I went through a Steiner school from pre-school to end of high school. It’s highly opinionated and very controlling initially. When you paint, you start with one colour. Then another day you get the next (there were only primary colours, because of course).
You eat at your desk, then you’re allowed to play. This was dropped after a year or so.
You don’t learn to read until you’re 7, etc etc.
However, by the end of high school it was up to the individual how much they achieved, and there was minimal pressure. As long as you weren’t messing with other kids, you could do a little or much as you please, and consequences were minimal.
Tools and skills were introduced at a developmentally appropriate age - not sure who chose that age though.
There was a lot wrong with the school and the system, but there was a lot more that was right in my opinion.
Yeah, I we considered a Steiner school because I think that extensive play is a super critical part of a good education. The problem is you also need to be able to be part of the mainstream system at some point, and it felt like it didn't necessarily quite meet that goal.
> The problem is you also need to be able to be part of the mainstream system at some point
There is a requirement to meet certain state mandated standards and the one I went to also took state funding, leading to dilution of Steiner influence/an improved curriculum. It depended which side you were on.
Also worth considering is that it is part of a broader ideology of Anthroposophy which sometimes aproaches semi cult status in how people identify with it. A lot of the principles of Steiner schools are actually pretty cool, but sending your kid there, depending on the school they will also be dealing with the more esoteric bits of all of this that have very little to do with didactic or pedagogic sound principles.
Some if it includes some schools teaching some of the more racists views of Mr Steiner.
This is probably true of every school that follows a philosophy or belief system.
It needs addressing. The school was white wealthy hippies when I was there. It’s vastly more representative now.