Dear Brother Ignatius,

I was wondering whether you could provide some advice about educational pedagogy. I have two special needs children on the autism spectrum who are currently enrolled in a public charter school that uses a "Waldorf approach" to teaching, which mainly consists of incorporating art and handwork into the classroom, as well as having a teacher stay with a class for several years. Our children have responded well to this approach. It explicitly does NOT teach or have anything to do with anthroposophy, which is an occultic philosophy developed by Rudolph Steiner that I did not know about until much later.

Do you think it is possible for a school to adapt an educational approach, like Waldorf, without getting entangled into any occultic philosophies? Or is it like Reiki, etc.? I ask because a kindergarten teacher recently sent home a note about some new dolls they are using called "Little Ones." The note raised some red flags for me, but I don't know whether I am overreacting. To quote:

"Little Ones continue a long tradition of the use of toys as pedagogical tools to encourage and support imaginative play and expression—to help children really use their rich imagination to let a toy become truly alive for them. What I found last year when I brought them for the first time to our class was that they greatly enhanced cooperative play and helped to unify the children in creative themes that could incorporate everyone…As parents, there a few ways you can help us to encourage this sense of magic and creativity. First, when a Little One is introduced to the class, the children are told Mother Earth is sending us a new friend, maybe with a hint about whom it is for. When brought to the class, I bring a little story about Mother Earth and her care of the natural world and how she meets each Little One and has brought him/her to us to share in this magic…While the children do speculate whether or not I make them, I consistently reiterate they are brought from Mother Earth and continue to build our ever-growing imaginative story. We never calls the Little Ones dolls or toys or its, rather instead we call them by name and often attribute feelings or actions to them. This is important to create a sense of wonder around them and helps to build the sense that they are alive and part of our class. It can also really help a child who is feeling sad, left out, out of sorts and can in those moments provide a way to express feelings, connect to another or be ready to be engaged creatively."

There is also a lot of emphasis on nature, fairy tales, fairies/gnomes, especially in kindergarten. Now I'm wondering if this is problematic.

We did not choose the local parish school because it was unlikely to have the resources to support our childrens' needs, and its adherance to the Magisterium was questionable. There were other problems with the local public schools, so a charter seemed the best option at the time.

Any thoughts?