"The very primary purpose of Waldorf schools was to make good factory workers"
A lot of schools seem to have this problem to some extent. None of the schools in my area are pricy. I think everything is under $12k/yr. The gov't schools cost taxpayers around $10k/yr. They're all in the same range.

I think the key is never to rely on a school to do all the education. I think we'll have more influence than a school. I know at a gov't school they're going to encounter gov't workers who laugh at the very notion of good citizenship. It's up to the parents to stay on top of things and not just turn them over to others, esp not gov't workers.

The very primary purpose of Waldorf schools was to make good factory workers. So, they teach them to work with their hands. A friend of mine thought she was giving her kid an advantage by sending him to a very pricy Montessori school. He reached an age where despite the schools best efforts he figured out that he didn't really need to study to be there. Eventually it was discovered that two years of Spanish class and he was still having trouble with the menu at Taco Bell. So, they moved him to a school that had standards and, as we all knew he was actually pretty capable. My dad went to a one room farm school. He turned out just fine.

Yes. Common Core IS a topic that has to be extensively researched to understand where the ideas come from, by whom, and why. It's the right thing to do for your children, anything else is laziness and trusting the government to have your child's best interests at heart. (HA! As if.) If one does the research required to understand CC, an alternative to public schooling will be the outcome. Conveniently, however, the powers that be KNOW, and count on the fact that Americans have gotten complacent and disinterested in thinking past their entertainment choices. They Don't know that they don't know what's going on in their own kid's schools. And when presented with evidence they don't understand why it should raise concern and it's promptly dismissed. My conclusion is that this lack of ability to discern whether a task or lesson is working for or against independent thought, or in favor or against individual rights or freedoms is linked directly to the last 3 decades of public ed. Fabian socialism, gradual to the point of barely being noticed by younger generations. And CG is proof of that, IMO.

You are telling a whole lot of truth LS. Everyone needs to study CC to learn what it is all about. 10 years of this program and America will never recover to what my expectations of freedom are.

President Obama is blocking that approach because of ideology and his ties to the teachers union.

"My point is that the opposite has happened. Test scores are lowers despite standardized tests being made easier. Restore local control and do away with the Dept. Of Education."
Yes. The federal approach has not worked

I think we should just provide vouchers for the poor to buy their own education. There are many problems with that approach, but it would end public debate over what type of education to buy. As I said in another thread, Waldorf is kind of weird, but there's no public debate over it. You just move your kids somewhere else. I would like that approach if it could be done without hurting the poor.

My point is that the opposite has happened. Test scores are lowers despite standardized tests being made easier. Restore local control and do away with the Dept. Of Education. Save money and improve education...Win win.

This proves you do not understand Ayn Rand herself, OR objectivism, in fact you piss on all of it. Fine, piss on it CG, but I politely ask you to please do it somewhere else. I officially give up on you as you have proven to be a waste of time.

Those aren't real freedoms or rights b/c they depend on the gov't or someone being willing and able to provide them. I can't stand it when people say "healthcare is a right." I don't oppose the idea of healthcare subsidies for the poor, but it depreciates rights when you hold it up as equal to the right to free speech, bear arms, face your accuser, etc.

"I think the point here is to make sure your kids see the world for what it really is, and to see themselves for what they can be and not be afraid to achieve it."
Yes! A great summary. I don't know what the logo rant is about either, but it's something you hear when you have kids-- don't expose them to corporations. I have no idea why not. I ignore it.

"Are you really a Gulcher, CG? "
"You're quick, Carol :) "
But I can write like what you consider a bona fide Gulcher.

**There are packages of ideas you must accept as a whole, no independent thought allowed. The package that causes all the problems in the world is the one associated with President Obama. We need to stop all this independent ivory tower thinking and just form groups and support whatever our group says.

