My son is getting a spiritual education. Hippie parochial I call it. It suits our family. We are sending him to Waldorf for grade 1-8. Rudolph Steiner had a sketchy relationship with Christianity and Science (IMO), but I love the school for different reasons such as its diverse religious population – Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Universalists, and Secularists mostly – and its focus on developmentally appropriate curriculum and the arts.
Another thing I love about the school is something I dreaded at first which is the one teacher relationship for all 8 years. Now I realize this is a gift regardless of personalities. Making that commitment to learn and work together, all of us, for 8 solid years, is a good thing.
But, you say, what if his teacher is demented, unskilled, or hates him? Well this is highly unlikely and if one got a completely ill or ill-equipped teacher then leaving the school makes sense. But more than likely there will be, at worst, style issues. The teacher does this or that and my son responds better to this or that. Then what? We communicate and work together. She (I meet her tonight) comes over for dinner and we all talk.
It is as if she is a neighbor, my neighbor and my sons, and none of us are moving for the next 8 years. And so, we will be learning to love one another. Can you ask for a more beautiful thing in a teacher / student relationship then an actual relationship cultivated over time?
How it all progresses: My prediction is that you will have the next Fellini on your hands.
There is a lot to love about the Waldorf education. It makes sense in so many ways.
I have one issue (as you know) with the absolutist constraint on media. I guess it irritates me simply because they are so thoughtful otherwise. I don’t understand why there is this forbidden fruit of which we are not allowed to speak.
But ultimately I really don’t care about that. I will live my life the way I do. My values are all over our kid. So be it.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all progresses.