Weaving a New Web: Education and Parenting in an Era of Technological Change
Event on 2014-03-01 08:00:00
5th Community Education Conference Featuring keynote speaker, Eric Utne, founder of the eponymous Utne Reader and Waldorf Educator. Sponsored by Prairie Hill Waldorf School, Tamarack Waldorf School and Madison Waldorf School along with Great Lakes Waldorf Institute. See the conference brochure for details on breakout sessions and speaker bios. New this year: several exhibitors will be showcasing their products and/or services. Three breakout sessions with 15 different topics, including:
Media, Technology and Health
Introduction to the Philosophy of Waldorf Education
Supporting Middle School Students Toward Authentic Relationships
Simplifying Your Life With Young Children
The Waldorf High School Experience
Understanding the Nine Year Change
and much much more! Cost (includes lunch)
Before February 15:
After February 15:
At the door: After you have registered, you will be able to select your preferences for all three breakout sessions. Please read these descriptions and note your preference so that you can enter it later. (Jump to Breakout Session #2 or Breakout Session #3) Breakout Session #1: 10:10 AM Workshop 1A: An Overview of Waldorf Curriculum Grades 5-8: From Ancient Greece to the Green Bay Packers Presenter: Melanie Reiser – Leader of Programs and Activities for the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) Description: Anthroposophy, the founding impulse on which Waldorf Education is based, offers insights into child development that guide and inform Waldorf schools and their curriculum and methods. In this workshop you will learn more about the child development and pedagogical ideas behind grades 5-8 that are the foundation for the disciplines: math, language arts, social studies, science, and the many arts that are a part of the Waldorf Curriculum. Experience some of the age appropriate methods, such as geometric drawing, poetry writing, and scientific observation and write-up, utilized in Waldorf classrooms that allow students to deeply penetrate the content they are learning. Workshop 1B: Simplifying Your Life with Children Presenter: Stanlee Maliszewski – Certified "Simplicity Parenting Group Leader", Coordinator Of Parent-Child and Summer Programs at Prairie Hill Waldorf School and Parent of two Description: Leave this hands-on workshop with a plan to simplify your daily life with your children through practical and tangible methods based on the workings of Kim John Payne and the experiences of Stanlee Maliszewski, Parent-Child Educator and Waldorf Parent. When we simplify our lives, we create space for deeper connections and can pave the way for a more peaceful household. Workshop 1C: Working with the Four Temperaments Pesenters: James Boland – Class Teacher at Tamarack Waldorf School Lisa Mulaney – Class Teacher at Prairie Hill Waldorf School Description: In this workshop we will seek to gain understanding of Rudolph Steiner's work on the 4 temperaments; sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic, as a way to work with others more effectively. We will explore this topic through humor, discussion and play to better understand the temperaments. !!!FULL!!! Workshop 1D: Balancing the Relationships Between Nature, Art, and Technology !!!FULL!!! Presenter: Nancy Price – Class Teacher at Tamarack Waldorf School, Director of Teacher Development for Great Lakes Waldorf Institute, author, and parent of five Description: A knife was a new and unique bit of technology, as was the wheel, the party-line telephone, and an indoor toilet. There was a time when technology came into being slowly over many hundreds of years and because of this pace, human beings easily learned to integrate the use of these items into their lives. We now live in an age where technology changes and advances so quickly that we find it difficult to keep up. Our children seem to know much more about it than we do and have almost been born with an understanding of the computer, the smart phone, and how to operate many intricate gadgets. Children naturally want to engage in the world of technology because it is their world. It is important that as adults we understand how to help children find the balance that can counteract the sometimes depleting effects of the screen, without condemnation or passing judgment. Through regulation of and mastery over technology, it is possible for children to have healthy experiences in the techno-world. This workshop will include observation of the natural world and engagement with simple artistic process. Be sure to bring your cell phones so that we can also go deeper in our understanding of technology and its component parts and gestures. Come ready with your questions and thoughts on this