The thought of a tech free education leaves me scratching my head

I spent most of the day hyperfocusing on the idea of a Waldorf education. I began when I woke up to a Today Show conversation about Silocon Valley parents using a school that shuns education, which is an oxymoron at best.

It sounded insane, and interesting at the same time, so I looked into it, and into it, and into it and decided that it is a lot like unschooling, except not at all... as it is too rigid.  Yes, rigid unschooling would be the best way for me to describe it.  Then there is the fact that it is linked to an occult like religion (in it's founding) and there are a lot of disgruntled ex-Waldorf families.

But that's beside the point.  I didn't have to research (though I did) to know what felt wrong at first glance.  The fact is that any movement, educational or otherwise that tries to eliminate an important segment of society (in this case technology) is just wrong.  Besides that, all the other stuff, like not reading or writing in the younger grades, and Legos being bad is just weird unsettling.
Also weird:

I don't see any math in this geometry presentation.
Meanwhile, many homeschoolers now ascribe to a Waldorf homeschool education.  Fortunately, most have adapted it to their own needs.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am also a homeschooling mom, currently, but received my doctorate in psychology over a decade ago. I have been researching and studying Waldorf education for almost 3 years now. It seems you have misunderstood what Waldorf Education is all about. Perhaps a bit more reading could help if you are interested. However, when you write a negative post or blog without gathering more information, your ignorance is widely visable.
As for the media issue, Waldorf does not oppose media, but rather says that there is a time for everything... it's just a matter of when it's developmentally appropriate. At one public Waldorf school, the principal described how a middle school student is in fact introduced to computers. Basically, by taking one apart and putting it back together again so as to recognize the human ingenuity of computers rather than believing that computers just appeared on earth, perhaps from a bunch of aliens for our (rather narcissistic) use.

Ahermitt said...

There's nothing like being called ignorant from an anonymous source.

I spent a FULL DAY looking for something, anything positive about Waldorf. Everything I found was scary. That's my opinion. You are of course welcome to yours.

My almost 18 year old started using computers at 18 months. It has only helped him, and he has never overused or abused computer priveledges.

12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong

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