What do you know about Waldorf education?

Wow, this is really great info. Thanks!

I personally have never sent any of my children to Waldorf schools but I did research Waldorf Schools extensively when they were younger and I have a good friends whose children have attended Waldorf Schools.

Like all schools Waldorf schools vary from one school to another. There are good Waldorf schools and there are bad Waldorf Schools. So the first thing one must know is that the brand name "Waldorf" is no guarantee of quality.

The second thing one should know is that historically Rudolf Steiner was part of the Nazi movement. And the philosophy of the school and much of the curriculum emerged from a very European Christian tradition. That does not mean that Waldorf schools are racist or anti-semitic, our local Waldorf school has many Jewish families and families of color. Most Waldorf fanatics will claim that they have purged any bias toward white-European Christianity from their school culture and will proudly show how they use stories from all cultures in their classrooms and how Hannukah gets attention just like Christmas does. But as somebody who is Jewish I can tell you that I have never felt 100% comfortable in a Waldorf class because many will have nativity sets and pictures of the Virgin Mary hanging on the wall.

The third thing one must know is that Waldorf has very strict methods for doing art. I know of one artist who chose a Waldorf education for her child for exactly that reason. She loved the way everything the kids produced was beautiful and how using specific art materials was encouraged and incorporated into the curriculum. But I am also an artist and I find the Waldorf method to be rather restricting. I enjoy the Waldorf techniques for watercolor and I even visit our local Waldorf School store regularly for art supplies, but I feel stifled by only using those materials and I don't see the harm in going LEGO crazy now and then or in using acrylics to make something with bright flashy colors. When I see an art show of Waldorf School art I find myself bored as all too often the paintings and art all merge in my mind and look alike. But again that is my opinion.

Finally my one warning about Waldorf education is for those whose children might have a hidden learning disability or be neuro-atypical. I think that a Waldorf school can be a great place for a child who is slow to mature and who needs a lot of nurturing and support as well as a hands on curriculum. But I also see Waldorf as a place where a child can be protected from the real world and the parents can fail to catch certain types of learning disabilities that can benefit a lot from early intervention, such as dyslexia.