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Preschool Prep Series
The Waldorf Method
By Tara Swords
In the Waldorf education, children are not taught to read until second or third grade. When reading was introduced to Zachary's class, he began having trouble. The cause of his struggles was not apparent until he was diagnosed with dyslexia, a reading disorder marked by a tendency to scramble letters, words and sentences. But instead of alienating Zachary because of his learning disability, his classmates and teacher supported his efforts to read.
"[One day] Mr. Johnson ran into the office and said, 'Georgia! Zachary read an entire paragraph and didn't make a mistake!" Klenn says. "And he told me that all the other kids started clapping for him. It gives me goose bumps. It just makes me want to cry."
Waldorf students remain with the same teacher from preschool through eighth grade. This allows the teacher to develop a close relationship with all the students, and ensures that students' abilities and difficulties will be understood from year to year. "They adore this man," Klenn says. "He's like a second parent to them."
Johnson, like all other Waldorf teachers, doesn't give his students grades or make them memorize facts in a textbook. "Other schools are so concerned about science or math or reading," he says. "It leaves the child nervous and unsatisfied."
To help students feel more at ease, a Waldorf school is "all natural" – literally. Nothing in the classroom is made of plastic, because it's not a natural substance. The children have wood stumps, they use beeswax crayons instead of Crayola, and other natural materials such as silk and wool. According to Johnson, the children's mental development benefits from the feel, sight and smell of natural materials.
