Some Parents Who Work for Elite Silicon Valley Firms Send Their Children to School with No Computers

October 23rd, 2011
Via: New York Times:
The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.
But the school’s chief teaching tools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and, occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.
Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix.
This is the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, one of around 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribe to a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on tasks. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans.
The Waldorf method is nearly a century old, but its foothold here among the digerati puts into sharp relief an intensifying debate about the role of computers in education.
“I fundamentally reject the notion you need technology aids in grammar school,” said Alan Eagle, 50, whose daughter, Andie, is one of the 196 children at the Waldorf elementary school; his son William, 13, is at the nearby middle school. “The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.”
Mr. Eagle knows a bit about technology. He holds a computer science degree from Dartmouth and works in executive communications at Google, where he has written speeches for the chairman, Eric E. Schmidt.

FYI, Waldorf schools are connected with the Theosophical Society.  I was told (if I recall correctly) that some woman at an SSPX chapel was encouraging parents to send their children to go those schools.  Perhaps the poster who related this to me can correct this story (if necessary) and elaborate it.

There's something unCatholic about Waldorf methods. I'm not sure what it is as I know very little about it, but have noticed that it's caused controversy in Catholic homeschooling circles online.

Quote from: MaterDominici

There's something unCatholic about Waldorf methods. I'm not sure what it is as I know very little about it, but have noticed that it's caused controversy in Catholic homeschooling circles online.

They were developed by the Occultist Rudolph Steiner, not a Theosophist but the leader of a break another proto-New Age sect called Anthrosophy which has more of a Christian veneer but is miles away from the Church.  

Steiner is Bad News, BUT I have always agreed with the ambience of the curriculum at the Waldorf Schools.  Relaxed, organic, no TV, tons of art---sort of a loving rich-hippie type of situation. ( These elements appeal to my own weaknesses and deficiencies, it must be pointed out.)

The pals I had who have sent their kids to Waldorf Schools have kids who can't read, who "have decided" not to read.  They do equestrian stuff or music instead.

So, these schools are forbidden, but there may certainly be regional exceptions.  I am pretty sure one former Waldorf student went to a [Catholic] seminary.  The schools encourage the discovery of one's own path..They generally have very caring teachers and no bullying.