Steiner Schools

[Funkstar]

Anyone got any experience of them?

We are going to send child number three (she's three and a half at the moment) to one sort-of-near-here. Went for a visit yesterday, it's a pretty special place, she really loved it from the moment we got there.

[mikerr]

Not sure all steiner schools are the same, but here goes (you can guess I'm not a fan)

If you're planning on moving anytime in the future beware that moving a steiner educated child to a normal school will leave them far behind, as they use a different method:

e.g. not teaching kids to read until 7 (and discourage it on kids that aready can read!)
discouraging maths skills until 7 too
concentrating more on crafts & creative play
some odd rules: when drawing - can't draw straight lines - have to do curves !
and can't use black or brown colours...
keeping the same teacher for the full 8 years
not strong on discipline (bullying is not stopped)

http://www.nappyvalleynet.com/steine...bad-t8685.html

http://www.thegreenparent.co.uk/forums/viewthread/8670/
http://www.thegreenparent.co.uk/foru...wthread/19659/

[Funkstar]

Each school definitely is different. We went for another visit today and we were able to see the kids being taught in the classes as well for a while.

e.g. not teaching kids to read until 7 (and discourage it on kids that aready can read!)
discouraging maths skills until 7 too
concentrating more on crafts & creative play

I don't know about the discouraging it in kids that can read already, that's definitely not the impression we got from them.

some odd rules: when drawing - can't draw straight lines - have to do curves !

Well gudging by the geography jotters we saw today that isn't the case.

and can't use black or brown colours...

Same as above.

keeping the same teacher for the full 8 years

Not the case in the Moray Steiner School, the teacher is for that year group just like a state school.

not strong on discipline (bullying is not stopped)

Absolutely not the case here. Discipline is actually very high, this is not a school where kids run riot without boundaries or rules. I don't know how discipline is enforced however.

The Moray Stainer School only goes up to 15 as there wasn't the call for senior years (they did them a number of years ago). Kids that do go on to other schools from there tend, we are told, to do pretty well in their exams in other schools. Some go to the regular high schools in the area, some to collage, some to the Steiner School in Edinburgh that does senior years and some onto Gordonstoun, who aren't going to take in pupils that cannot perform well.

The main thing with us is that we don't think or girl will get on very well in regular education. She is very flamboyant, knows her own mind and is very definitely her own person, we don't want this squeezed out of her as it would be in the local primary.