Steiner schools - your experiences/ thoughts?

[~clover~]

Bugger! Lost my post!!

Ok, I've just filled in enrollment forms for the Steiner school. Just hope housing works out for us now!

Religion: I was raised Catholic & feel ok with the kids learning about it, but they are in the public system. I don't mind the kids learning about different religions. Knowing about them & what they believe. I don't like them being taught to believe those religions.

High school: I was worried about that transition, but the principle said they haven't noticed any problems with it. The kids have been fine. There is one about an hour away that goes up to year 9 & that & another one might conform to make a highschool later on, but for now thats as far as they go.

Parents/kids: Here almost all the kids are a bit hippy. I wasn't sure how DD1 would go, coz they do dress differently, but hopefully she'll start to relax about what she wears! Both of them might stop stressing about what others think of them!

Our Steiner school was a parent run school until they almost closed down last year. Thats when it became Steiner. They had 27 enrolled when I first got in contact, in a bit over a week they've had 5 more enrollments!

I filled out the girls forms & one asked about immunisation, the other didn't. I let the principle know & told her they were both immunised & she shrugged her shoulders & told me that most of the kids were unimmunised anyway & that it was just a standardised form.

I like everything about it so far


Gigi - I totally get how you feel. But, FWIW, there are always people who won't judge you based on appearances. & there will always be others who are giving up to give their kids the best education they can. You won't be the only one in your position I know because I was in the same place when DD1 sttended a Catholic school for a while.
I was driving a 76 Kingswood for a while! Kinda stands out next to the brand new Prado's

[Gigi]

wouldn't phase me at all, if the other parents were hippies. I dunno, it comes out in different ways. The playgroup plans excursions to places where i don't have the money for the admission cost, i don't have the petrol money to drive to where the excursions are (hour drive from where i live). So it's awkward when my child can't work out, why we don't go to the same places the other members go to. I live within my means, so we are not in debt. I could get a credit card i suppose, and max out the card, but i would stress about that, so i chose not to accumulate debt.

i gather there are Steiner schools where alternative lifestyle families are the norm, i've never thought about their income brackets. I just feel it keenly now, i have playgroup mums saying to me "don't you like going on holidays", when i go quiet, and they have been talking about this year's OS holiday. I'm happy for them, that they get to go, and the wonderful experiences their children get to have. I cannot bring myself to say "if i had the money to go on a OS holiday (for months), i would prolly use it to rent in a safer neighbourhood". They seem to take for granted, the lifestyle they have, and if you don't do the same, assume that i don't WANT to do those things.

I've had to rationalise everything, i have to make priority decisions all the time, to survive the best we can. It does cut down your choices dramatically. But i travelled OS when i was very young, i love travel, it's got nothing to do with not being interested. It's too embarrassing to have to constantly point out the fiscal difference, such a downer. I would like to be accepted for who me and bilby are as people, not our postcode, not the car we get around in etc. I actually think we are very fortunate. We're not homeless, we have food in the fridge, we have a car. I think that makes us very fortunate. I don't take any of those things for granted and work on the budget constantly, so i can maintain that, go without other things.

The steiner stream in the state school, both streams wear the school uniform. It seems pretty strange for the steiner kids to be in dark navy uniforms (not the pastel, peaceful colours), but that's the policy of the school. Hearing the school siren every hour, (to signal change of class) does not sound very peaceful to me either, but i guess this is the compromise for having any exposure to Steiner at all, in a metro area. it's the only metro Steiner option here. And much cheaper than the two pure Steiner schools in the outer areas (you would have to move house, for your kid to go to those schools).

My child has been immunised too, and i expect she will be in a class of mainly non-immunised children. After all the medical issues i've had in my life, i couldn't not go down the no immunisation road (although we did "spacing"), i think it's a personal choice. I'm aware how many other kids in our playgroup, their parents have private health care cover for them, i don't have that, so they have other options, when their children get sick. I have ambulance cover, that is it. (after paying horrendous ambulance fees when i didn't have ambulance cover).

i would love to know how to implement Steiner ideas, in cramped living conditions, in an unsafe neighbourhood, in a single parent home. Everything i find, seems to assume space and safety and the nuclear family, with plenty of "village" - e.g grandparents, extended family. I am using TV to a limited extent, to entertain my DD, in the absence of "village", in our situation where going outside to play is a difficult concept. The families i know of, that ban TV, or have no TV at all, have a large range of other options and "village", so i can see how they accomplish the no tv with the kids.

I'm really struggling with everything, how to adjust to being a single parent, being wholely responsible for so many decisions about bilby (her schooling especially), bilby missing her dad so much, feeling very inadequate about everything. I don't want to let her down. I don't want to mess up her education. It's such a big decision.

[onthefly]

Gigi, you do so much with so little - your efforts for bilby and yourself are commendable!
But yeah, most of us are very well off but hardly appreciate it. Like I said, people can get caught up in their own lives and circumstances, they forget that things are different for other people. Like when people bemoan their hard lot that times are so tough they had to let the investmetn property go, or something like that...

Can you suggest destinations for the group that are more affordable (free even)? And perhaps talk to the school about some steiner ideas. I get the whole no tv thing, and I agree with it in principle, but your circumstances are quite unique, as you say.
But you know I don't think it's not the be all and end all, I'm sure Bilby can still have a great educatino in a mainstream school too (and I'm really not just saying that )

[Gigi]

thanks MadB.

[~clover~]

It is a very hard road. I have the advantage of living rural, so the Steiner education is cheaper here. It also sounds quite harsh where you are... There are no bells at the one here. The kids have no uniform.

Gigi, no matter where Bilby goes to school, with your love & support she'll do well

I have no idea of the prices there, but here its not too bad. I will struggle with 2 at school at a time, but I'll do my best.

[onthefly]

The school here is very rustic And they recently moved so it's not finished yet. Which I think is quite neat. No uniforms either, and of course no media, computers etc. So they're not spending on 'equipment'
It's expensive for us, particularly compared to a 'free' public school, but cheaper than some other schools, I'm sure.

[jax]

Gigi, just a quick note as i have a babe needing to sleep. I wanted to let you know that my experience has never been with parents that judged regarding money. There was quite a few single mums at the school my boys went to, some with very little money. We also went through stages of not being sure if we had the petrol money, i never felt like we were disadvantaged because of it. Will write more later on bringing Steiner into the home