How do I choose my child's first school?

As summer winds on with cook outs and beach outings, I am finding myself drawn into conversations with friends who are parents of younger children.  Do you like your kids' school?  How do they feel about school?  I talk some about Meadowbrook, sometimes I try to describe the Waldorf philosophy in a succinct two minutes - not my strong point even after 5 years at the school!  But the conversation always ends up at the same essential question, how to be sure that as parents we are giving our children what they need.  It's a tough one.  Our state and national governments are in debate about how to test and who to test.  We are bombarded with marketing that tells us our children's success, and therefore our own, depends on us purchasing this or that product.  And there are our own insecurities about our ability to make such important decisions with no experience to base them on, insecurities that grow in the face of our peers who seem to be utterly confident that they know the right way to go.I had such a conversation yesterday then today came across this great blog post from Teacher Tom.  Tom is not a Waldorf teacher, he is an early childhood teacher in Seattle who clearly loves his job and the kids he works with. I hope this piece speaks to you as it does to me.Click this link; Learning and loving go hand in hand by Teacher Tom.