Hilarious and insightful story of one person's experience of getting to know Waldorf education.

Sixteen years ago I became a Waldorf school parent. At that time, I was an unlikely character for this role. A teacher who comes from a long line of educators, including both my parents, I had come of age in the 1960s. I believed education should be as painless as possible and, while being fun, should still be excellent. My educational philosophy vacillated between A. S. Neill's Summerhill and the works of Maria Montessori. One thing was clear to my husband and me: we were determined to raise our children without hang-ups. At the same time, we wanted them to be brilliant, artistic, practical and wholesome.

I was an advocate of early learning. To have a child who reads at age four seemed to be a desirable and measurable step on the way to budding genius. . .How, then, did we end up at a Waldorf school? With a fervor peculiar to parents of first and only children, I investigated preschools as though my daughter's life depended on it. With a new son strapped to my back, I tried to leave no stone unturned as I dragged my small girl from interview to interview in school after school. One thing was clear to me. She was immediately and most comfortable in a Waldorf classroom. ?Margaret Gorman

Margaret Gorman was a founding faculty member of the Washington Waldorf High School in Bethesda, Maryland and later taught in the high schools of the Sacramento Waldorf School and the San Francisco Waldorf School.