If you observed two elementary-school classes, one with children digging holes outside and the other where the kids were sitting at laptop computers gazing into monitors, in which “classroom” would you guess more learning is taking place?
Educators who subscribe to the Waldorf progressive model of learning would “dig” the former natural environment over the latter.
Naomi Schaefer Riley, columnist, blogger and author, writes about the Mountain Oak Charter School, a school inspired by the Waldorf private-school model that originated in Germany nearly 100 years ago. In her piece, Riley asks an eighth-grade teacher why his students are outside digging holes. The teacher explains that the kids are playing “Minecraft,” a popular online game. They are creating a network of real ditches and bartering with rocks.
The Waldorf model claims that exploring the natural world to achieve learning is superior to using technology in school and at home. Today’s children are peering into TV, computer and smartphone screens, ignoring the real and vibrant world around them. More and more parents, Riley writes, are warming up to the Waldorf’s more simplified approach to learning. Schools that follow the model are popping up around the country.
“In addition to eschewing technology,” Riley writes, “the schools tend to delay formal reading instruction – say, until the age of 7 – and testing and to reserve kindergarten for imaginative play, especially with blocks and natural materials such as leaves and other things found outdoors.” Students still receive music and art instruction as well as physical exercise, she adds.