How many waldorf schools in the us

Although fame is not the only measure of success, this partial list of notable Waldorf Alumni from around the world provides a picture of the many ways that Waldorf education prepares students to pursue their passion.

The Power of Waldorf Education. What is Waldorf Education? And How Does it Work? How is it different from other alternatives public schooling, Montessori, unschooling, etc. Some distinctive features of Waldorf education include What is the curriculum like at a Waldorf school? How did Waldorf education get started? How many Waldorf schools are there?

What is the philosophy behind Waldorf education? Why should I send my child to a Waldorf school? Who was Rudolf Steiner? How is reading taught in a Waldorf school? Why is so much emphasis put on festivals and ceremonies? What are Michaelmas, St.

Why do Waldorf Schools discourage watching TV? What is the annual tuition of a Waldorf school? What kind of training do Waldorf teachers have? How are personality conflicts between students and teachers handled? Are Waldorf schools religious? How do Waldorf children fare when they transfer to other schools? Is it true that once you start Waldorf schooling it is difficult to make it in public schools?

What is anthroposophy? Where can one get more information on Anthroposophy on the Internet? How well do Waldorf graduates do on standard tests? How well do Waldorf high school graduates do in college? What is eurythmy? Is Waldorf education relevant to children with speacial needs? There is no academic content in the Waldorf kindergarten experience although there is a good deal of cultivation of pre-academic skills , and minimal academics in first grade. Reading is not taught until second or third grade, though the letters are introduced carefully in first and second.

In the younger grades, all subjects are introduced through artistic mediums, because the children respond better to this medium than to dry lecturing and rote learning.

All children learn to play recorder and to knit. Upper grades use textbooks to supplement their main lesson work. Learning in a Waldorf school is a noncompetitive activity. There are no grades given at the elementary level; the teacher writes a detailed evaluation of the child at the end of each school year. The use of electronic media, particularly television, by young children is strongly discouraged in Waldorf schools.

Typical curriculum would look something like the following: Primary Grades 1 — 3 Pictorial introduction to the alphabet, writing, reading, spelling, poetry and drama. Folk and fairy tales, fables, legends, Old Testament stories. Numbers, basic mathematical processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Why do Waldorf students wait until 2nd grade to begin learning to read? Waldorf education is deeply bound up with the oral tradition, typically beginning with the teacher telling the children fairy tales throughout kindergarten and first grade.

The oral approach is used all through Waldorf education: mastery of oral communication is seen as being integral to all learning. Reading instruction, as such, is deferred. Instead, writing is taught first. During the first grade year the children explore how our alphabet came about, discovering, as the ancients did, how each letter's form evolved out of a pictograph. Writing thus evolves out of the children's art, and their ability to read likewise evolves as a natural and, indeed, comparatively effortless stage of their mastery of language.

Why is so much emphasis put on festivals and ceremonies? Seasonal festivals serve to connect humanity with the rhythms of nature and of the cosmos. The festivals originated in ancient cultures, yet have been adapted over time. To join the seasonal moods of the year, in a festive way, benefits the inner life of the soul. Celebrating is an art. There is joy in the anticipation, the preparation, the celebration itself, and the memories. What are Michaelmas, St.

John's Day, etc.? The four seasonal festivals are Michaelmas fall , Christmas winter , Easter spring , and St. John summer. Michaelmas, September St. Michael is known as the conqueror of the dragon, the heavenly hero with his starry sword cosmic iron who gives strength to people. Christmas: An ancient festival; celebrated when the sun sends the least power to the earth, as a festival which awakens in the human being an inkling of the very wellsprings of existence, of an eternal reality.

It is a time when the soul withdraws into the innermost depths to experience within itself the inner spiritual light. Easter derives its name from pre-Christian goddess symbols of rebirth, fertility and spring. The renewal of man's being is celebrated with that of the earth. Ancient symbols of the hare and egg are both known as signs of the return of life after winter's sleep. John - June 24 - Midsummer Day: Ancient peoples, watching the sun reach its high point at this time, lit bonfires to encourage it to shine and ripen their crops.

