Argumentative Essay: The Waldorf Schools

When I first visited a Waldorf School ten years ago in search of my children’s school, I felt as if I were in the fantasy land. I couldn’t believe that there was such a school like this one still had existed in this fast-paced and competitive world. I was impressed with the campus, the teaching style, and the teachers. The twenty-two acre campus by the American River held the nature area, a farm, a garden, and the athletic fields in addition to the classroom buildings. Their teaching style was simple but deep and rich. Teachers seemed very kind, open-minded, and peaceful. According to www.waldorfanswers.com, there are about one thousand Waldorf Schools globally, and about one hundred fifty Waldorf Schools are in North America. The Waldorf program

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) created the first Waldorf School with a consideration of the stages of child development. According to Steiner, children from the birth to seven years old learn through the imaginative play. Therefore, in the Waldorf Schools, they don’t start teaching academics till the middle of the first grade. They teach children through child-centered play, story telling with songs, and movements with music. In contrast, regular schools start teaching reading, writing, and numbers by the kindergarten. During the stage of seven to fourteen years old, Steiner believes children nourish their knowledge through experiences and handwork. Children start reading, writing, and math, but they are taught slower than the regular schools. They spend a lot time on learning letters through movements and writing letters artistically. There are no text books provided, but children make their own textbooks with beautiful drawings and penmanships. There is the curriculum for the craftsmanship, too. Children learn how to knit, sew, weave, and work with wood at school. According to Steiner’s philosophy, in the stage of fourteen to twenty-one years old is the time that children can develop holistic thinking that leads to become a responsible person who has the ethical thinking. In high school, they take the time to collaborate all the knowledge to deepen the subjects through researches and projects instead of rushing through the standardized curriculum. In the Waldorf program, the process of teaching slower than the regular curriculum, but they teach children with deep knowledge and skills. Parents need to be patient with this process. If parents don’t know much about the philosophy, they would be worried whether their child is getting enough academic instructions, and it would be very