Learning to Read the Waldorf Way

Reading Unfolds for Waldorf Students in a Meaningful Way

Parents take great pleasure in watching their child learn to read. After all, reading is a key to learning and growing into an informed, capable person. Among some adults reading has even become a standard by which we judge a young child’s intelligence, which is understandable because reading is a measurable skill to which we can all relate. 

It is easy to get caught up in this objective measure of academic progress because we live in a world where standardized testing has put an emphasis on early reading and word recognition. However, when that happens we risk losing sight of the Waldorf approach to reading. Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, artist and scientist who apparently read quite well, developed the Waldorf curriculum because he saw the need for an education that responded to the developmental phases of childhood. 

As a result, the Waldorf education builds a strong foundation that cultivates skills in memory, comprehension and verbal communication upon which reading is layered. The curriculum also creates a desire to read and write rather than mandating it before the child is ready. 

As a parent, this sounds good, but leaves the question, “When will my child learn to read?” This is a question to which I can relate, and I’m happy to give you the answer, “When your child is ready.” Prior to enrolling in a Waldorf school, I did a lot of reading about the theory and it sounded good, but now that I have seen it in practice I know it works.