It is a time when the cosmos brings the spiritual to man - a time when the spiritual, which animates and weaves through everything in nature, is revealed. Why do Waldorf Schools discourage TV watching? The reasons for this have as much to do with the physical effects of the medium on the developing child as with the to say the least questionable content of much of the programming.

Electronic media are believed by Waldorf teachers to seriously hamper the development of the child's imagination - a faculty which is believed to be central to the healthy development of the individual. Computer use by young children is also discouraged. Waldorf teachers are not, by the way, alone in this belief.

Several books have been written in recent years expressing concern with the effect of television on young children. What is the annual tuition of a Waldorf school? Tuition costs vary from school to school and are comparable to other independent schools in the same geographic location that are not subsidized through church affiliations.

In the United States, Waldorf schools are non-profit and independent, and are supported by tuition income, fees, and charitable contributions.

Most Waldorf schools have active tuition assistance programs and many offer "sibling discounts". Some have a stated principle that they will not deny a child a Waldorf education based strictly on financial considerations. There now also are a number of public Waldorf charter schools, that don't charge tuition.

See Public Waldorf Education. What kind of education do Waldorf teachers have? While requirements within individual schools may vary, as a rule Class Teachers will have both a university degree and teaching certification from a recognized Waldorf teacher education college or institute. Some Waldorf education programs can also grant B.

Typically, the course of study for teachers is from two to three years and includes practice teaching in a Waldorf school under the supervision of experienced Waldorf teachers. Teachers must also satisfy whatever state credential and licensing requirements might apply.

Rudolf Steiner, speaking in Oxford in , defined "three golden rules" for teachers: "to receive the child in gratitude from the world it comes from; to educate the child with love; and to lead the child into the true freedom which belongs to man.

Why do Waldorf students stay with ideally the same teacher for 8 years? Between the ages of seven and fourteen, children learn best through acceptance and emulation of authority, just as in their earlier years they learned through imitation.

In elementary school, particularly in the lower grades, the child is just beginning to expand his or her experience beyond home and family. The class becomes a type of "family" as well, with its own authority figure - the teacher - in a role analogous to parent.

With this approach, the students and teachers come to know each other very well, and the teacher is able to find over the years the best ways of helping individual children in their schooling. It's worth noting that this approach was the norm in the days of the "little red schoolhouse". He says that they have become like a family, making it possible for him to intervene early when interpersonal conflicts between students begin to brew. It also gives him an advantage as he works to develop each child's individual character.

Parents describe it as a gift to have another adult who gets to know their children over many years and who becomes deeply involved in their development. Whetstone was the best teacher ever," says year-old John Morse graduate Layal Maalouf. Those still count as some of the best years of my life. I built a lasting foundation there.

A charter approved as part of the district's small-schools reform plan, Carver took over a failing high school in a poor neighborhood on the edge of the city. Local children, along with students from John Morse and a private Waldorf school, make up the high school's student body. There's also a private Waldorf high school in the area, which has allowed local students in the program to continue the traditional Waldorf education track from kindergarten to the end of high school. With a Rudolf Steiner teacher-training college in the area and many community parents familiar with Waldorf elementary schools, the new high school received early and enthusiastic support.

Still, supporters and participants in the school consider Carver an experiment because adapting Waldorf methods to a public high school is uncharted territory for them. In a near mirror image of the John Morse morning routine, teachers at Carver meet their students at the door each day, shake their hands, and look them in the eye. Teachers integrate the arts into the curriculum, and students create their own lesson books for each subject. Using the classic Waldorf developmental approach, students study drama in the ninth grade to reflect where they are emotionally.

Other methods used by Waldorf schools, such as looping and a daily centerpiece lesson, are not as practical in high school, so the teachers are interpreting these tactics even more broadly. George Washington Carver principal Allegra Alessandri, who worked for private Waldorf schools for 20 years, says they're adapting looping so that each student will have the same homeroom teacher for four years to create a lasting bond with that individual.

In fall , ninth- and tenth-grade students will start a two-year Waldorf core class that integrates subjects such as art history, poetry, art, drama, and gardening. Running Time: min. Growing with Waldorf The Waldorf approach to education began in in Germany, when the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory asked esoteric philosopher Rudolf Steiner to start a school for the workers' children.