In November 2012 and February 2013 two colloquia took place in Dornach, the first on the theme of the care of the child from birth to three, and the second on the theme of transition from kindergarten to school. Both were sponsored by IASWECE in collaboration with the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum. Experts in each field made presentations from their work and engaged in conversation in such a way that further research intentions and topics emerged that will be shared at larger future conferences. In this issue we include three presentations from the Birth to Three Colloquium; you can find further contributions in the internet at www.iaswece.org.

In addition to conference announcements and links to new videos on Waldorf early childhood education produced by the Association of Waldorf Kindergartens, we would like to introduce you to an initiative of the IASWECE Council - worldwide partnerships among Waldorf early childhood teacher training centers. We are all so engaged in the demands of own work that it is a challenge to look out beyond our own immediate surroundings, and yet when we do engage with colleagues and activities beyond our regional or national boundaries, we can experience that we are enriched and our own work is re-enlivened.

with warm wishes
Philipp Reubke, Susan Howard and Clara Aerts


PS : Our December newsletter issue on festivals at the turn of the year was much appreciated. Therefore in our upcoming summer issue, we plan to take up this theme again, this time exploring how festivals at the summer solstice are celebrated in Waldorf kindergartens in diverse cultures around the world. We invite you to send us descriptions of your festival celebrations with the children!

      

In November 2012 the Pedagogical Section in collaboration with IASWECE invited experts on working with the small child to meet in Dornach. Thirty Waldorf educators and caregivers from Europe, Canada and the U.S. came to the Goetheanum to exchange their experiences and results of research with their colleagues.

If you have contributions or suggestions to offer on any of theses topics, please contact us and we will put you in touch with those who are working with them. Or you may publish your own contribution at IASWECE 0-3 Internetforum

by Martin Derrez (Stuttgart, Germany)

by Jane Swain (Keene, New Hampshire USA)

 To the article.

In contemporary society as a whole there is a demand for childcare, and we try to meet this need by offering care. The big question then is, what kind of care are we providing? What kind of child care is truly appropriate? There are a number of areas which Helle Heckmann finds  problematic as well as under-researched, which she mentions in her article. 

 

One of the main goals of IASWECE is to support training, further training and mentoring for Waldorf kindergarten teachers and caregivers throughout the world by offering financial and pedagogical support to such training projects. At the moment we are supporting more then 20 Waldorf early childhood training courses and mentoring projects around the world. We direct our attention and support
especially to those countries where Waldorf early childhood education is still establishing itself or where there are very limited economic resources.

The IASWECE Council wants to foster partnerships between more experienced, established training centers in our IASWECE member countries and training centers around the world in need of support.

Read our letter with ideas for partnership!
Download the list of training programs receiving IASWECE support in 2013

Request for support...

A Whitsun Conference for Waldorf kindergarten teachers will take place in Hannover, Germany, from May 18 - 21, 2013. The conference languages will be German, English, French, and Russian.

Keynote speakers are Wolfgang Held, Claus-Peter Röh,
Dr. René Madeleyn,
Birgit Krohmer and
Marcel de Leuw.

 Keynote Speakers: Louise de Forest (USA), Lakshmi Prasanna (India), Jan Baker Finch (Australia)
Program and registration