Any Waldorf (Steiner) families?

[paddymacs]

We hope to arrive in Perth by next August at the latest. We are seriously considering a Steiner Education ( if we can get the kids in) anybody on here with children in any of the schools in Perth? Is it too late to send my 10 year old (he will be 11 next August) he is in main stream school here. I have two smallies 3 & 2 now so they will be fine but its my eldest I'd be concerned about. I would love to hear from anyone who has gone this route.

 

Thanks in advance

Edited October 17, 2014 by paddymacs

[Guest]

We teetered on the brink of Steiner twice - once when we moved to Australia and again when we moved back to the UK.

 

We had an interview at the Parkerville school and decided it was just not for us, I entirely agree with the educationally philosophies but some of the other aspects I found too extreme - no man-made products whatsoever at school (I really struggle to see a problem with Lego or why only a certain brand of wax crayons can be used) and no TV or computers at home or school. The teacher looked at my sons work from his UK school and made a comment about a drawing of a cartoon character, she obviously had no idea what it was and even though I did I found myself lying! I also met with some of the other parents and I felt like a fish out of water and a comment was made about the T-shirt he was wearing which was from Next that made me uncomfortable. If I couldn't have an honest an open relationship with the teachers and other parents it wasn't going to work for us as a family.

 

Being blunt if you are already bringing your children up wearing only natural fibres, eating only home-made organic food and you don't have a TV at home then it will be an easier transition. For us we felt we would have to work hard to fit in and as our son was already going to have a big adjustment moving to Australia we didn't want to make it even harder for him. High school is always going to be a transition though and there were some families from my sons primary in Perth who chose Steiner as the high school so I am sure they are used to helping children make the adjustment.

 

It may have been that particular school and possibly the Nollamara one, which we also applied to, may have been less extreme - although the TV/Computer thing is a absolute foundation of Steiner as you probably know. We didn't like Nollamara as a place and couldn't afford the suburbs near by that we did like. The Bibra Lake one was fully subscribed when we were applying but I believe that is the only one with a high school.

 

We sent our son in the end to Lance Holt School in Fremantle which we found absolutely wonderful - if you are attracted to Steiner it is worth a look as an alternative. Lots of the families would fit the Steiner stereotype but the mix of families was much broader and we found our own comfortable place in it.

[paddymacs]

Thanks for a great reply you have answered alot of my questions! I also love the whole philosophy of the way they teach and I like alot of their ways but we are NOT the stereo typical family so that would worry me dont want the kids to be treated differntly as you said hard enough settling into a new country. We also like our luxuries clothes ( from wherever i like) cars, nice house etc.... We have TV but it is limited. My son has an Xbox also only allowed use at certain times. The children love their toys ( you should see our playroom)especially lego and playdough (i make that myself) We are however quite holistic I buy organic and cook from scratch, I am a homeopath, kids were born at home. I thought in this day and age that not everybody had that stereotypical idea or look hopefully somebody else will have something different to say about other schools.

Edited October 17, 2014 by paddymacs