Our Goals
WECAN’s mission is to nurture the work with young children from pre-birth to age seven, based on an understanding of the healthy development of the child in body, soul and spirit. Our goal is to protect and nurture childhood as the foundation for a truly human culture in the future
Our Activities
- Publication of our twice-yearly newsletter, Gateways
- Collaborative research into the needs of children from birth to seven
- Conferences and workshops for Waldorf early childhood educators
- Outreach and interface with the wider world of early childhood education
- Support for social outreach programs working with children at risk
- Publication of study materials and resources for early childhood educators and parents
- Networking and support for those engaged in Waldorf kindergartens, child care, extended care and home care
- Support for the development of mentoring and training programs for Waldorf early childhood educators
Membership
Membership is open to individuals who support our work, and to organizations such as early childhood programs, kindergartens, child care centers and training centers committed to the ideals and practices of Waldorf early childhood education.
The Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America was founded in 1983, originally under the name of the Waldorf Kindergarten Association of North America. We are members of the International Waldorf Kindergarten Association. Our administrative offices are in Spring Valley, New York.
From our most recent WECAN News Update…
WECAN Projects and Activities
FROM OUR AUTUMN 2009 WECAN NEWS UPDATEIn our Association, there is much to be thankful for at this harvest time. The courageous, loving, imaginative members of the WECAN Board have participated in a year of intense restructuring of our organizational activity, and have found new forms that bring more consciousness into our work with our members, with our research questions, publications and activities, and outreach into the wider world. Our small mostly part-time staff has nearly doubled in number, with Andrea Gambardella joining us as Membership Coordinator and Susan Wallendorf as Membership Administrator. Our office has expanded to the Threefold Foundation’s Main House in Spring Valley, where we are able to meet the world and our members in a new way. Individual donors and foundations have come forward to support our activities: o our work in the International Association (IASWECE) o our Older Child working group’s annual retreat in Sweden o Connie White’s current mentoring work in China o Louise deForest’s mentoring of Waldorf kindergartens in Mexico o support for the Sophia Project in Oakland, o a September meeting of early childhood trainers in Fair Oaks o publication of our WECAN Books and even the nuts and bolts of infrastructure development have all been supported by gifts and donations in this past year. Now that our infrastructure development has us standing on more solid ground, we can turn our focus to taking the pulse of the early childhood work in North America, to explore how we can meet the burning issues in our work. Several key areas that we will be working with this year are as follows: 1) Fostering the training and lifelong development of Waldorf early childhood educators This includes establishing clear guidelines and recommendations for levels of training for the various kinds of early childhood work – nursery/kindergarten educators, extended care providers, parent-child group leaders, home care providers, and center-based care providers. We want to support the strengthening of our vocation, and see the need to form a path to membership for early childhood training programs, outreach and recruitment of Waldorf early childhood educators, and advanced courses so that we can continue to deepen and renew our work over a lifelong career. We are also looking at the question of credentials and certification for Waldorf early childhood educators. A new brochure on Waldorf early childhood teacher training has also been produced and is being used for outreach. Please contact us for copies! 2) Continuing to raise consciousness around questions of the 6-year change and the transition from kindergarten to school Our Older Child Working Group has published You’re Not the Boss of Me!, edited by Ruth Ker and First Grade Readiness, edited by Nancy Blanning. They are now actively involved with a working group of the International Association to deepen their understanding of this important transition time, and to educate teachers and parents about the needs of the older child in the kindergarten. An international conference is being considered for 2011. In the meantime, our working group members plan to offer workshops at conferences this year, and to participate in an international retreat in Sweden in April. 3) Concern for the younger children in our care – the 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds Now that many Waldorf schools are accepting very young children into our programs, we need to deepen our understanding of their unique needs. How can the mixed-age group be approached in such a way that is truly developmentally healthy for the little ones? How can extended care programs become integrated so that children have an experience of continuity throughout the day? The International Association is looking to re-awaken the International Working Group on Birth to Three/Four, and we are looking for ways to stimulate the forming of a new WECAN working group on this theme. A conference in Dornach from June 2- 5, 2010 sponsored by the Medical Section will offer opportunities for networking and focus on this important area. We will post further information on this conference as it becomes available. 4) Developing a stronger relationship to the worldwide Steiner/Waldorf early childhood movement For many of us, our 2008 World Conference in Wilton, NH, was a joyous celebration of our world movement. We witnessed the development of personal friendships, kindergarten partnerships and sponsorships, and deepened experiences of our interconnectedness in a world movement through coming together in association. The next international conference is planned for July 4 – 6, 2010 in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the theme of movement – the outer movement of the child and the inner movement of the adult. Helle Heckmann from Denmark, and Louise DeForest and Nancy Mellon from the USA will be the keynote speakers. This will be a wonderful opportunity to bring together colleagues from South, Central and North America – together with others from around the world. Further details will follow later this fall. And plans are beginning for the next World Conference in Dornach in the week before Easter, 2012. Please mark your calendars and beginning planning and fundraising now! 4) Creating financial sustainability for WECAN Each year, we somehow manage to balance our budget through membership contributions, book sales, conference proceeds, and through donations by individuals and foundations. Howver, WECAN has not yet been able to cover our basic operating expenses through our regular stream of income from dues, book sales and conference activity. We rely heavily on foundations and donors to support our work; most are more interested, however, in supporting special projects, rather than helping us to pay our rent and meet our payroll and maintain our membership services. Thus, we will be exploring this year how to create sustainability for our activities, and we are already involved in discussions about marketing our books, finding new sources of revenue, and possible increases in membership dues in the future. We hope that each of you, both as individuals and also together with your colleagues in our WECAN Member kindergartens, early childhood programs and schools, will feel called upon to join us in our activities – our collaborative research in areas such as teacher education, the six-year change, and birth to four, and in our work in deepening and strengthening our association, here in North America and worldwide. Please let us know your thoughts! with warm wishes, Susan Howard WECAN Coordinator RECENT EVENTS: NAEYC CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON, DC Once again, WECAN shared a booth with Steiner Books in the exhibit hall of the National Association for the Education of the Young Child conference - this year the NAEYC conference took place in Washington, DC in November. Many participants stopped by at the WECAN booth to learn about Waldorf early childhood education and have a respite from the over-stimulation of the conference by making sheep’s wool angels with Trisha Lambert, our WECAN board member from Davis, California. There is growing interest in what Waldorf early childhood education can offer at this time when pre-school education is once again receiving national attention. We encourage you to participate at the local and regional level in conferences where Waldorf early childhood education could reach out and make a difference. Please contact Trisha at trishalambert@att.net if you would like suggestions. SOUTHEAST ATLANTIC REGIONAL CONFERENCE on The Inner Work of the Teacher, with guest speaker, Ann Stahl, took place November 7 at the Richmond Waldorf School. The GREAT LAKES REGIONAL CONFERENCE in Viroqua, Wisconsin in October and the PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE in Seattle in November featured guest speaker Helle Heckmann on the Child in the Care of the Authentic Adult.
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