Childhood- Cultivating the Wisdom of the Pure Heart

with Suzanne Down, Laurie Clark and Nancy Blanning

First annual WECAN conference on the West Coast co-sponsored with Rudolf Steiner College.

A conference by leading early childhood researcher/educators who will explore the therapeutic aspects of movement, puppetry, storytelling and self development. Attendance is open to those who are active in early childhood education and who wish to deepen their work of an anthroposophical view of the young child. This conference is designed to support and enliven our work as early childhood professionals.

Professional Puppet Show Performance with the San Francisco Waldorf Puppet Troupe, Singing Games with Anna Rainville, Nurturing the Nurturer activities, vendors and a Dessert Cafe.

Questions? Contact Lauren Hickman at 916-961-8727 extension 117 or via e-mail at earlychildhood@steinercollege.edu

Friday 7 pm-Sunday 12:30 pm. Fee: $80.

REGISTER NOW!

Schedule

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12

6:00-6:45 Registration packets picked up
7:00 pm – Introductions/Welcome WITH Lauren Hickman
7:15 pm – “The Sanctuary of the Story Heart” Lecture by Suzanne Down

We respectfully open the children's hearts with our storytelling.
What then is worthy to fill that open heart with?

“ The Three Oranges” a lovely little French tale with the 3 brothers/Simpleton story line. Presented by the Magic Lantern Traveling Marionette Theatre from San Francisco. This is a professional marionette offering for our conference and is not part of the puppetry work done in an early childhood classroom.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13

8:30-9:00- Singing: Anna Rainville
9:00-9:15 Welcome and Puppetry Vignette with Suzanne Down
9:15-10:15- Keynote Lecture by Nancy Blanning

"Guidance by the Pure Heart into the Child's Physical Body--Infant reflex movement patterns as cosmic gift." Each soul desires to find its way into healthy earthly life. The first step he or she must take is to create a "home" that serves his or her intention in the physical body. The "pure heart" of the cosmos gives each child reflex movement patterns as a gift to help the child begin to gain control of movement. Once these have served their purpose, each pattern should fade away and be replaced by more developed and sophisticated intentional movement directed by the child herself. Increasingly, however, we see these patterns staying on longer than the ideal plan intends and interfering with future development. The implications of this will be considered in this talk. We will understand what these patterns are, the gifts they provide to the child, and the complications that follow if they persist beyond their intended time frame.

10:15-11:00 – Break and shopping at the Vendor’s Bazaar
11:00-12:00-Keynote Lecture by Laurie Clark

“ Doorway to the Heart – Child Study for Early childhood Educators” The heart of our work as teachers is to receive each child as a profound mystery that stands before us. How do we begin to perceive the intentionality of the child and strive in our own inner life in order to be worthy of this privilege that has been entrusted to us as teachers? How can we work together in community and sharpen our capacities for deepening observation and create a sacred space to ‘hold’ the child? In this lecture we will explore a child study format created especially for the early childhood teacher that is both practical and reverent in the creation of a meaningful understanding of the child.

12:00-2:00 – Lunch and shopping at the Vendor’s Bazaar
2:00-3:30 – Workshops: Choose 1 for both time slots

Workshop I: The Courageous Heart Wisdom in the Fairy Tales with Suzanne Down We will discuss key Fairy Tales and Character Archetypes that inspire and guide us through the wisdom of the heart. Then we will focus on the fairy tale 'The Golden Goose', where imagination is the antidote for intellectualism. We will create a Golden Goose puppet as we discover how this story leads the threatened soul to its joyful freedom.

Workshop II: Fairytale Circle Adventures in the Classroom as Therapeutic Modality with Laurie Clark Circle time with young children provides the teacher with a great opportunity for intervention using therapeutic measures and gives the possibility for the child to take a developmental step forward. When the teacher consciously chooses movements that enhance the child’s sensory life, enlivening forces can help mature and integrate the nervous system and help the child feel more “at home” in their body. As teachers it is also essential to be aware of the insights that can be obtained through observation of the child’s movements and the accompanying developmental stages. The soul life of the child is unveiled through the phenomena of their movements, and gives a living picture of how the child is taking hold of their body. This careful observation offers the teacher insights into behavioral disturbances and imbalances. In this workshop, we will learn and practice a circle and discuss the various aspects of hygienic possibilities as well as explore the observations of movements we see with the children in our care.

Workshop III: Moving into the Physical Body with the Pure Heart as Guide with Nancy Blanning Each child finds his way into the physical body through movement. The Pure Heart of divine intention gives every child movement patterns to guide this process. But when the patterns remain beyond their intended time span, difficulties develop. We will learn movement imaginations that encourage retained patterns on toward maturation, all of which we can use in circle times. We will also learn the movement journey, "Lazy Jack," which gives us a picture of the pure heart of the simpleton succeeding in the end, despite many seeming missteps.

Workshop IV: Spanish Language Workshop with Rosario Villasana Ruiz- This workshop will reflect the conference theme and will be presented entirely in Spanish. Limit 40

Workshop V: Additional workshop to be added if all other workshops have filled.

3:30-4:15 – Break and shopping at the Vendor’s Bazaar
4:15-5:45 – Workshops continued
6:00-7:00 – Dinner and shopping at the Vendor’s Bazaar
7:30-9:00 – Dessert Café /World Café with Lauren Hickman and friends

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14

8:30-9:00 a.m. – Singing with Anna Rainville
9:00-9:10 – Puppetry Vignette Suzanne Down
9:10 -10:30 – Keynote thoughts – 40 minutes Nancy Blanning, 40 minutes Laurie Clark
10:30-11:00 – BREAK
11:00-11:30 – Looking towards future research - Panel of presenters to address questions gathered during the conference.
11:30-12:15 – Final Thoughts 15 minutes each presenter
11:30 – Suzanne Down
11:45 – Nancy Blanning
12:00– Laurie Clark
12:15 – Anna Rainville stretch and song
12:30 Close – Suzanne Down will close with a puppet story