Free Republic

What does anyone here know about the Waldorf education system and the person upon who it is based, Rudolph Steiner? The school near us flies a flag with an image of the earth on it; no US flag. I know they are into biodynamics. Most of the folks I know who are really into biodynamics are usually pretty out there. I also know that many of the people who pioneered various education systems that came out of Germany during the era of John Dewey were socialists or strongly leaned that way. What constructive information can you provide other than nut...

As I drove down the lengthy driveway of Mercy Montessori Center, I called my great aunt from Athens, Georgia, whom we lovingly call Aunt Puddien. Aunt Puddien is like another mother to me and I trusted her wisdom. She always introduced me to a relative or friend of the family as the teacher to which they responded with praise and affirmation. To them, loving and teaching our youth was a great honor despite the devaluation educators often experience. As an educator, I work within and around systems that are designed to lock out historically marginalized communities; this is why I...

Want proof COVID alarmism is a cult, pure and simple?Look no further than the Elizabeth Anne Clune Montessori school in Ithaca.There, as chronicled by David Zweig at the Free Press, children must be masked, including outdoors, and are actually forbidden from speaking during lunch. That’s right: In 2023, long after the pandemic has recededyears after the data have established both that there is near-zero risk to kids from the disease and that interventions like masking (and monastic silences) are next to uselessStill, one tiny private school is clinging to hygiene theater with insane vigilance. Zweig reports that the enforced silence...

The Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School of Ithaca, set amid a pastoral idyll of rolling fields, a pond, and dandelion-stippled meadows, is just a few minutes’ ride from Ithaca College and Cornell University. Serving more than 220 students from preschool through eighth grade, the school features classrooms bathed in natural light, populated with the offspring of professors, doctors, and lawyers. And since the fall of 2020 through today, those children must be masked during class and on the playground, and have been barred from speaking during lunch. Like every other school in the country, this private school—which charges between $11,000...

I was cancelled from giving a speech at a conference at the Montessori Education Center of the Rockies, because of an article I wrote published by American Thinker criticizing some major Montessori organizations for supporting the social justice movement and implementing its positions. In the cancellation letter I received, I was told that they have plans to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion training for all their instructors every year, and have asked their instructors to integrate those principles into their content area. The following is the reply I sent to them: It is clear that I was discriminated against for...

A photograph came across my screen today that perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with modern, traditional education. (I use the word "traditional" as a contrast to Montessori or Waldorf schools.) In it, we see that a child gave a correct answer to an ambiguous question, only to be told his answer was wrong because the teacher was unable to see beyond the confines of her answer book. Things like this turn students into the kind of mindless drones who think as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does.Here's the photograph:If it doesn't come through clearly, what you see is that the child was given the...

A Washington state school decreed that students must wear masks in the cafeteria — while chewing and swallowing food, Jason Rantz of KTTH-AM reported... Rantz noted a portion of an email to parents from Principal Neil O'Brien outlining the policy: "Yes. Children should wear masks during lunch. They can lower it to take a bite or a drink, and raise it to chew, swallow, or talk. Our cafeteria has a fantastic airflow system and children are spaced apart AND when over a hundred of them are in one large room (the cafeteria and gym combined) we need to treat lunchtime...

One hundred and fifty years after Maria Montessori’s birth, tens of thousands of teachers around the world still hail her innovations and educational philosophy. One of Italy’s first female doctors, Montessori applied her training as a scientist to teaching children in new ways. She upended conventional thinking about education by, among other things, letting kids freely choose from an array of classroom activities to foster their independence. Many of Montessori’s original ideas are commonplace today, especially in preschools and kindergarten classrooms: child-sized tables, hands-on games and other opportunities to play at school. Even the common practice of letting children sit...

But just because he brought the produce doesn't mean he gets to enjoy it. George's offering ends up in a large bowl with all of his classmates', and come snack time, everyone picks out of the bowl. "This encourages sharing," the source tells Us.

Erika and Nicholas Christakis are too good for Yale – I recommend they work at Montessori instead I read the email that Erika Christakis sent to Yale students, defending their right to wear Halloween costumes, and, more importantly, their right to think for themselves.I also watched the video where her husband, Nicholas Christakis, behaved with grace and dignity as a Yale student conducted a profanity laden temper tantrum directed at him.The Christakises are too good for Yale. I recommend that they become Montessori teachers. They deserve to work at a real school that values intellectual freedom and independent thinking, and which...

Even Mother Teresa might have been tempted by this kind of property bonanza. A group of nuns wants to boot 55 tots from one of the city’s oldest preschools so they can cash in on the facility’s $20 million Chelsea real estate, according to a lawsuit by fuming parents. More than 50 moms and dads of kids at Nazareth Nursery Montessori claim the Sisters of St. Francis — who bought the West 15th Street facility for $5,000 in 1901 — want to sell the school’s two brick brownstones and hoard the money. “It's clear that the defendants plan to close...

Summary: Head Start was launched more than 45 years ago. Much was promised, little delivered. This failure tells us a lot about our Education Establishment. ------ This is the story of an intentionally wasted opportunity. People thought Head Start meant jump start. Surely the idea was to take children from disadvantaged backgrounds and fill their heads with all the information that middle and upper-class kids learn around the house. These poor and minority kids would then be up to speed. Quickly. That’s the jump start everybody imagined was being proposed here. But that is not what the program did. Head...

Hi, Does anyone out there have a positive or negative experience regarding Montessori schools that they would care to share? I have a 3-year-old son who is pretty bright and I am hoping to find a challenging day care environment for him (1/2 days). He can read very well and write a little, and he is very creative. I also ge the feeling he is a little frustrated by his current day care. I am curious about these schools but also concerned -- I guess because of the fact that they have a "philosophy" behind them and I don't know...

I'm interested in any FReeper experience or knowledge about Montessori schooling, formal or home. We are looking into placing our daughter (5 yrs old) into a Montessori preschool.

Movie director turned child advocate Rob Reiner recently acquired a million signatures to put his Preschool for All initiative on the California ballot next June, his second attempt to launch a "universal" preschool program. The real victims would be low- to middle-income women who run nearly all private early-care centers that comprise 70% of California's child-care industry. The onerous credentialing requirements and union mandates that the initiative would trigger would devastate the industry's entrepreneurs without improving instruction one iota. Consider Cynthia Leahy, founder of Montessori Schools of Fremont. She started her first center 30 years ago in a small Sunday...

I am seeking advice and opinions about Montessori schools. We have a toddler and are starting to consider his educational options. While I know this is early in the game, it has also been brought to my attention that many private schools have waiting lists that are months or years long! If anyone has had experience with the Montessori program for their youngsters (preschool, elementary, homeschooling with Montessori method, etc), I would be very grateful to read about it. I know there are other programs, such as Waldorf, but am not as familiar with that approach. Thanks in advance.