Dear Friends of the Rudolf Steiner Centre,
The most important years in a person’s education are the early ones. The anthroposophical understanding of the human being underpins Waldorf’s superb approach to early childhood education. The rapid growth of Waldorf education in this country has meant that there are some teachers who have not yet had the advantages of a full training in the specialization of early childhood education. These teachers have been asking, indeed clamouring, for a part-time program in early childhood education for years.
In response, in the summer of 2010, the Rudolf Steiner Centre will launch a part-time early childhood teacher education program for currently practising teachers. The plans are in place, and our team, led by our own Jan Patterson, is ready. But we need your support to make our plans a reality.
The graduates of this program will fan out across the country, lifting the standards of early childhood education in Waldorf schools and in the larger community.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the prospects for children in today’s world have never been so dire. In some schools five-year-olds are being timed to see how fast they can say the alphabet. Some parents have put their three-year-olds in high-heeled shoes. By school age, the most common words some children have heard are “hurry up!” Wherever one looks, there’s less and less understanding of children’s developmental needs.
There is an urgent need for a Waldorf response to increasingly toxic childhood. It is this that drives us to ask your help in deepening the experience of all Waldorf teachers, particularly in extending our response to practising early childhood educators. We estimate that adding this new program to the work of the Waldorf teacher education program will need $15,000 to start. Please give what you can to support this work. The seed money you can provide, like the little acorn, will be something from which great oaks can grow.
On behalf of the Board and College,
George Ivanoff, Board Chair
Wendy Brown, College
