025: Is a Waldorf preschool right for my child?
This episode is the second in our mini-series on making decisions about preschools, which I know is on the minds of a lot of parents of young children at this time of year. Today we speak with Beverly Amico, the Director of Advancement at the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. Beverly helps us to understand the philosophy behind a Waldorf approach to early childhood education as well as answer those all-important questions like “Can I send my child to a Waldorf preschool even if s/he has plastic toys and watches TV?”. https://blog.waldorfeducation.org/ (Here’s the link) to the Essentials in Education blog that Beverly mentions in the episode, and https://www.waldorfeducation.org/ (here is the official website) for her organization, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. References Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (2015). Waldorf Education. Retrieved from: https://waldorfeducation.org/ Edmunds, F. (2004). An introduction to Steiner education. Forest Row, UK: Sophia Books Howard, S. (n.d.). Essentials of Waldorf early childhood education. Retrieved from: http://www.waldorfearlychildhood.org/uploads/Howard%20Article.pdf Petrash, J. (2002). Understanding Waldorf education: Teaching from the inside out. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House Steiner, R. (1995). The spirit of the Waldorf school. Hudson, NY: Anthroposophic Press Steiner, R. (2001). The renewal of education. Great Barrington, MA: Anthroposophic Press Steiner, R. (2003). What is Waldorf education? Great Barrington, MA: SteinerBooks Waldorf Early Childhood Association of America (2017). WECAN. Retrieved from: http://www.waldorfearlychildhood.org/ Read Full Transcript Transcript Jen: https://www.temi.com/editor/t/LaMV1oBHZrnhCUW9Cd0DSWwEyk_-EUtoMn-W-gr4KXpl7L8kjehnHDXob1k9RW9wNAFUpw1XKynMxxA5KguZDuDpYqo?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=30.4 ([00:30]) Hello and welcome to today’s episode of the Your Parenting Mojo podcast, which is called Is a Waldorf Preschool Right for my Child? Regular listeners might recall that we are doing a little mini series at the moment, examining the different approaches to preschool to try and help parents make a decision about which type of school might be right for their child. We’ve already covered Montessori, so if you miss that one, you might take it once to go back and take a listen. And today we’ll talk with Beverly Amico, who is the Executive Director of Advancement at the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. Prior to this role, she was the head of school for three K through 12 Waldorf schools in Bethesda, Maryland; Boulder, Colorado, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was a life sciences teacher as well. She also sits on the board of the Council for American private education, which advocates for sound educational policy. Beverly received her bachelor’s degree in K through 12 health education from Penn State University. Welcome, Beverly. Beverly: https://www.temi.com/editor/t/LaMV1oBHZrnhCUW9Cd0DSWwEyk_-EUtoMn-W-gr4KXpl7L8kjehnHDXob1k9RW9wNAFUpw1XKynMxxA5KguZDuDpYqo?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=82.85 ([01:22]) Thank you. It’s a privilege to be here. Jen: https://www.temi.com/editor/t/LaMV1oBHZrnhCUW9Cd0DSWwEyk_-EUtoMn-W-gr4KXpl7L8kjehnHDXob1k9RW9wNAFUpw1XKynMxxA5KguZDuDpYqo?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=84.52 ([01:24]) Thank you. So I’ve read that it’s really difficult to define the distinguishing features of a Waldorf education. Every book that I picked up said, well, we can’t really put our arms around what it is. I wonder if you could start out instead by imagining a Waldorf preschool classroom in your mind and walking us through that. What does the room look like and what are the children doing and how do they move...