Growing up in a Waldorf School

Last week a friend of mine asked me about my experience growing up in a Waldorf School... and I told her the following story...

One thing most people don't know about me is that I couldn't read until the summer before the fifth grade, and as pretty much everybody knows, that is unusual for most kids.

Had I been at any other school anywhere else in the country... a young black girl in the fourth grade who couldn't read... I would have definitely been filtered into a "special education" track or simply held back... I could have potentially been diagnosed with all kinds of learning disorders... and been told that I just wasn't as smart, or capable as the other kids...

Instead, nobody at Waldorf ever waivered... my classroom teacher Micheal Martin was convinced that I was intelligent beyond measure... and when my parents began to worry about my progress... he told them... don't worry... she is a very smart child, just give her time, she'll come around. At no point did he, or anyone in my life ever doubt that I was an intellectually capable child...

The summer before fifth grade my parents started working on my reading with me using flashcards, audio programs and other kinds of books... which I think must have helped a lot. Because going into the fall of fifth grade... I was finally able to read...

Within a year I was reading at an adult reading level... In high school I scored a 720 on my english SAT score... and english, the humanities and any other subject that involved reading and interpretation have consistently been my strongest subjects...

I owe all of that to Waldorf...

For those of you that don't know, Waldorf Schools have a holistic teaching curriculum that focuses on integrating the mind, body and spirit into education. While they are not a "Christian" school in a strict sense, they base their mission in Christian and Humanist principles (for more information on what a Waldorf School is, check out this website).

One thing that I always stress to people is that every Waldorf School is different, so if you are trying to decide whether or not to send your child to one, I think it is critical that you check out the school for yourself. Talk to parents whose children are currently enrolled, and try to talk to parents whose children have graduated. If possible, get a sense of what kind of high schools their graduates go on to, and whether or not they tend to go on to college. I think this set of questions is important because the effectiveness of a Waldorf education can be so vastly different.

Parental involvement is also important, as I illustrated in the story at the beginning... I needed a push from my parents to get over the final hump... The Waldorf School I attended did not use textbooks, we did not receive grades until the seventh grade, and we did not always have homework... So I think for parents who want their children to transition into traditional high schools or colleges, it is important that they are actively involved in teaching their kids how to use those tools. Reading textbooks, getting homework done, etc are all skills that have to be honed... the parent that can help their child learn how to navigate them will have a successful Waldorf graduate.

Another thing that helped me was being involved in academic summer programs, where I got exposure to learning tools like rote memorization and regurgitating information... which... Waldorf was adamantly opposed to in it's curriculum... but were critical to my success when I transitioned into traditional schools...

For students of color in Waldorf schools... isolation can definitely be an issue... not so much within the school environment, but back at home in their neighborhoods. The Waldorf student isn't experiencing the same things that other kids are experiencing in school... and since most Waldorf parents are encouraged to restrict television and popular music listening... that can be the cause of further isolation...

My mom was really active in combating this isolation for my sister and I... involving us in after school and summer programs with the Police Athletic League, the Detroit Center for Creative Studies and various summer camps in state and out of state... This was a critical part of us being well-adjusted kids with a diversity of friends...

Waldorf was exactly what I needed, and although I am just now reaching a point in my life where I can appreciate it, I can now acknowledge that if it were not for Waldorf I would not be working towards my Ph.d today... Waldorf taught me how to think, how to trust my intuition and how to be creative.

But most critically... Waldorf taught me to never doubt my own intelligence... to accept challenges as par for the course... and to always remain confidant in my ability to do the work... even if I have to do it a little bit differently, or it takes me a little bit longer...

If you have any questions about my experience or about Waldorf schools in general, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email...

peace.