Me painting outside today!

So busy!!  Not much time to make or do much of anything.  Today (and most of the past month) I have been tied up with painting the house inside and out in preparation for putting it on the market.  We’re currently residing near Leeds but plan to soon be moving to the Nottingham area.  We have 2 children for whom I really wish for them to attend a Rudolph Steiner school.  My eldest child is due to go up to high school this Sept but I am left cold by nearly all of the state schools I have visited and even those that exhibited promise don’t wholly put me at ease.  I’ve been aware of Steiner Waldorf education for some years now but seeing as though our local primary school has always been a fairly safe and supportive environment for our kids, I haven’t seriously considered it until now. That said, I have often wondered about the amount of challenge V support and nurture!  My daughter is working hard towards her year 6 SATs this year.  She feels the pressure from school but I know not from us.  Of course we are keen for her to do well but the last thing I want for her at 10 years old is to be feeling stressed or that she has to measure up.  One thing I heard from a Steiner publication is that competition is within the child as an individual and not with each other.  I liked how that resonated with me.

The catalyst for our planned move was meeting a couple (now very good friends) who moved their son from a state school into a Steiner school and have witnessed dramatic positive change in him in only a year.  I want and need that for my children, and indeed for all of us as a family.  They say he can’t wait to go back to school now.  I wish I could say the same for my 7 year old step-son who loathes every morning he has to go.

Only today I have heard another tale not too far removed from here of an attempted child suicide at 15 and it makes me shiver.  What is so wrong in our society, within our systems and families that children feel such sadness and compelling despair to do this?  These disturbing accounts are becoming more and more commonplace and I don’t want this for my kids.  We are putting a lot on the line to make this huge life change happen, but for the future of our children’s happiness I believe it is worth it.  More to follow in due course…….