Steiner Schools - opinions please

[Amber]

Lovely to see you back, Amber. Would you approve of Montessorie system for infant schools?

I don't know enough to comment, tiffinboys. I took my daughter to look at one when she was tiny and I wasn't impressed with it, for all kinds of reasons, but that is not to generalise as I know very little.

I would like to see nurseries like the ones in Denmark and Norway where children are outside most of the time, where they are not constantly hovered over by adults trying to either teach them things or write down things about them, where the ages (from babies to 6) are mixed up together and there aren't 'learning goals' or sneaky phonics lessons or numeracy skills sessions. I would like to see children taking some responsibility for looking after each other and looking out for each other, for them learning to cooperate rather than compete and also for a more central place for nature in their world - not the pathetic attempts to recreate 'forest school' for twenty minutes a week in a corner of the school field with long grass and a tree stump in it, with the appropriate ratio of adults to children to ensure no one chokes on a dandelion clock or bumps themselves on a beetle.

A Danish friend of mine was recently telling me about a delegation of UK nursery staff who visited a school in Copenhagen and were horrified to find that a. the gates weren't locked and b. small children were out playing unsupervised. One of the visitors asked about these things and was told 'why would we lock them in? They are having so much fun here they wouldn't try to run away'; and 'well if one of them gets hurt, one of the others will come and tell us - we are watching from inside'. It is such a different mindset we will probably never even aspire to it, but for me that is so much nicer than the kind of high-security, child-protection-trumps-everything, goals-driven early years experience many children have in this country.

Far too many hyphens in that last sentence, I admit.

[tiffinboys]

It would be lovely to have such a nursery schools upto an age (what do you say , 6 or 7 may be), but as Amber mentioned it would require completely different mindset and we would need to forget Chineese/Korean/Asian models. I also fear that some parents would then have private tutoring because 'school is not teaching anything' syndrome.

Maybe 2 years old be left to play on their own or with a violin or golf club (or what ever) and may turn out to be an athelete, or artist or sportsperson rather than a level 4 child in English & Maths.

[southbucks3]

Maybe 2 years old be left to play on their own or with a violin or golf club (or what ever) and may turn out to be an athelete, or artist or sportsperson rather than a level 4 child in English & Maths.

Oh dear, my eldest mostly played with building blocks, a winnie the poo ride on car and his Willy at two years old. what on earth is he destined to become?

[KS10]

not the pathetic attempts to recreate 'forest school' for twenty minutes a week in a corner of the school field with long grass and a tree stump in it, with the appropriate ratio of adults to children to ensure no one chokes on a dandelion clock or bumps themselves on a beetle

Oh dear, my eldest mostly played with building blocks, a winnie the poo ride on car and his Willy at two years old. what on earth is he destined to become?

Don't tempt me to answer that one!

[kenyancowgirl]

Well, obviously a property developing, supercar driving, umm..... but very successful, by the sounds of it!!

Mine collected conkers and corks, obsessively. Any ideas?!!

[tiffinboys]

Gem collector. Not bad.