches began with a similar goal: to design a
curriculum that was developmentally appropriate to the child and that addressed
the child's need to learn in a tactile as well as an intellectual way. The Montessori
approach emphasizes individual self mastery in early childhood and elementary
education. Waldorf schools see the young and growing child as fully integrated
into a class of peers all receiving similar age appropriate educational experiences.
Please read the following for more information: “A Look at Waldorf and
Montessori Education in the Early Childhood Programs” by Barbara Shell.