Manisha Kher

--- Kendrah Nilsestuen <carebear-79@...>
wrote:
> She explained
> to me that
> unfortunately unschooling isn't based on any
> understanding of a
> child's cognitive development. Therefore we treat
> them like little
> adults assuming they are much more ready for things
> than they really
> are (i.e. letting a 6 year old watch the news). My
> impression is that
> she believes that if unschooling parents truly had
> knowledge in how
> the brain develops we would parent much differently.

If I'm designing a curriculum for a bunch of unknown
kids, I need an understanding of coginitive
development. If I'm living with my kid, I know what
she's ready for by observing her and being with her.
If I introduce something to her and she's not ready
for it, I can change course right away. I think it
shows a lack of understanding of unschooling to say
that we assume they're more ready than they are. FWIW
nobody in my family watches the news because we
(including the grown ups) are not ready for it :-)

My unschooling philosophy is based on how I learn, how
I've seen other people of all ages learn. It comes
from the belief that true learning comes from being
interested in something.

John Holt whom I consider the patron saint of
unschooling spent a lot of time with children
observing how they learnt (or did not) He has written
excellent books on the subject.

Manisha




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Ren Allen

~~. She explained to me that
unfortunately unschooling isn't based on any understanding of a
child's cognitive development. ~~

Bull!
That just proves she knows NOTHING of the unschooling philosophy
whatsover. Anyone who reads Holt realizes very quickly that its
completely in line with cognitive develpment theories. Schooling isn't
in line with those theories, which is why it shocks me that people
getting an education degree don't see that! .

As far as I'm concerned, Piaget's theories have held up pretty well,
but Steiner has some really nutty, cultish ideas. Anyone that wants to
understand cognitive development is better off reading Piaget!

Where does the idea that children shouldn't use black in their artwork
come from? That's a Steiner thing and has nothing to do with cognitive
development. I find Waldorf another form of coercion, that just looks
prettier from the outside.

Understanding child development can really help people get to gentle
parenting (seeing that a two year old has little concept of
right/wrong might cause more parents to not make a 2y.o. clean up a
mess they created), but the greatest factor with unschooling is
trusting the needs and desires of the child right in front of you. One
doesn't need a host of "methods" to simply trust their child and help
them get what they need and want.

Any method that encourages a child to dress a certain way, use certain
materials over others, certain colors over others, bans electronic
media for the most part, encourages certain foods over others etc...is
total manipulation. Not only are Waldorf children being manipulated,
the parents are too.

Here's more info:
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1213/gnomes-and-critics-at-waldorf-schools
Ren
learninginfreecom.com

Sylvia Toyama

Did your friend or the book happen to mention that Steiner was a white supremacist?

IMO, he wasn't a nice guy and for me this colors all my perceptions of his philosophies.

The whole theory that children aren't 'complete' until age 8 or so bothers me, too. That's behind the practice of limiting not only electronic media, but also what learning kids should be given when.

I knew one Waldorf homeschooling Mom who was worried becuase her 3rd child had 'learned some letters sooner than she should have' making it harder to teach her in the right way. Learning letters in the wrong order?!

Way too much control over parents by the curriculum being exercised there.

Sylvia

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marji

> Any method that encourages a child to dress a certain way, use certain
> materials over others, certain colors over others, bans electronic
> media for the most part, encourages certain foods over others etc...is
> total manipulation. Not only are Waldorf children being manipulated,
> the parents are too.

I think it's important to add, too, that Steiner died in 1925, before
electronic media was even available, let alone in wide use.
Therefore, the Waldorfian position on electronic media is really more
dogmatic; Steiner never really got to weigh in on such things. It's
also important to note that Steiner's theories and concepts stopped
evolving when he did. So, folks who adhere strictly to Waldorf dogma
are making life choices based on a 19th- to early 20th-century,
industrial-age modality that has not had a chance to evolve. A lot of
water has passed under the bridge since then!

~Marji

:: anne | arun ::

Steiner education is the "mainstream" alternative choice here in
Australia. That is to say most parents who question mainstream
education end up committing to Steiner schools, many of which are
public (government funded).

We were heavily drawn to aspects of Steiner as new parents... it
seemed peaceful, in touch with nature, healthy and so on. I was put
off by the philosophy behind Steiner (Anthroposophy) but could ignore
it because i enjoyed aspects of its practice. It was really our
daughter who rejected it though, by the time she was four... thus
began our unschooling adventure. We have many Steiner friends and our
unschooling path was a very rude shock to many of them.

Motivated by this, I wrote an Article about unschooling that is
getting published next week in the a magazine called Kindred
(formerly Byrons Child) which is Australia's main alternative
parenting magazine. The article is pitched squarely at Steiner bods
as they make up the mags main readership and as i say, most of the
alternative thinking parents in Australia...

Kendrah, your original post asked for links... So the article is here:

http://theparentingpit.com/about/an-unschooling-journey-%ef%bf%bd-from-
control-to-connection/

if you get an error message just click on the option An Unschooling
Journey � from Control to Connection on the right under "about".

all the best
arun

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arun = 0425 828 573
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http://www.theparentingpit.com





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