We’re sorry, but this course has been cancelled due to low enrollment. We hope you will consider instead EC Insights, our online workshop series for early childhood educators coming this fall.

An in-person, post-graduate deepening for trained, currently practicing Waldorf early childhood educators and grades 1 and 2 teachers.

Conversations on the value of play in early childhood education have recently resurfaced, along with growing concern over the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on all areas of child development. In this course, presented in-person at Sunbridge, we will be re-examining and recommitting to the essential role of play in early childhood education, helping to inspire you to create therapeutic environments that foster healthy play, while also:

• Expanding your capacity for facilitating self-directed exploration and risk assessment, 
• Deepening your awareness of cultural practices while developing respectful family partnerships,
• Connecting your observations to learning assessments, developmental milestones, and curriculum development, and
• Guiding you in recognizing the relationship between play, healthy brain development, and the sequential social and cognitive capabilities that form the foundation for higher cognitive functions.

Topics we will cover include:

• Exploring Myths about Play
• Connecting to Contemporary Research on Play
• Exploring the Continuum of Play-Based Learning from Adult-Child Collaborative Play to Self-Directed Free Play
• The Critical Role of Play in Children’s Learning & Development
• Exploring a Trauma-Informed Approach to Play-Based Learning
• Supporting Access, Equity and Inclusion Through Play
• Lessons from Nature-based Preschools and Kindergartens
• Exploring the Current State of Play & What the Pandemic Has Taught Us
       and much more!

Opportunities for community learning will include facilitator presentations, small group conversations, individual reflections, and artistic activities.

Facilitators

Lisa Miccio, lead, joined Acorn Waldorf School this past September as the Neighboring Tree Project (NTP) Specialist, overseeing a grant-funded AWS initiative that aims to create community partnerships with local early childhood educators, schools, and centers; at the School, she also provides professional development training and mentoring of teachers new to nature-based early childhood education. A Sunbridge Board trustee, Lisa taught kindergarten at The Waldorf School of Garden City from 2017-2022, where she chaired the DEIJ committee. Prior to joining the WSGC faculty, she was on the faculty of Green Meadow Waldorf School for a dozen years, where she taught kindergarten and parent and child classes, served as a co-chair of the early childhood section, director of early childhood admissions and family programs, and was a member of the Collegium, the Collegium Committee, and the Board of Trustees. Lisa’s teaching experience also includes working at Mountain Laurel Waldorf School, Dayspring Community School, and, during her 2016-17 sabbatical, teaching and mentoring in the Kathmandu (Nepal) Waldorf Kindergarten. She holds a BA in English from the College of Charleston, an MS in Elementary Education from CW Post, Long Island University, and an MS in Waldorf Education from Sunbridge College.