Who really knows for sure? But when our son was very small, and before we had really thought about it I was certain that I was going to send my kids to Waldorf, it was the school that I wished I had gone to so of course I'm going to send my kids there! Then while talking to a friend who had older kids she questioned if that was the right school for our son, my first reaction was "who cares?! it's what's best for him" but this certainly made me think twice about schools, and now, years later I do admit she was right!
We went to an open house for the Waldorf School near us and it was confirmed almost instantly, this was not the school for our son... I was so bummed out, but it turned out that Montessori WAS a great style of education for him, he is now happily in a great public school that we are lucky enough to be in the district of and he couldn't be happier and so are we.
Then we had another baby, four years later, she was a completely different animal, aside from being a girl, she was TOTALLY laid back and easy (you can take a guess at what kind of child my son is... let's just say that he has LOTS of energy). THIS was my Waldorf child, I thought to myself! My point is that my friend told me that different kids need a different kind of education style and she was very right! (thank you Nikki!)
I am bringing this up because I know that everyone is talking schools again (and I am sure that you have LONG signed up for a school) but it's never too late to make changes if you see that it's not working for your child. Take these first few months and know your options, what is available in your town, and make sure that you are making the right choice for your child's personality and not for social or other reasons that don't have anything to do with your child.
There are millions of blogs devoted to this subject but if you are like me, you don't read a lot of blogs and it's possible that you are a little bit laid back about this choice. So if you are, just take a moment and think about matching the personality with the right kind of teaching technique. And if you are looking at your baby, lying on their mat kicking around, you have more than enough time to think about what is right for your child. Don't be afraid to admit that your child may need a stiffer set of rules and may need a different kind of school than you had in mind, or conversely, maybe your child is that flower child that has all the patience in the world and is more in tuned to explore... We are lucky today that there are so many options!
Good luck and educate yourself on school is best for your child.