topic. Workshop 1E: Sensory Integration: How we Learn Through Movement Presenters: Amy Schroeder – Learning Support Coordinator at Prairie Hill Waldorf School Ceal Hunter – Learning Support Specialist at Tamarack Waldorf School Description: The foundations of development and learning are shaped by movement in the human being. Our physical and emotional bodies are informed by physical motion. Think about how we take in the world, process what comes to us, and how we interact with it. This workshop will explore the foundations of learning, what obstacles get in the way and ideas of how to remove these hindrances. Participants will have the opportunity to experience movement that demonstrates key developmental stages and exercises for healthy growth for children and adults alike. Workshop 1F: Family Math: Grades 4 – 8 Presenters: Sandra Martin – Faculty Chair at Prairie Hill Waldorf School Sandy Loucks – Class Teacher at Prairie Hill Waldorf School Description: This workshop is designed to provide participants with fun and interactive ways to practice and support the development of math skills with children at home. (Return to top) Breakout Session #2: 11:20 AM !!!FULL!!! Workshop 2A: Too Much, Too Soon, Too Easily: The Impact of Technology on Child Development and Behavior (Middle-School, Teens & Adults) !!!FULL!!! Presenter: Philip Chard – Psychotherapist, columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and author of The Healing Earth Workshop Description: The explosion in technology-based gaming, social networking, instant communication, and entertainment media has become a potent force in child development. Emerging research is measuring the impact of these media on the neurology, behavior and relationships of young people, as well as their parents and teachers. We will explore the perils and promises posed by current technology, as well as rapidly emerging advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and human-machine interfaces. Participants will be asked to assess the impact of technology on their own lives and those of their children, and to examine self-management strategies in this regard. Workshop 2B: Kindergarten Confidential: Revealing the "Tricks of the Trade" Presenter: Laura Cassidy – Veteran Early Childhood Waldorf Teacher at Prairie Hill (22 years) and parent of 3 Prairie Hill alumni Description: Many people wonder what the secret is to the joy that children experience in a Waldorf Kindergarten. Discover how one kindergarten teacher meets children so as to serve them with simplicity and joy. This workshop will give you effective tools to enrich and simplify your life with young children. Workshop 2C: The Philosophical Wellspring of Waldorf Education: An Introduction Presenter: Robert Karp – Executive Director of the Biodynamic Association, and Director of New Spirit Farmland Partnership Description: Waldorf Education has its origins in the life philosophy of its founder Rudolf Steiner, called anthroposophy. In this workshop I will seek to bring the participants into an understanding of anthroposophy and some of its guiding insights and perspectives through clear and simple language and examples. I will also provide some history of Waldorf education and its relationship to Rudolf Steiner's other social change efforts in the early 20th century as well as to other social, cultural and philosophical trends in our time. The workshop will consist of a lecture and several conversational exercises in small groups. Workshop 2D: Working to Incarnate: Exploring the Value of Will Education in Our Time Presenters: Bente Goldstein- Veteran Prairie Hill Waldorf Teacher, Farm-Based Educator with A Week on the Farm & Farmwise, Inc. for over 20 years Lori Barian – Director of Administration for Great Lakes Waldorf Institute and Director of Tiny Green Trees Children's Center Description: Through presentation, conversation, and artistic activity, we will explore the questions of how to effectively prepare young people to be adults capable of self-sufficiency, and how we can implement these ideals in our communities. Workshop 2E: The Wisdom of Going Slow: Reading a la Waldorf Presenter: Jacqueline Beecher – Founder & current Administrator of The Orchard: A Lifeways Representative Early Childhood program, Adjunct Faculty Member for Sophia Institute for Foundation Studies and the Arts Description: Based on experience with children who could already read when they entered grade one (but flourished with the Waldorf curriculum) as well as those who bloomed late (and went from Frog and Toad to The Hobbit in one week), this workshop aims to take up the many issues that surround reading teaching and learning in a Waldorf school. I will present a picture of the writing to reading approach taken in grades 1-3 in a Waldorf school