Quick Links

with Dennis Demanett
8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
The fourth grade year stands at the very heart of Waldorf elementary education. And the centerpiece of this year is the subject, Man and Animal, unique to Waldorf pedagogy, that is both a gauge and a revelation of our work in understanding the human being and bringing that understanding to our serious task of educating children in our time. Man and Animal will be the touchstone, the beginning and end of this course, which will include work with Norse Myths, teaching fractions, local geography and history, and visual arts, form drawing, speech, movement and music.

with Johanna Mueller-Laurelin
2 - 5:30 p.m.
Participate in the "art of soul" as we explore the connection of gesture to sound and rhythm with music and spoken text. This course is both accessible and challenging to participants of all levels.

with Holly Koteen-Soulé
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Storytelling and puppetry are profound experiences for the developing senses and unfolding soul capacities of young children. In this workshop we will deepen our understanding of how they nourish the life forces during the first seven years. Participants will make silk marionettes and work together in small groups to create and perform four fairy tales appropriate for early childhood educational settings.

with Christiaan Boele
8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
(optional Tuesday and Thursday Evening Sessions 7 -8:30 p.m.)
Christiaan Boele travels around the world from his home in Europe, giving trainings, workshops and classes that focus on the proper use of the voice, its potential, and its healing power in our lives. He has trained with those who studied with well-known vocalist, Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström (who worked with Rudolf Steiner), and has for many years continued this approach to healthy singing and voice work that, according to Steiner, can offer a major contribution to the future evolution of humanity.

During the conference we will also be covering many other topics of interest, such as instrumental music in the Waldorf curriculum, specific grade-related repertoire and activities (songs, movement, games, etc.), and Spatial Dynamics. The conference will culminate in an evening where the participants will share the music they have worked on together and individually.

with Michael Steinrueck
8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Most interaction between teacher and children happens through the spoken word. This central tool of the teacher's craft can be developed into a far more effective instrument than it generally is today. We will explore methods developed by anthroposophy to strengthen, mobilize and inspire our speaking. This provides an excellent basis for all teaching activity, and is a source of empowerment and self-transformation of the teacher. Our focus will be on speech curriculum of the middle grades, including an exploration of the ancient cultures and particularly Nordic and Greek qualities of speech. Eurythmy with Rachel Schmid. Spatial Dynamics with Annette Parry.

with Katherine Thivierge
8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Speech can create pictures, and this imaginative element is what the Waldorf teacher brings to the stories, poetry and drama that contribute to the richness of the Waldorf curriculum. We will explore the means by which we can bring color and life into our speech, working with the foundations of healthy breath, voice and articulation through the speech exercises of Rudolf Steiner, and exploring storytelling, poetry and drama in the fourth and fifth grades.

with Johanna Mueller-Laurelin
2:15 - 5:15 p.m.
Participate in the "art of soul" as we explore the connection of gesture to sound and rhythm with music and spoken text. This course is both accessible and challenging to participants of all levels.

with Rena Osmer
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Just before the turn of the millennium, a respected teacher of mine commented that the biggest obstacle to the incarnation of the new generation may well be we ourselves - the adults who care for children. In this intensive week we will look at Steiner's lecture "Self-Education in the Light of Spiritual Science," the practicalities of working with parents, and handcraft a simple silk marionette puppet for our fairytale.

with Jacqueline Develle
and Shivani Goodwill
8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
By 5th grade children experience a special kind of inner and outer harmony and enjoyment of life. We thus can immerse them in the earliest cultures of humanity culminating with the harmonious balance created by the Greeks. Through myths, epics and legends we trace the evolution of human consciousness from Ancient India to the beginnings of Greek history. Botany and geography provide a new way of looking at the earth; geometry and pentathlon athletics reflect the child's inner and outer balance through form and grace. Come ready to recite a Greek chorus, discover with wonder the life of plants, and recapitulate the stages of our human consciousness.

with John Engel
2:15 - 5:15 p.m.
We will work on the five Pentathlon events: javelin, discus, wrestling, jumping, running, and their connection to Zeus, Apollo, Heracles, Artemis, and Hermes. We will play "Hu Tu Tu", "Athens and Sparta", and "Spaceball". We will stretch and discover new areas to stretch... please wear athletic clothing and tennis shoes (no sandals and togas).

with Patrice Maynard
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Do threefold social ideals describe the path of spiritual evolution for human beings today? Welcome to an adventure in discovering and practicing the ideas and practices that earn Waldorf education the right to call itself a revolution! The anthroposophical-spiritual roots of Waldorf education are asking for a revolution in consciousness, a change in thinking from analytical to morphological and pictorial. We will explore how this applies to life in a Waldorf school— from lesson planning to block planning to the threefold operation of the whole school! Singing, rhythmic activities and role-playing will complement our developing imaginations of threefold life. Eurythmy with Rachel Schmid.