Alan & Brenda Leonard

> She said they wouldn't have the
> opportunity to learn about this elsewhere, it was the best thing they were in
> preschool so they wouldn't be behind in kindergarten.

Sorry, but didn't kindergarten come from the idea of making sure that no
kids were left behind in 1st grade? Are we going to add pre-preschool for
babies so they're not left behind in preschool?

We're currently living in Germany, compliments of the U.S. Army. My child
is 6, and reads. He taught himself, which all Americans think is great, and
most Germans think is strange. He's an anomaly in Germany. German
Kindergarten begins at age 3 and goes until the children start school at 6.
It's mainly about learning to play together and is not academic. German
children learn A,B,C and all that in 1st grade. As a result, they read
fluently at 7, 8, or later. If test scores are what you care about (and
certainly that seems to be important to many Americans), German children
appear to be far better educated than their American counterparts, despite
their late start reading. While the German system is not perfect, of
course, it at least demonstrates that our obsession with very early
childhood education is not justified.

brenda

Tia Leschke

>German
>children learn A,B,C and all that in 1st grade. As a result, they read
>fluently at 7, 8, or later. If test scores are what you care about (and
>certainly that seems to be important to many Americans), German children
>appear to be far better educated than their American counterparts, despite
>their late start reading. While the German system is not perfect, of
>course, it at least demonstrates that our obsession with very early
>childhood education is not justified.

And at least in some parts of Germany, Waldorf schools are a
publicly-funded choice. They start reading even later. My friends'
children went to public Waldorf schools right through high school near
Stuttgart.
Tia

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/3/02 10:42:27 AM, leschke@... writes:

<< And at least in some parts of Germany, Waldorf schools are a
publicly-funded choice. >>

Do you know whether they've maintained or downplayed the racist element of it?

Pure Waldorf and Germany sounds like a bad combination to me.

Tia Leschke

>
>
><< And at least in some parts of Germany, Waldorf schools are a
>publicly-funded choice. >>
>
>Do you know whether they've maintained or downplayed the racist element of it?
>
>Pure Waldorf and Germany sounds like a bad combination to me.

I don't know for sure, but I think my friends would have steered clear of
anything racist. He's an old boyfriend from my Berkeley days.
Tia

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island

saffronwoman

Do you know whether they've maintained or
downplayed the racist element of it?
I participated in a Waldorf study group a few years ago (at the request
of a friend who was wavering between homeschooling and
enrolling her child in a Waldorf school - we were already commited to
homeschooling). At the time I didn't think too much about the
racist aspect, but, hindsite being 20/20, I can see it more clearly
now. While I appreciate some of their philosophy on schooling
children,
some of it is just plain scary.

He's an old boyfriend from my
Berkeley days.

You have one of those too? Sometimes I miss my days hanging out in
Berkeley with the old boyfriend, sitting at coffe houses, listening
to the drummers on the campus, hanging out in Moe's bookstore. Thanks
for the reminder.