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A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

nytimes.com

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Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#21

Post by Groxx »

“The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.”

Ugh. Also read as: "Something I haven't seen doing something I don't expect it to? Ridiculous!"

The correlation between students at Waldorf schools and prestigious schools later is extremely easily explained by a single character: $

That said, something different than our current, standard public-school fare probably stands a decent chance of doing better. Anything with more attention to the methodology stands such a chance. But I'd be willing to bet that many of the successes also simply reflect parents that are more aware of their children's education.

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#22

Post by [deleted] »

nightski wrote: post #16
gruseom wrote: post #4

My sister-in-law has taught at a Waldorf school for years. The school the article describes sounds typical. Waldorf is actually based on an extremely deviant philosophy. They get away with it because they deliver results. In particular, their kids routinely decimate all standardized tests.

Hmmm. Kids from affluent families who likely have highly educated parents working at high tech companies do well on standardized tests created to cover the entire spectrum of children? nowai

[deleted]

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#23

Post by startupfounder »

Aloisius wrote: post #10

Maybe they don't let students use computers because when you search for information about the Waldorf schools, you get all sorts of stuff about them being some kind of cult. In my admittedly limited research, I found information about astral bodies, Atlantis, soul nourishment, clairvoyance and and a dislike of the left handed. From the Skeptic's Dictionary: Waldorf schools reflect Steiner's education theories, which…

From my admittedly limited research I found these quotes:

"It really has become like a cult." "...is more like a cult..." "...has gained a cult-like following." "...a cult hero..." "...is growing a cult-like following..."

Ops... that was my limited research of YC.

I went to wikipedia with my limited research and you can too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education I found quotes like: "The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning", "In early childhood learning is largely experiential, imitative and sensory-based."

Maybe it's a good thing for kids to be allowed to be kids while they are kids... just saying.

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#24

Post by gruseom »

nightski wrote: post #16
gruseom wrote: post #4

My sister-in-law has taught at a Waldorf school for years. The school the article describes sounds typical. Waldorf is actually based on an extremely deviant philosophy. They get away with it because they deliver results. In particular, their kids routinely decimate all standardized tests.

Hmmm. Kids from affluent families who likely have highly educated parents working at high tech companies do well on standardized tests created to cover the entire spectrum of children? nowai

Please don't interject that kind of rudeness here. The school my sister-in-law teaches at has little in common with your demographic description. It's bland middle class with mild (very mild) alternative tendencies. What it has in common with the school in the article is basic Waldorf principles: eschewing technology in the early grades, emphasis on imagination and handwork and so on. The Silicon Valley aspect of the article is a red herring, no doubt because it's attention-getting, but perhaps also because the author doesn't realize this is simply an instance of a type.

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#26

Post by tikhonj »

I think that this approach is basically absurd. I easily learned more during my lunches in the computer lab, going through HTML, CSS and then JavaScript tutorials or writing batch files to do silly things than anywhere else during my time in middle school.

Not only this, but (especially further on, in 7th and 8th grade), I learned other subjects more effectively thanks to computers. I still remember The Crucible because I made a website (complete with red text in Chiller, uncontrollable music and animated drops of blood for the background) for it; I learned factoring by writing a simple JavaScript game for it.

I think this easily beats spending weeks cutting up fruit and shunning technology. Had I not been playing around with computers and the internet since a young age, not only would I probably not have found my true calling--CS--but I would also probably have had a worse education in all the other fields as well.

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#27

Post by Luyt »

ericd wrote: post #12
pessimist wrote: post #11

“The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.” In my experience this may be empirically false. My 4 year old could barely count, but after spending 2 months in the summer playing a couple of iPad games, he's adding 2 digit numbers and subtracting 1 digit numbers, and doing simple math puzzles. His elder brother couldnt do those till Kindergarten, and I dont thi…

Yeah, I learned my early math skills primarily by playing math games on a Mac 128k. That person doesn't know what they're talking about - interactive teaching systems can be engaging in a way that pen/paper has no hope of matching.

On the other hand, “[...] if you learn to write on paper, you can still write if water spills on the computer or the power goes out.” (last sentence from the article)

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#28

Post by paul »

We send our kids to Waldorf inspired schools. Most schools (especially public schools) give me a sense of dread, like a twelve year prison sentence would. The Waldorf schools have a warm, human feel that actually makes me a little jealous of my kids. I would rather my kids be raised as whole humans, not little test-taking machines.

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#29

Post by JEVLON »

ericd wrote: post #12
pessimist wrote: post #11

“The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.” In my experience this may be empirically false. My 4 year old could barely count, but after spending 2 months in the summer playing a couple of iPad games, he's adding 2 digit numbers and subtracting 1 digit numbers, and doing simple math puzzles. His elder brother couldnt do those till Kindergarten, and I dont thi…

Yeah, I learned my early math skills primarily by playing math games on a Mac 128k. That person doesn't know what they're talking about - interactive teaching systems can be engaging in a way that pen/paper has no hope of matching.

Playing "Maths Circus" and Lemmings on beige macs were the most powerful educational tools for teachers to use as a reward for good work to get me to perform well. Sadly that stopped a grade or two later, and my interest dropped, and so did my performance.

Hopefully soon our computational freedoms for big actual work won't be relegated to computer monitors. Laptops and tablets are great, but they make you focus/stare at one area for a long time. There is often a wall behind that monitor, we are basically staring at it, for many hours, most of my adult life is staring at a wall.

http://worrydream.com/KillMath/

There's a Microsoft Research concept video that showed people interacting with computational environments within their natural environment. Statistical information could be represented for any data needed, and people were not bound to their seats. Problem is, I don't see things being able to change much for people that work in the terminal.

Basically, what I am trying to say with my thoughts is, the positives of both worlds will interwine and the negatives of both will mostly disappear.

Re: A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute

#30

Post by tricolon »

paul wrote: post #28

We send our kids to Waldorf inspired schools. Most schools (especially public schools) give me a sense of dread, like a twelve year prison sentence would. The Waldorf schools have a warm, human feel that actually makes me a little jealous of my kids. I would rather my kids be raised as whole humans, not little test-taking machines.

Could the Waldorf schools be a reaction to the new concept of simply dumping one's child at a school to be raised?
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