A Student Story: The Switch to Waldorf Education

As a Mountain Song parent and former Waldorf teacher, this is my son’s experience at MSCS — and what I love so much about Waldorf education.

Last year, my son started out at the neighborhood school. We were drawn by the close community and the homelike feel. In the first week, however, I noticed how drained and overwhelmed he was. He started playing with toys in a much younger way, even pretending at one point that he was a baby. He said he was “stupid” and hated to learn — all within the first week.

I volunteered one day in the kindergarten class. The children were seated at their tables, with a parent helper at each one flipping through letter flash cards. Card after card, their eyes glazed over. I felt like I was watching everything precious and spiritual about children at that age slip away.

We switched to Mountain Song, and my son had a wonderful year in kindergarten. First grade, though, has been the cherry on top. My son is obsessed. He has only been in school a few weeks, but he’s already coming home singing songs in Spanish, knitting ten necklaces a night by lamplight after tuck-in, practicing form drawing, and retelling stories.

Just last Friday, he told me he was “sad that tomorrow was Saturday because he would miss school.”

Waldorf education preserves the soul of the child.

While my son knits in bed, I see a model that prioritizes his mental health. Time in nature, music, art, imaginative games, stories — all of these feed his soul and give him potential hobbies and interests that will last far beyond his time at Mountain Song. They can ground him in our ever-chaotic world.

I can’t think of anything more important.

— Elise Basescu, MSCS Parent