One of the biggest misconceptions about Waldorf education is that children can’t read and that Waldorf schools are anti-books.
In this week’s Sunday with Sarah , I try to dispel some of the myths and describe how reading is approached in Waldorf education.
I’m sure this topic will raise lots of questions, so please a comment below, and I will do my best to answer them all!
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Warmly,
TRANSCRIPTION:
Today I’d like to dispel one of the biggest myths you may have heard about Waldorf education: that Waldorf kids can’t read. I’m here to tell you that is not true and to share with you some information about how reading is approached in Waldorf education.
Now, it’s true that Waldorf kindergartens and nurseries don’t formally teach reading, writing, and other academic subjects, but that doesn’t mean that the children aren’t gaining valuable development in those areas. In the early years, they’re developing so many pre-reading skills and language skills. Children in a Waldorf preschool environment—nursery or kindergarten—are hearing verses, they’re learning songs, they’re hearing stories and fairy tales. They’re hearing rich language and they’re hearing it repeated over and over. They might hear the same story every day for a week or two weeks or repeating a circle play with the same songs and verses until they really memorize them and learn them by heart.
They’re building mature vocabularies. If you meet a Waldorf kindergarten student, who might not be reading any words yet, you may notice that they have a very advanced vocabulary and spoken language skills.
One of the reasons Waldorf schools don’t push reading at a young age is that children’s brains are all wired differently and some children are predisposed to read early while others are not. Other children might be developing their physical skills first, and the decoding ability necessary to read will come later. Most children under the age of seven will be more advanced in some developmental areas than others.
Some children can get really frustrated when reading is introduced too early, before they’re ready. It can turn them off to reading for a lifetime, convincing them that reading is a chore and not inherently rewarding or fun. In Waldorf we choose to allow these skills to develop naturally at the individual child’s own pace. It’s similar to walking: kids learn how to do it on their own, at different ages, without us having to teach them how!
I always give the example of my two children. My older son, Harper, didn’t start to read fluently until the middle of 3rd grade. My younger son, William, taught himself in kindergarten. Nobody taught him, he just started reading one day. I, like a lot of parents, was really worried when their cousins were their age and reading way ahead of them, but both boys grew into very voracious readers with excellent literary skills. When it happens, it happens.
Around the age of seven, all those different developmental areas should be more or less caught up. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, believed around seven, or the year the child is turning seven, is the ideal time to start first grade and academic learning.
When they do get to first grade, letters are introduced in a very imaginative and living way through stories and art. For example, the letter “M” might be introduced as a drawing of a Mountain in the shape of the letter.
By third grade, most children in a Waldorf school should be reading competently. Some children do develop learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, so when they do get to grade school it’s important to keep an eye on them and to be in touch with a child’s teacher. If by third grade they’re still struggling, you may want to consult with a learning or reading specialist for analysis because the earlier a problem like dyslexia is diagnosed the more can be done to help the child.
I can assure you that Waldorf schools are not anti-reading and they’re not anti-books. Being concerned that your child is falling behind can be a natural reaction, but I’m here to tell you to relax and let it happen when it happens.
As always, your comments and questions are always welcome! Please leave them below and I will do my best to respond.
3 Comments
From your description it sounds like the Waldorf approach is really great for the child who comes to being developmentally ready for reading later … but then does that mean for the child who does show signs of being ready to read sooner that a Waldorf approach might not be a good fit for him/her? I found it so interesting that you have children who fit into two totally different descriptions and one taught himself to read (very impressive!). But I also found myself wondering if socio-economic family situations also plays a role into this? Children who live in wealthy or middle-class homes may be experiencing language rich environments whereas children who do not come from homes with as much money or education may need more language rich environments in the school environment because they are not getting it at home? I love the Waldorf approach but sometimes it seems to exist in a bubble disconnected from the real world, so I’m just wondering if you know of any research or articles that might address this question. Thank you!
Thanks for your question, Momiko, and sorry for the long delay in responding. It came during the midst of our busy holiday season, and I am just now catching up on responding to blog comments.
You ask if a Waldorf classroom might not be a good fit for a child who is naturally an early reader. Absolutely not! In a Waldorf kindergarten classroom and in the early grades, reading is allowed to unfold naturally as children are ready without any pressure to make reading feel like a chore, rather than an enjoyment In the example I gave of my two kids including one very early reader and one later reader, both became avid readers and remain so today. Both scored above the 95th percentile on their SATs despite one having learned to read in kindergarten and the other in third grade.
As for children who come from a lower socio-economic home that is not language-rich, I can’t think of a better environment for these children than a Waldorf classroom where they will hear stories, poems and verses every day in rich, original language that is not watered down for kids. Through repetition, they will learn these poems, verses and stories by heart, building their vocabularies and language skills.
The sad thing is that a Waldorf education is not often an option for children in certain socio-economic situations, unless a family lives near a public charter Waldorf school, or a family can homeschool. Every Waldorf teacher I know wishes this were different, but my hope is that in time, more and more of the wisdom of Waldorf will be incorporated into public school education, as the practice of teacher looping (a teacher staying with one class for multiple years) has started to gain popularity.
Did you see my blog post on how reading is taught in a Waldorf school? You might find it helpful.
It is amusing to me when I hear people worry that Waldorf students don’t live in the “real world.” I chose to send my children to a Waldorf school specifically because I WANTED them to live in the real world. What is more real that learning to cook, learning where one’s food comes from, working in a garden, reading classic literature, learning to knit and sew and make useful and beautiful things? These are real experiences and skills that are sadly being lost from childhood in today’s modern world.
When kids are introduced to computers and modern technology they learn to use them very quickly, but it is so important to educate the whole child–head, heart and hands, which is what Waldorf education strives to do.
I hope this sheds some light and offers some reassurance. Great questions!
If I’m homeschooling my kid, and my toddler is interested in looking at books (at all the pictures) and they both constantly hand me books to read aloud to them (especially the toddler)… is this practice of “reading books to children” discouraged?