and invite conversation and discussion about the ways the child benefits by moving at his/her own developmental pace. Discussion is invited on these topics and other questions/ topics from participants: the problem of the worried parent; the concerned others who are well-meaning but pile on the pressure; respecting delayed reading as an indicator of the child's motivations and life destiny; the question of when remediation is warranted and how to address it. (Return to top) Breakout Session #3: 3:00 PM !!!FULL!!! Workshop 3A: Media, Technology and Health: Understanding the Challenges and Lifting up the Spirit !!!FULL!!! Presenter: Mark Kamsler, M.D. – Dr. Kamsler is Board Certified in and practices Anthroposophic Medicine (a comprehensive approach to medicine with a holistic understanding of the human being.) He is also Board Certified in Pediatrics. Description: What might the role be for these ever new technologies and "social" opportunities? What can Anthroposophy, Waldorf Education and Anthroposophical Medicine offer as a way to balance and move beyond the challenges? What might the effects of these technologies be and how can we work with remedies, eurythmy, and "lifestyle" activities to lift ourselves up in body, soul and spirit in this time of increasing technologies and mechanization of our world. Come explore these questions and more. Workshop 3B: Supporting Middle School Students Toward Authentic Relationships Presenter: Corinne Lorian – Class Teacher at Prairie Hill Waldorf School (over 30 years of Waldorf teaching experience) Description: Middle school is the time when young people begin making choices that lay the foundations for their relationships with others, as well, as with themselves. They begin to define what it means to "belong, how they achieve "belonging", and how they view themselves. Learn how to best support this age group through their self-discovery process. Workshop 3C: Is Discipline a Dirty Word? Ages 1-8 Years Presenter: Mary O'Connell – Director of Lifeways Early Childhood Center and Lifeways Training Director, Co-author of Home Away from Home: Lifeways Care of Children to Families Description: The word "discipline" often evokes negative associations because it calls to mind punishment or imposed rules. But the root of the word "discipline" is DISCIPLE. A disciple is one who learns from us, follows in our footsteps, and goes on to bear good fruit. Learn how we, as parents and educators, embrace our role as loving leaders to our children so they can go out into the world as fruit-bearers. Workshop 3D: The Waldorf High School Experience Presenter: Kate Knuth – High School Planner and Co-Chair of the Tamarack Waldorf High School Working Group, Class Teacher at Tamarack Waldorf School colleagues Description: Waldorf Education was imagined from the beginning as an elementary-through-high school experience. With momentum to open a Waldorf high school in Milwaukee this autumn, this workshop will offer a hands-on, in-depth look at the academically rigorous, creatively artistic, socially relevant curriculum of the Waldorf high school. Workshop 3E: The Handwork Thread: How handwork Supports Child Development Presenters: Dawn Imes – Handwork Teacher at Prairie Hill Waldorf School Monica Duncan – Handwork Teacher at Tamarack Waldorf School Description: Knitting and other handwork projects play an important role in the development of fine motor skills, inner calm and intellectual clarity. Handwork also offers many opportunities for reinforcing math skills in practical, challenging and enjoyable ways. Come see how handwork builds self-esteem and hear about the joy that arises in the child as a result of having made something practical and beautiful. Workshop 3F: Family Literacy: Reading in the Home (Grades 1-3) Presenters: Sandra Martin – Faculty Chair at Prairie Hill Waldorf School Sandy Loucks – Class Teacher at Prairie Hill Waldorf School Description: Waldorf students are given a strong foundation in comprehension, vocabulary and in the sounds and meanings of their native tongue. Then students are introduced to writing and spelling the letters and words that are part of their stories. And, as a final step, students read from their own texts describing the stories that they have heard. In this way, they have the proper time to develop all of the skills that are part of the complex skill of reading at the time when it is most appropriate for them to do so. This workshop will address the development of literacy skills and give participants fun and interactive ways to practice reading skills with children at home. (Return to top)
at Prairie Hill Waldorf
N14 W29143 Silvernail Rd
Pewaukee, United States
Weaving a New Web: Education and Parenting in an Era of Technological Change is a post from: Intervention Therapy