+ Do as I say, not as I work

There are many dichotomies in this world and one that I find profound, are those friends and acquaintances that are teachers in the public school system. When these friends became parents, they had their own children be home-schooled or privately schooled.

What? My school friend’s dad worked for a beer company, and every chance we got, we indulged in the product that his company made and that he brought home for his family! My cousin was a sales person for a food product that again, we all ate and gave to friends. These employees used their own products. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?

In my pre-parenting years, I began to view these "teacher friends" as having no ethic. Why would anyone work at a job that they wouldn't "feed" to their own children?

I was so idealistic back then.

When I became a parent, this experience made me look hard at the options available for schooling. This is where I came upon Waldorf Education. It turns out that this dichotomy is widespread and there are many who would not "feed" their own children the products of their work. Here is an excerpt from an article about the technological giants in our world and what they are doing for their children:

“It’s easy to imagine the typical Waldorf parents in the Bay Area: some earthy-crunchy-green types, some old Deadheads sipping kombucha and driving Priuses. And it does have its share of those. But you’d be surprised to learn just how many Waldorf mothers and fathers come from the exalted world of high-tech, like Yost does. In fact, a significant number of parents at Greenwood—and at San Francisco Waldorf and the Waldorf School of the Peninsula—work at some of the very companies whose products the Waldorf schools train their students to avoid. Their ranks include an executive speechwriter at Google, a former Apple marketing manager whose job it was to get computers into classrooms as early as prekindergarten, the chief technology officer of eBay, a cofounder of legendary children’s-software maker Broderbund, and the CEOs of several high-tech startups—all folks you might expect to enroll their kids at schools like those in Tiburon’s Reed Union School District, where even kindergartners get lessons on computers. Instead, these digital-age parents have opted for a homespun environment where children handwrite their own textbooks, learn to knit in first grade, and spend two years in kindergarten communing with gnomes and fairies (no ABCs in sight). Then these parents push against the currents of the culture and their own industry by continuing an anti-tech lifestyle at home.” (Read the article in it’s entirety here, http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/tech-gets-a-time-out )

Comments

[Chris Taus]

Anyone who works in the tech or media industries knows that any technology used by today's kids is not going to be relevant.- your right, technology is not what children wants. Parents should take charge and give your children a moment of love.

[maire]

I was just reading your comment ( from November) as regards public school teachers sending their children to a Waldorf school and I felt that you were looking on this in a negative way when you commented on teachers not feeding their own product to their own children. My daughter who is now 19 and a student at University began her formal learning in a public school kindergarten which moved too fast for her. She was a very dreamy and slow moving girl who loved just to play and to be. After Kindergarten we chose The Waldorf School for her based solely on who she was and is as a learner. I do believe that our children learn best and our teachers can teach best when they understand how each student in their midst learns, that way we honour our children. I have seen children thrive in the Walldorf school as my daughter did and I have seen children not do so well and shine in a public school setting. We have to understand that all teachers are learners too and teach in unique ways and it is wrong in many ways to say that all public school teachers teach in the same manner. I know many teachers in the public school world who stand and greet their children every morning, who understand each child and honour their uniqueness in their classroom, teachers that do n ot teach from a book and who use the computer in a very limited manner, teachers who use it only to allow the children to research. We have to always be aware of the world that we live in and ask ourselves both as parents and teachers are we allowing the children in our care to live in this world especially when it comes to multi-culturalism and understanding other cultures so we can raise our children today to be respectful of each other and especially of each others differences. I believe that Waldorf Education and I am speaking of their curriculum is truly brilliant but I also believe that in our Public Schools today there are equally brilliant teachers and I think that what we need to do especially as parents and teachers is not to engage in choosing one over the other in order to meet our own agenda but to first understand our children and their learning needs and move forward together as a learning community that is united but honouring of different philosophies and methodologies, we need to raise children that will be citizens of our world and protectors of our environment. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share, I am a Mom and a public school teacher!