“those are the basics of education”. Education as we define it today follows the Prussian model developed to support industrializing war economies. The goal of that model was to take sovereign people out of country settings and teach them to show up on time and work factory jobs. The few people who excelled would be given higher education again, with the goal of improving factory efficiency. Wealthy families would study the classics and philosophy to allow them to present as intellectual thought leaders. That model is dehumanizing for most participants. #waldorfschool isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s what we choose for our family to try to bring back human connection.

As far as what age kids learn to read impacting curiosity, I disagree based on lived experience. We read to our kids at least an hour a day. We talk as a family constantly. They are welcome to learn to read at anytime they are ready but we have not pushed it. One was reading by 5 and the other took longer. Both are advanced in math, can identify more plants and animals than most adults, and have hobbies including robotics and marine biology. They are learning Spanish, knitting, painting and theatre. Both are voraciously curious about the world and look for creative ways to find answers to their questions instead of defaulting to a quick google search. More importantly, they know how to find a quiet spot in the forest, sit down with a friend and spend a whole day building imaginary worlds.

The insistence on early literacy is at the expense of other foundational childhood experiences and is a small part of the reason we have a society more focused on KPI’s and production than on human connection and experience.

Bitcoin, the internet and AI change the map and the Prussian model no longer fits. At least for my family. But do you, my friend.