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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the tuition at the Trillium Waldorf School? Is there financial assistance available?
Tuition at the Trillium Waldorf School is comparable to other independent schools in the Guelph-Kitchener-Waterloo region that are not subsidized through church affiliations. Since the Trillium Waldorf School is an independent, non-profit and charitable organization, it is solely reliant on tuition income and charitable contributions. However, in accordance with Rudolf Steiner's wish that Waldorf education be accessible to all, the Trillium Waldorf School strives to ensure that every child whose parents wish him or her to attend the grade school is given the opportunity to do so. This is achieved through our ‘Accessible to All’ Tuition Program whereby the adjustment of fees is made through a consensus agreement between family and school representatives. For further information about the school's ‘Accessible to All’ Tuition Program and for our most current fee structure, please click on Admissions.
Would a child be at a disadvantage if he were transferred from a public school into a Waldorf school, or out of a Waldorf school into a public school?
Children who transfer to a Waldorf school in the first four grades usually are up to grade in reading, math, and basic academic skills. However, they usually have much to learn in bodily coordination skills, posture, artistic and social activities, cursive handwriting, and listening skills. Listening well is particularly important since most of the curricular content is presented orally in the classroom by the teacher. The human relationship between the child and the teacher is the basis for healthy learning, for the acquiring of understanding and knowledge rather than just information. Children who are used to learning from computers and other electronic media will have to adjust.
Those children who enter a Waldorf school in the middle grades often bring much information about the world. This contribution should be recognized and received with interest by the class. However, these children often have to unlearn some social habits, such as the tendency to experience learning as a competitive activity. They have to learn to approach the arts in a more objective way, not simply as a means for personal expression. In contrast, in their study of nature, history, and the world, they need to relate what they learn to their own life and being. The popular ideal of "objectivity" in learning is misguided when applied to elementary school children. At their stage of development, the subjective element is essential for healthy learning. Involvement in what is learned about the world makes the world truly meaningful to them.
Children who transfer out of a Waldorf school into a public school during the earlier grades may have to upgrade their reading ability and to their approach with science lessons differently. Science in a Waldorf school emphasizes the observation of natural phenomena rather than the formulation of abstract concepts and laws. On the other hand, the Waldorf transferees are usually well prepared for social studies, practical and artistic activities, and mathematics.
Children moving during the middle grades should experience no problems. In fact, in most cases, transferring students of this age-group find themselves ahead of their classmates. The departing Waldorf student is likely to take along into the new school a distinguishing individual strength, personal confidence, and love of learning.
Is Waldorf Similar to Montessori?
Read this article by Barbara Shell
Are Waldorf schools religious?
Waldorf schools are non-sectarian and non-denominational. They educate all children, regardless of their cultural or religious backgrounds. The pedagogical method is comprehensive, and, as part of its task, seeks to bring about recognition and understanding of all the world cultures and religions. Waldorf schools are not part of any church. They espouse no particular religious doctrine but are based on a belief that there is a spiritual dimension to the human being and to all of life. Waldorf families come from a broad spectrum of religious traditions and interest.
Why do Waldorf schools recommend the limiting of television, videos, and radio for young children?
A central aim of Waldorf Education is to stimulate the healthy development of the child's own imagination. Waldorf teachers are concerned that electronic media hampers the development of the child's imagination. They are concerned about the physical effects of the medium on the developing child as well as the content of much of the programming.
There is more and more research to substantiate these concerns. See Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don't Think and Failure To Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds For Better and Worse by Jane Healy; Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander; The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn; and Evolution's End: Claiming The Potential of Our Intelligence by Joseph Chilton Pearce.
What about computers and Waldorf Education?
Waldorf teachers feel the appropriate age for computer use in the classroom and by students is in high school. We feel it is more important for students to have the opportunity to interact with one another and with teachers in exploring the world of ideas, participating in the creative process, and developing their knowledge, skills, abilities, and inner qualities. Waldorf students have a love of learning, an ongoing curiosity, and interest in life. As older students, they quickly master computer technology, and graduates have successful careers in the computer industry. For additional reading, please see Fools Gold on the Alliance For Childhood's web site, www.allianceforchildhood.org and The Future Does Not Compute by Steven Talbot.
How do Waldorf graduates do after graduation?
Waldorf students have been accepted in and graduated from a broad spectrum of colleges and universities in Canada and the U.S. Waldorf graduates reflect a wide diversity of professions and occupations including medicine, law, science, engineering, computer technology, the arts, social science, government, and teaching at all levels. Waldorf high schools can provide specific data on the university affiliations, professions, and accomplishments of their graduates.