I also thank you for reply. I believe there may be many foreigners looking for sound alternatives to public schooling. If anyone knows of a forum for connecting with others parents, I would welcome a link to that to observe the discussion. svannucci@me.com
Hi, I send my child to the Waldorf School. Here is an email I already sent to another parent asking for info:
In my opinion, the school has some very serious organizational problems, but then again I don’t have much experience with italian public schools because my son has been in the Waldorf school since he was 4. Also, since the parents are members of the association there can be a lot of heated exchange of opinions about the direction of the school should take, etc. Also, the school (like most Waldorf schools in Italy) is not recognized as a school by the Italian govt, which means that your child is technically being home schooled as far as the italian govt is concerned.This is not a problem, it just means that you have to sign a waiver. Also there is a lot of tension surrounding the fact the school’s financial situation is always precarious (which I suppose is the case with many small private schools here). The asilo costs about 350 euros per month (roughly), and it is from 8:30-1:30 every day. The Waldorf school does not believe in full time. The elementary / middle school costs around 400 euros per month The school is from 8.30 – 2.00 and then from 8.30-3.00 in the older grades.
The school is planning on building a new school in San Casciano, but this will not be ready until 2015 at the earliest.
Next year the elementary and middle school may be moving, but we do not know where yet. The asilo will probably stay where it is, at least for next year (there are plans to move it too). There is another asilo waldorf in Florence on via Bovio, which is near piazza Beccaria. This location isn’t great, but the teachers are.
The asilo at la Romola is in a gorgeous location. I feel like they sometimes dont come down hard enough on the kids for hitting, etc. There is also no pre-academics in the Waldorf preschool, which I feel is generally a positive thing, although the Waldorf preschool frowns on books (which for me has been a difficult thing, if not impossible, to accept), particularly about real animals and science related issues (fairy tales are ok, but you should tell the story instead of reading it) because they feel that they teach early intellectualization. They do not really teach reading until 2nd grade.
All in all, I have been happy with the teachers, and I believe that their time is much better spent doing painting, drawing, eurythmy than coloring-in worksheets and multiple choice teset. I do sometimes feel like they go too slow academically, but I guess this depends on the child. I still wouldn’t trade it for an Italian public school.
The teachers are extremely dedicated and they really do get to know the kids. They dont really do timeouts, but they do tempoarily remove kids who are being disruptive to another room.
In asilo they bake bread, weave, play with wooden toys, sew, finger knit, play outside, sing, do eurythmy, recite poems, listen to stories. It is a very nice curriculum.
In first and second grade they learn English, German, do handwork (knitting), eurythmy, learn to write capital and lower case letters, do very basic math, listen to stories, sing songs, play a wooden flute, paint and draw. There are no text books. They are very into celebrating the seasons. They do not teach any science or geography or social studies until about 4th grade.
Also the curriculum is informed by Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy, which believes in reincarnation, etc. Not that this is pushed on the kids, but it would be wrong to say that it doesn’t influence the way the teachers think about things and it is the true basis for the curriculum. Everything is done in accordance with Anthroposophy.
You should come to the open house. I think that really will give you a sense of the school.
Good luck!
Thanks so much for your thorough reply! It really helps. I just have one question for you, if I may ask: I’m curious as to what your objections are to the Italian public schools. Thanks again.
Does anybody currently send their children to this school. I’m interested in hearing some feedback from parents who have had experiences there. You can leave your comments here or email me at ingleseforyou@yahoo.com.
Firenze Moms 4 Moms Network 
7 responses to ““Open Day” Steiner Waldorf School”
i keep on sending my email to info@scuolawaldorffirenze but it kept on bouncing back to my email.
Are you forgetting the .it the email is info@scuolawaldorffirenze.it More contact info can be found here: http://www.scuolawaldorffirenze.it/CONTATTI.html
I also thank you for reply. I believe there may be many foreigners looking for sound alternatives to public schooling. If anyone knows of a forum for connecting with others parents, I would welcome a link to that to observe the discussion. svannucci@me.com
Thanks for the great summary Andrée! Very helpful. How has the school politics been lately? Any news?
Hi, I send my child to the Waldorf School. Here is an email I already sent to another parent asking for info:
In my opinion, the school has some very serious organizational problems, but then again I don’t have much experience with italian public schools because my son has been in the Waldorf school since he was 4. Also, since the parents are members of the association there can be a lot of heated exchange of opinions about the direction of the school should take, etc. Also, the school (like most Waldorf schools in Italy) is not recognized as a school by the Italian govt, which means that your child is technically being home schooled as far as the italian govt is concerned.This is not a problem, it just means that you have to sign a waiver. Also there is a lot of tension surrounding the fact the school’s financial situation is always precarious (which I suppose is the case with many small private schools here). The asilo costs about 350 euros per month (roughly), and it is from 8:30-1:30 every day. The Waldorf school does not believe in full time. The elementary / middle school costs around 400 euros per month The school is from 8.30 – 2.00 and then from 8.30-3.00 in the older grades.
The school is planning on building a new school in San Casciano, but this will not be ready until 2015 at the earliest.
Next year the elementary and middle school may be moving, but we do not know where yet. The asilo will probably stay where it is, at least for next year (there are plans to move it too). There is another asilo waldorf in Florence on via Bovio, which is near piazza Beccaria. This location isn’t great, but the teachers are.
The asilo at la Romola is in a gorgeous location. I feel like they sometimes dont come down hard enough on the kids for hitting, etc. There is also no pre-academics in the Waldorf preschool, which I feel is generally a positive thing, although the Waldorf preschool frowns on books (which for me has been a difficult thing, if not impossible, to accept), particularly about real animals and science related issues (fairy tales are ok, but you should tell the story instead of reading it) because they feel that they teach early intellectualization. They do not really teach reading until 2nd grade.
All in all, I have been happy with the teachers, and I believe that their time is much better spent doing painting, drawing, eurythmy than coloring-in worksheets and multiple choice teset. I do sometimes feel like they go too slow academically, but I guess this depends on the child. I still wouldn’t trade it for an Italian public school.
The teachers are extremely dedicated and they really do get to know the kids. They dont really do timeouts, but they do tempoarily remove kids who are being disruptive to another room.
In asilo they bake bread, weave, play with wooden toys, sew, finger knit, play outside, sing, do eurythmy, recite poems, listen to stories. It is a very nice curriculum.
In first and second grade they learn English, German, do handwork (knitting), eurythmy, learn to write capital and lower case letters, do very basic math, listen to stories, sing songs, play a wooden flute, paint and draw. There are no text books. They are very into celebrating the seasons. They do not teach any science or geography or social studies until about 4th grade.
Also the curriculum is informed by Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy, which believes in reincarnation, etc. Not that this is pushed on the kids, but it would be wrong to say that it doesn’t influence the way the teachers think about things and it is the true basis for the curriculum. Everything is done in accordance with Anthroposophy.
You should come to the open house. I think that really will give you a sense of the school.
Good luck!
Thanks so much for your thorough reply! It really helps. I just have one question for you, if I may ask: I’m curious as to what your objections are to the Italian public schools. Thanks again.
Does anybody currently send their children to this school. I’m interested in hearing some feedback from parents who have had experiences there. You can leave your comments here or email me at ingleseforyou@yahoo.com.
Thanks!
Jonnel