November 2012 – The Quackometer Blog

How Steiner Schools Justify their Occult Pedagogy.

27th November, 2012 18

Rudolf Steiner was very clear to his teachers. Young children were incapable of abstract reasoning until they were 14 and their “astral body” had incarnated. Learning to read was bad for a child’s development until adult teeth had appeared and the “etheric body” had incarnated. Early years teaching was more about helping children to remember their existence in previous lives than teaching them anything. What they actually do, such as art using [read more…]

Three Quack Stories and Santa’s Quantum Sack

26th November, 2012 18

The December issue of the nation’s most dangerous quack magazine, What Doctors Don’t Tell You, is hitting the magazine shelves of your local supermarket and newsagent now. The greatest merit of the magazine is that it serves as a condensed example of all the ways alternative health reporting seeks to mislead you and drive you away from your doctor and into the clutches of your friendly herbalist, vitamin salesman and [read more…]

The BBC Report on Frome Steiner Academy

23rd November, 2012 95

My criticisms of Steiner Schools have focused mainly on how they avoid telling parents an authorities about the occult nature of their philosophy. Indeed, Rudolf Steiner was very clear to his teachers about how they should mislead and obfuscate when enquiries were made into their beliefs and intentions. It is therefore illuminating to see BBC South West ask some difficult questions of the new Head Teacher at the state funded Frome [read more…]

Steiner Schools: An Alternative to Education.

14th November, 2012 347

I have received the following letter from a parent who has recently withdrawn her child from a Steiner School. I thought it was worth sharing, and with permission, I do so. I was very interested to read your article re Steiner schools and would like to thank you for highlighting these dreadful places. I too will be writing to Michael Gove saying it is a disgrace that public money is being made [read more…]

The Royal College of Vestigial Victorian Fairground-Mystic Bone Setters.

13th November, 2012 249

Since the invention of the semi-religious cult of chiropractic over a hundred years ago, the one thing that the believers have sought is recognition. Historically, there have been two camps within the cult: those who wanted recognition as a distinct practice within the medical community and those who wanted recognition as an alternative to mainstream medicine – a strictly alternative therapy. We hear today from the British Chiropractic Association, that [read more…]

Angel Garden and Steve Paris

9th November, 2012 0

Writing about contentious issues and having a blog that is read widely will mean that I attract attention from quarters that can be annoying at times. Steve and Angel are in dispute with a Steiner School in New Zealand. They claim their children w… [read more…]

Steiner Schools and Risk Factors for Child Abuse

5th November, 2012 120

When you lead children to feel the beauty of sunrise and sunset, to be sensitive to the beauty of flowers and to the majesty of thunder and lightening, when, in short, you develop in them the aesthetic sense, you are doing far more for them than if you were to give them the sex education which has now become customary to give to children at the earliest stage and which [read more…]

What Every Parent Should Know About Steiner-Waldorf Schools

2nd November, 2012 483

You may know my feelings about Steiner/Waldorf Schools*. Most importantly, that prospective parents are not being told about the occult foundations of the Steiner philosophy. You may think that the mystical, spiritual and esoteric movement behind Steiner schools might be a very important factor in deciding whether your children should attend such a school. But the schools obviously do not. Informed choice is not possible when you do not understand the [read more…]