I'm a misunderstood genius with an amazing ability to tell you how any event is a harbinger of doom. I worked for the gov't or a corporation and never went out and served customers, but as a genius I certainly could have if only the right politicians had been elected. I can tell you just how awful any problem is and whose to blame for it, but I can't do anything to improve it. I keep telling people how amazingly stupid they are but for some reason (maybe b/c of President Obama) this approach doesn't win any allies. Well I've had it. Just at the point when my gov't/coroporate pension plus SS is enough to support me, I decide to go Galt (aka retire) and deny the world my genius b/c of what politicians in DC are doing. Everyone out there accomplishing stuff in the world must be getting some kind of sweetheart deal. The true heroes are holed up watching cable news and reading blogs about how the world's going to worms, waiting for the final collapse of everything positive in the world.
All I can do for my part is to make sure that every time I see a problem, I use the opportunity to be a jerk and tell people who's to blame for it. **

I actually think such people are suffering from a psychological problem that hurts worse than a physical problem like arthritis. And there's always the chance they're right and doom is coming. I reject the entire spirit of blame, mean-spirtedness, and politics, but as a rational person I must accept that at some points in history things really do fall apart. We should not be complacent.

I don't feel sorry for your kids...I fear for them, as I do for all young minds in this country and elsewhere who are not guided away from and educated about corruption and evil. Public schools are leading them away from ideas and thinking and into emotional, feeling, cess pools of collectivism/group think/we're-all-the-same-and-deserve-the-same crapola. No one should have anything more than anyone else, share everything equally, give give, take take. And I have NO idea what your 'logo' rant was about. I couldn't care less about wearing logo'd apparel. I did, however, make my sons t shirts with their own art work on them before. :) (and...large corporations can 'see the world'??? I think the point here is to make sure your kids see the world for what it really is, and to see themselves for what they can be and not be afraid to achieve it. (The world I mean...achieve the world instead of being stifled and afraid.)

Precisely....

Many experience, from one side or the other, the freedoms they offer - "The freedom to... "
Such as the,
Freedom to public education
Freedom to food stamps
Freedom to healthcare
Freedom to low cost housing
Freedom to unemployment wages
Freedom to a minimum wage
And many other of their expensive wasteful freedoms, that demand the involuntary servitude of others.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/arch...
"Waldorf schools are popular with progressives. But how do you feel about a dose of spiritualism with your child's reading and math?

Would you send your kid to a school where faceless dolls and pine-cones are the toys of choice? A school where kids don't read proficiently until age 9 or 10 -- and where time spared goes to knitting and playing the recorder? A school where students sing hymns to "spirit" every day?"

What were we smoking? You see, I've been very wrong about schools before.

never heard of Waldorf...well-I have heard of the salad ;)

You're quick, Carol :)

Finally, he says something that makes sense!!! Watch for it CG, you won't find it in your kid's school..they might throw the word 'freedom' around when talking about America, but they will NOT elaborate or explain what freedom really is. They will say that Lincoln freed the slaves...again without going into what really started the civil war. They tend to leave out very important explanations and details, and they do it about all presidents...they were all perfect American loving saints who want you to be safe and happy and protected and free from worry. Government grants these things willy nilly. I'm so glad I'm done with public schools!

It's Waldorf. You're not the first one to call it a cult. I don't know if it has to be. It seems like the philosophies could be applied in moderation, and it would not be cult-like. I just can't stand politics or package of unrelated ideas you're supposed to accept or reject as a group.

It's not as simple as the whole thing's a cult or rule masters. People get involved for different reasons. I agree with their discouraging screen time in small children and not exposing them to things without parental guidance. But exposing them to some corporate logos won't hurt them. Corporations are just a way to structure ownership with limited liability, not something inherently bad. They push plastic toys and unhealthful food b/c those are things kids *demand*. There's a reason why "plastics" was the word whispered in Dustin Hoffman's ear in the 70s. If you think plastics are an amazing technology as I do, though, you probably shouldn't be at Waldorf.

lol I know..I wrote that on my kindle that apparently took liberties that I missed. Kaminski. lol

I'm sticking with cult thinking. rules not founded on any objective basis and rule masters who relish compliance. I know parents like that. ugh

The Weather Underground was led by Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, who just haaaappened to host Obama's first ever fundraiser at their house.

I just hope that all those poor frogs jump out of the pot before the water begins to boil.