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Alliance for Childhood
The Alliance for Childhood promotes policies and practices that support children’s healthy development, love of learning, and joy in living. Its public education campaigns bring to light both the promise and the vulnerability of childhood. Great resources.
Awhina Day Nursery
Awhina Day Nursery and Kindergarten was founded in 1995 by Bernadette Raichle. Awhina is a small early childhood environment where the archetype of the home is its model. Bernadette is the author of the book Creating a Home for Body, Soul and Spirit, and shares her time between Awhina and consulting and lecturing.
Bella Luna Toys
Bella Luna Toys is owned by Waldorf early childhood teacher and former LifeWays North America board member, Sarah Baldwin. Her web-based company is committed to offering unique natural toys and products for children and families that are safe, healthy and encourage imaginative play.
Dancing Hands & Frolicking Voices
Dancing Hands & Frolicking Voices offers continuing education for early childhood educators, parents, grandparents and caregivers. This includes conferences and workshop retreats at Star Dance Farm by Ann Arbor, Michigan, or via Zoom, as well as mentoring and video subscriptions. Founder Lynn St. Pierre is a certified trainer in the developmental movement for early childhood created by Wilma Ellersiek and a Spacial Dynamics practitioner.
Gilead Press
Shea Darian is a writer, poet and family educator who encourages parents and caregivers to transform our often busy, chaotic 21st century lives with a greater sense of balance and peace. She offers practical and inspirational tools to build healthy, joyful family relationships, including books and CDs.
Joyful Toddlers
Joyful Toddlers is a resource for parents, daycare providers and early childhood educators—if you spend your time with children ages 1-5 and wish that your days flowed a little more easily, and transitions went more smoothly, check out this site. If you long to increase how much you enjoy your time with children, go to Joyful Toddlers! The blog provides a wealth of information and support for parents of toddlers, and Miss Faith, offers tele-classes for parents as well. Faith was co-director of Rainbow Bridge LifeWays Program for 1-5 year olds in Boulder and is Student Services Director of the Rocky Mountain LifeWays Training.
Juniper Tree School of Puppetry Arts
Juniper Tree Puppets, founded by former LifeWays Training Director Suzanne Down, has long been a center for puppetry and storytelling arts. It promotes the art and archetype, the magic and meaning, the wisdom and healing of story and ensouled puppetry. Sign up for the free early childhood story newsletter on the home page, and view the many resources for sale.
Kindling
KINDLING (The Journal for Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood) is a wonderful resource for sharing Steiner Waldorf principles and practice with those caring for the child between birth and seven. KINDLING is a printed magazine from the U.K. which includes themed articles in each issue, such as a recent issue which focussed on warmth, including environments, clothing, love and care, and warming woolly crafts. It also includes other topics such as natural health, songs, stories, puppetry and crafts, special features, workshops and conferences, current debate etc. Some past themes were movement, nutrition, outdoors, storytelling, sleep, the senses, play. The Autumn 2014 issue will be on ‘pre’ literacy, science and numeracy. KINDLING is printed in Spring and Autumn and is available in printed form by subscription only. We have many subscribers abroad, and you will need to contact us for costs, which depend on postage to your countries. Please email for further information at earlyearsnews@aol.com.
Little Acorn Learning
Eileen Straiton’s Little Acorn Learning works to connect children and caregivers to the natural rhythms of the earth by offering holistic and affordable e-books and e-courses which gently guide the adult in providing a warm, loving and creative home or classroom that their children will thrive in. Based on seasonal themes and festivals, Little Acorn Learning inspires a love of nature and the home arts while supporting the caregiver’s soul. We help parents, teachers and caregivers find true meaning in their very important work with children. Check out their blog as well.
Mothering Arts
Kerry Ingram believes community and self-care pave the path to connecting with a mother’s inner wisdom. Local “Mothering Arts” circles nurture connections between mothers in their first year postpartum and their babies, elders and wise women. The website offers many resources to inspire a practice of self-care and nourishment for the postpartum year. And an online group leader training is available for those who wish to create a supportive circle in their own town. Kerry is a LifeWays graduate and board member and serves as Program Services Director for LifeWays.
Naturally You Can Sing
Naturally You Can Sing Productions was started in 1999 by Mary Schunemann to bring singing and live music back into peoples’ lives. Here is where you can buy any of Mary’s 10 songbooks with accompanying CDs, such as “This is the Way We Wash A Day,” “Sing a Song with Baby,” and “Sing a Song of Seasons.” Many songs are used in the LifeWays trainings.
Nurturing Arts
Nurturing Arts, based on the work of Rudolf Steiner, is a harmonizing, healing experience which can balance the stress of our contemporary life with its crowded agendas, overly intellectual activities and constant sensory stimuli. Participants are gently guided through a series of carefully designed artistic exercises while exploring a chosen theme. The emphasis is on discovery rather than the finished product. The Center For Nurturing Arts, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, offers a four-year part-time training with a fifth year practicum leading to a certificate as a Nurturing Arts Practitioner. They also offer classes and workshops, designed for a teaching faculty, a professional group or a community of individuals.
Simplicity Parenting
Kim John Payne’s Simplicity Parenting website offers many audio and video recordings, books and articles by Kim John Payne, as well as a blog, information on leader training, and much more. Kim is a psychologist with a Waldorf background whose work is SO valuable for families today!
Waldorf in the Home
Rahima Baldwin Dancy provides a web-based resource for parents, teachers and caregivers interested in the Waldorf approach to child-rearing and education—especially Waldorf Home Schooling. The site offers a vast array of articles, CD’s, DVDs and other conference recordings (MP3s, downloads). Rahima is a founding Board member of LifeWays North America and works as Outreach Coordinator.
The Wonder of Childhood
The Wonder of Childhood Magazine is a monthly e-publication that explores conscious and creative parenting, Waldorf education, homeschooling, deep nourishment, self growth, natural living and the celebration of life through the rhythm of the year. This Magazine, edited by Lisa Boisvert Mackenzie, former LifeWays board member, is truly inspirational!
The World of the Young Child
Early childhood consultant and author Steve Spitalny was a kindergarten teacher at the Santa Cruz Waldorf School for 23 years. Since the mid-1990’s he has given workshops, lectures and courses on many themes for various institutions and groups including Rudolf Steiner College and is on the faculty of the Waldorf Institute of Southern California.
Suggested Reading
Please visit our LifeWays Store to purchase our books, Home Away from Home and Life is the Curriculum. These are the most comprehensive sources of information and inspiration about the LifeWays approach to childcare.
The following are a few of the titles we have found inspiring:
- Home Away from Home: LifeWays Care of Children and Families – Aldinger and O’Connell
- Life is the Curriculum – Aldinger
- You Are Your Child’s First Teacher – Baldwin Dancy
- Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing our children from birth to seven – Patterson & Bradley
- Words for Parents in Small Doses – Frizlen
- Nokken – Heckman
- Lifeways – Davy and Voors
- The Incarnating Child – Salter
- Singing with Children Series – Thienes-Schunemann
- Caring For Infants With Respect – Gerber
- Creating a Home for Body, Soul and Spirit – Raichle
- Cooking for the Love of the World – Marie Fryer Wilbott
Many of these titles can be ordered from the following:
Waldorf Books, www.waldorfbooks.com
Steiner Books, www.steinerbooks.org
Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore, www.rscbookstore.com
Naturally You Can Sing, www.naturallyyoucansing.com
Waldorf Early Childhood Association (WECAN), https://store.waldorfearlychildhood.org/collections