Waldorf in the Home

The following organizations offer weekend and 5-day conferences on various aspects of Waldorf education and parenting:

Waldorf in the Home. 2-day conferences for parents and home schooling families in Fair Oaks, CA (fall and spring) and Boulder, CO (fall). See the Conferences category on this website or call (303) 546-0070

Rudolf Steiner (Summer) Institute, PO Box 433, Kimberton, PA 19442; (610) 917-3196. Offers three-week intensives on a wide variety of courses of interest to home school families.

Gradalis Seminars, PMB 220, 1716 Main St., Ste. A, Longmont, CO 80501. Summer seminars for teachers on the various grades.

Waldorf Institute of Sunbridge College, 260 Hungry Hollow Rd., Spring Valley, NY 10977; (914) 425-0055. Offers various summer short courses, including Waldorf home schooling.

Rudolf Steiner College, 9200 Fair Oaks Blvd, Fair Oaks, CA 95628; (916) 961-8727. Offers various summer short courses of interest to parents and teachers

For anyone on the East Coast (or anyone who can get to Vermont this summer), Cynthia Aldinger and Susan Silverio will be offering a two-week early childhood course called "World Citizen: the Child from Birth to Six" from July 10-22 at the Rudolf Steiner Institute. This is a rare opportunity to spend time with the two directors of the LifeWays trainings! Treat yourself to some focused learning--the campus is lovely, and there are children's programs as well. To find out more, contact Rudolf Steiner Institute at www.steinerinstitute.org.
--Rahima

Our own Waldorf in the Home conferences are being held in two locations this year: California in September 2005 and in Colorado in October (see registration information to the right).

For friends on the East Coast, for whom it's too far to travel, we recommend the 2nd Annual Conference for Homeschoolers, Interested Parents and Educators
"BRINGING WALDORF HOME"
August 26-28, 2005
at George Mason University, Fairfax Virginia

In August I will be doing a weekend presentation on parenting and early childhood in Pagosian Springs, in Southwestern Colorado:

Friday, August 6, 2005 6-9 pm
Presentation on "The Best Start in Life," followed by a live auction to benefit the Pagosa Waldorf Initiative.

If you live within driving distance of Sacramento, I hope you'll take advantage of not one, but two conferences the weekend of April 1, 2006: "Briar Rose and the 12 Virtues" with Claudia McLaren Lainson and Suzanne Down in Fair Oaks and "Protecting the Spirit of Childhood," co-sponsored by Rudolf Steiner College at UC Davis.

If you don't have the books on Nonviolent communication yet, take advantage of this special offer The month of April, 2006, the Center for Nonviolent Communication is offering a special price on its starter book package. You can purchase Nonviolent Communication": A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg, The NVC COmpanion Workbook by Lucy Liu, and Speak Peace in a World of Conflict for only $25.95. Marshall's book alone sells for $17.95, and the the regular price for the three is $53.85. Order from www.cnvc.org or call 800-255-7696 and ask for the NVC Starter Book Package.

Also, Suzanne Down and Nancy Blanning will be presenting a 5-day intensive for teachers, therapists and parents called "Elements of therapeutic Early Childhood Education" in Fair Oaks (near Sacramento) from June 26-30. Here is the information:

"In this 5 day intensive we will bring therapeutic understanding to the weavings of nursery rhymes, the 12 senses, puppetry/story, and circle time.

Our children today urgently need the support of healthy rhythm, deep breathing, right speech, and the integration of the 4 foundational senses. In this course we will work toward deepening our understanding of the 12 senses, especially the four foundational senses, and join this insight with the powerful circulation giving rhythm of the nursery rhymes. We will work strongly with the therapeutic mysteries that live in the nursery rhymes then develop puppetry story and circle that will embrace this wisdom. When we add to this an exploration of how to further incorporate therapeutic tools for the four lower senses , we offer our children truly balancing experiences. Nursery rhyme puppet making and the art of meaningful and artistic presentation, plus therapeutic circle development are valuable practical tools you will be able to use directly in your classroom or therapeutic practice.

Faculty: Nancy Blanning – Therapeutic early childhood specialist, consultant, and teacher trainer, co-author of ‘Therapeutic Movement Journeys and Circle Games’ and Suzanne Down Pioneer in Therapeutic Puppetry, Founder of Juniper Tree School of Story and Puppetry Arts, author of several story and puppetry resource books including the new “Lifting the Veil, the Renewal of Puppet Theater’

Course cost $425. includes all materials.

For registration and information contact: Suzanne Down – 1 888 688-7333 suzanne@junipertreepuppets.com For local information contact Anna Guzman @ 916 863-0146
Sponsored by Juniper Tree School of Story and Puppetry Arts
PO Box 1688 Port Angeles, WA 98362 www.junipertreepuppets.com

If you can't make this conference, you can purchase Daena Ross's keynote address on the "Developing and Protecting the 12 Senses" or recordings of Nancy Blanning's workshops on "Helping Our Children Get into their Bodies" and "How to Get Your Child to Do What You Want them to do without Talking Yourself to Death."

I wanted to let you know that brochures and secure online registration are now available for both fall conferences:

Waldorf in the Home, Fair Oaks, California (near Sacramento)September 23-24, 2006 with keynote speakers David Darcy, Nancy Poer and Cynthia Wand
and
Whole Parent, Whole Family, Boulder, ColoradoOctober 21-22, 2006 with keynote speakers Rachael Kessler, Eugene Schwartz, Dee Joy Coulter and Donna Simmons.

On Friday evening and Saturday, November 10 and 11, 2006, Rudolf Steiner College will host a workshop called "Behind the Label: A Positive Approach to Social and Emotional Issues in Childhood" with Kim Payne, M.Ed., experienced counselor, adult educator, author, and consultant to many Waldorf schools.

"Schooling the Imagination"
1-day conference in the San Diego area
March 29, 2008 8am - 5:30 pm

Journey School, a Waldorf charter school in Aliso Viejo, will be hosting a one-day conference with keynote speaker Joseph Chilton Pearce and several Waldorf presenters. The topic is "Schooling the Imagination."
For more information see www.journeyschool.net

Rudolf Steiner Institute will be offering summer courses for parents and teachers July 6-26, 2008 at Green Mountain College in Putney, Vermont. Of special interest to readers might be "The Spirit of Early Childhood: Helping Children Grow Up with Joy, Vitality and Creativity" with Joan Almon and "The Essentials of Waldorf Education" with Jack Petrash. There are also specialty offerings on storytelling, painting, the Waldorf high school, and much more. For further information, see www.steinerinstitute.org or call 410-358-0050.

Waldorf parenting and home schooling conferences this year include:

"Children, Nature & Us," October 25-26, 2008 at Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder, CO. Information and secure online registation will be available starting in late May by clicking on the information on the right.

Keynotes speakers will feature Joseph Cornell, whose books on Sharing Nature with Children have been a classic resource for parents and teachers. Suzanne Down of Juniper Tree Puppets will again be joining us with "The Greening of Story" (also available as a DVD through our store). We are also delighted to welcome Sharon Lovejoy, who is an internationally acclaimed author on gardening. She has written several books on gardening with children, including Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots, Sunflower Houses, and Hollyhock Days. And we will be joined by Craig Holdrege, Director of The Nature Institute in Ghent, NY and a frequent lecturer on biodynamic agriculture and the Goethean approach to the natural world. In addition, there will be three dozen workshops on various aspects of the Waldorf curriculum, parenting, and ways to nurture children--and ourselves--in the living forces of nature.