What Is A Steiner (Waldorf) Education All About?

The Steiner method of teaching is meant to be gentle, and very rounded, teaching "the whole child". There is an emphasis on creativity and artisitic (or almost artistic) forms of expression in every subject.

Similar to the Montessori philosophy, children are often guided by their own initiative in lessons (i.e., children learn at their own pace). But Steiner is usually considered much less structured than Montessori. Also rather distinctive, Steiner usually advocates intense immersion in a subject, so instead of an hour of history a week all year, children might have 2 hours of history daily over just half a term.

Steiner is notable for its enthusiasm for the natural world, children are taught to tune into nature using first-hand experience, drawings and observations. Children are taught to write before they learn to read, and ideally keep the same teacher for the first 7 years of school. Steiner resists formal learning, especially reading, for children under 7. Because it's "when the adult teeth start to come through", and that is considered a bio-physical mark of mental maturity and readiness for more structured learning.

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