Our oldest daughter began at Davis Waldorf School in second grade. At the time she was furious with us for transferring her from her old school without her input. However, within weeks, the child who resisted learning, reading, and routines, grew engaged and even enthusiastic in her schooling. We stopped hearing “I don’t want to go to school.” That was six years ago, and my husband and I have never regretted the financial or time investment. We now have three children at DWS (7th, 4th, and 1st grade as of the 2011-12 school year), and the school has fitted each of them in very different ways.
While some of the traditions or requests (such as limited to no media) often feel strange and even restrictive at first, we’ve found that there always seems to be valid reasoning behind them. The school functions like a large and welcoming family, and while (as with any family or community) there may be occasional frictions, we’ve never felt anything other than accepted and embraced.
We’ve found the teachers and administration to be open to communication and remarkably understanding of the unique personalities and quirks of our children. The curriculum is challenging enough to keep our intellectually gifted and skeptical teenager motivated while being paced perfectly for our perfectionist middle-schooler and social butterfly youngest.
Waldorf education may not be for everybody, but at Davis Waldorf School, I have found most of the children to be confident, at ease with adults, able to focus on problem solving, and remarkably tolerant of the quirks and individuality of their peers. In a cookie-cutter world, these kids are taught academics and life skills through the unique beauty of art, music, and movement.
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