The innovative Waldorf methods could provide an enriching education experience for any child, but for most families, a private Waldorf education is unaffordable. Private K-12 Waldorf schools cost an average of $8,000 to $11,000 per year. While some schools offer sliding scale tuition, the education still may be out of reach. Yet “Waldorf methods are so exciting and enlivening for all children that they shouldn’t be reserved just for those who can afford it,” says George Hoffiker, principal of the Yuba River Charter School, a Waldorf method school in Nevada City, California.

Mary Goral, a professor at Mt. Mary College in Milwaukee and director of the early childhood education program, teaches graduate students and teacher enrichment classes on Waldorf-inspired pedagogy for public schools. “I truly believe what is needed in public schools is something much more like Waldorf, something that engages the whole child — body, spirit, and soul,” says Goral.

Other administrators must agree. As of this fall, there will be about ten Waldorf-method charter schools in California and three in

Arizona. Illinois currently has seventeen charter schools, but none are Waldorf schools. Charter schools are state-funded public schools with permission to use alternative curricula.

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