My daughter is in year 5 at a public primary school. We are keen for her to go to a private school for high school (for a variety of reasons none of which I'm interested in debating). My husband has been reading a lot about Steiner and is keen to check it out for her. Im wondering what people's experiences are with Steiner. Im concerned the transition will be huge (bigger than normal transition from primary to secondary) going from traditional education to the Steiner format but also concerned that the education system is fundamentally broken and traditional high school won't fulfill her potential but feed her anxiety's.
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I just moved my daughter from a public school to a private one and it's been fantastic and she is loving her private school a lot better. There were problems with her public school. Why not just check out the schools with your daughter and let her decide?
Don't go Steiner for high school!
I like steiners philosophies etc. and a child who is self motivated and a self learner will do well. If your child becomes a rebellious teen (like many, many do and they do become pretty lazy at that age, less eager to please etc) then they can fall rapidly behind in a Steiner school.
Plus you can't do year 11 and 12 at Steiner schools as they are a 'school of type' so you'd have to change schools anyway. That can be really hard for some teens.
They also have some interesting ideas about correcting punctuation, grammar and the setting out of work. So many parents in the change over years end up paying for private tutors to catch them up in that area.
So my advice choose a different private school for high school. One that's not Steiner, if you want to do Steiner do it in primary school.
Look into them and decide. I would choose a steiner or similar philosophy school although as mentioned it doesnt work for every child so vieit and see, if you believe it will be beneficial the transition will be worth it.
My daughter goes to a private primary school and in year 6 she has some lovely friends, however she does have a lot of anxiety. I think her anxiety is made worst by the pressure put on the kids in P/schools -lots of homework, much more in our school compared to state schools in our area, peer pressure to do outside activities every night of the week, fancy holidays etc and our school in my opinion goes way over-the-top with awards and badges, half of the school get them in the upper primary years and the rest just feel like chuck meat. I don't think this is inspiring or motivating my daughter however it's a safe environment with mostly nice kids. Notwithstanding that she is reasonably happy and is an above average student academically. You just have to decide what's right for you and your child. If we had a Steiner school close that would have been our choice for primary school. However, there are not a lot of choices out there unfortunately, our education system doesn't cater for the needs of every student and variety in schools is sadly lacking. I wish you all the best. If your daughter has anxiety related issues get help from a child psychologist if you haven't already. My daughter responded well to relaxation techniques like guided imagery at bedtimes.
I looked into Steiner for my daughter for high school. She was creative gentle and a bit anxious. I thought the smaller more earthy environment would suit her. She took one look at the pit toilet and said no way! We'd traveled oz for almost two years and some of those road side pit dunnies are fowl! I assured her the Steiner loo was composting and did not smell. Anyway, she chose the local public high school because of their ag dept. I was quite surprised that particular Steiner school had no veggie patch, chooks or anything. My daughter is now into her 2nd year of rural science at uni.
We are spoilt for choice in my area. Two Steiner schools k - 12. One is more traditional and smaller than the other.
IMO Steiner is best suited for creatives, musicians, etc
Options are limited for year 11 and 12 in a small school (regardless if public or private) and so they either have to attend a different school or do the subject via distance Ed, as was the case for my daughter, not enough kids chose ag for it to run.
As far as starting high school not knowing anyone, it happens all the time. A lot of small feeder schools around here. My daughter knew one girl who she didn't like. They went on camp early on and they make lots of new friends.
NB my daughter is sweet, gentle, kind, independent and never followed the crowd. She now lives 5 hours away
Go to all the open days with your daughter. Discuss all the pros and cons with her and encourage her to make the decision
Good luck!