While we like to be inspired by waldorf education we do not reject modern items like computers as some on that path do. With two geeky parents who clearly see the value in such technology we like to think had Steiner had such machines at the time he might have seem why so many of us love them and what they add to our lives and education and even spirit. Steiner was all about raising up children who would not war and would find other ways to live with one another side by side, seeing the best in one another. The internet I think is an amazing tool for this fine work. We can communicate in real time around the world, we can work together, we can learn about cultures in ways that are only surpassed by being there in person. We can be united.
As a mother I find I am supported by others all over the world, I am more likely to travel to see those same people. It is not a nameless and faceless stream of information for so many of us. It is real and it can lift the spirit. Just the right words at just the right time from someone a thousand miles away and can change the day and breath like back into a moment.
So when my dear Mr Handsome (I have been spelling this wrong for months now and no one told me LOL) asked to see the Decorah Eagles again, to check on them I was happy to set it up for him. We watched them hatch, near fall out of the nest, get caught up in string, and eat so many different kinds of things. Of course the kids loved it when the baby birds would projectile poop out over the nest! Most humans would not get to see this, the birds nest too high and need to not be disturbed by people. However they don’t seem to mind the cameras up there that are places when the birds are not in nesting season, and the birds do come back the nest year after year even with the cameras. I do believe that technology is not some spiritless junk that should be dismissed all together as some others in the waldorf path might say. I think the eagles alone prove there is value in it.
After the eagles go to sleep, Mr Handsome asks to play abcmouse.com it is not amazing as far as I can tell but they like it and that counts for something. They learn some new songs, and can wonder around the site safely. I do not consider that site to have the alive feel most waldorf education does and so it is not a base for our schooling but rather just a fun small part that can give them a window and tools into an adult world that might well have them working with computers each day.
So my advice to you if your on a waldorf path, think for yourself! If it makes sense, and feels right, do it! Don’t let someone who is not even alive at the moment dictate everything in your life. Your not a sheeple, you can walk your path. If you can’t trust yourself, how can your kids trust you? More importantly, how are they to learn to trust themselves!
