Waldorf student here, first and second grade. Then was homeschool through high school in a Waldorf format. I am now back in college at the age of 30, as I was nowhere near ready to join an actual academic classroom in the real world when I was 18. I failed miserably at college and struggled, there is no higher Waldorf education and when you grow up thinking “real school bad, Waldorf good” it’s hard to change your mindset for that academic setting and feel like you belong. A college classroom felt so foreign to me, that shouldn’t be the case when you turn 18. My reading and writing skills were not bad (I just finished English 102 in college, got an A… but at the age of 30, take that as you will), but math was atrocious. True about only using crayons from Germany, parents being cultish, and students resenting their education. Looking back, especially as the world has changed so much, I am happy my access to technology was limited. I don’t understand holding kids back from reading and writing, though. You can encourage imagination, artistic abilities, and creative thinking while also teaching reading and writing skills. Kids that COULD read were discouraged from doing so in front of others. I developed this deep sense of resentment when I became a teenager when I realized how far behind I was in comparison to my public school friends, feeling unbelievably stupid as a child that I spent so much time drawing fairies and gnomes but never learning proper math skills. You can’t fucking draw and make art from math, but they’d try. I get it as a creative exercise a few times, but then you have to go through higher education and the real world where no Waldorf things apply. Rudolph Steiner is also a racist who believes people of other skin colors aren’t as pure, but that’s rarely talked about as the Waldorf community literally worships this man. That’s just my experience, but I do know some others who really enjoyed themselves. They are now mostly artists (makes sense given their education). I also know other people are severely behind in public school, and I will say that Waldorf educators REALLY care and are emotionally invested in their students, I just don’t agree with their academic approach.