Links on the web:
Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA)
www.whywaldorfworks.org
Waldorf schools offer a developmentally appropriate, balanced approach to education that
integrates the arts and academics for children from preschool through twelfth grade. It
encourages the development of each child’s sense of truth, beauty, and goodness, and
provides an antidote to violence, alienation, and cynicism. The aim of the education is to
inspire in each student a lifelong love of learning, and to enable them to fully develop their
unique capacities.
Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN)
www.waldorfearlychildhood.org
Alliance for Childhood http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/
Books On Waldorf Education and Parenting
Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing Our Children From Birth to Age 7 - Barbara J.
Patterson & Pamela Bradley
Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Children- Sharifa Oppenheimer
You Are Your Child’s First Teacher- Rahima Baldwin
Waldorf Education: A Family Guide - edited by Pamela Fenner
Renewal: A Journal for Waldorf Education - published twice yearly by the Association of
Waldorf Schools of North America
Article Featured In Natural Awakenings: Palm Beach, March 2008
Raising Healthy Children Requires a Healthy Education
by Rena Osmer, MA
In February 2007 the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre released its latest “report card”
on the well-being of children in 21 wealthy nations. (For the full report go to www.unicef.
icdc.org.) The findings were sobering and surprising: The United States and United
Kingdom were rated at the bottom of the list overall.
The Alliance for Childhood, a partnership organization of educators and health
professionals in the US and UK, formed in 1999 to address this serious decline in children’
s health and well-being which they noted exists across all socio-economic groups, with
steady increases seen in allergies and asthma, depressions and autism, learning
disabilities and hyperactivity disorders, obesity and type 2 diabetes. “Multiple factors
contribute to this predicament,” says Joan Almon, Alliance for Childhood U.S.
Coordinator: “the growing pressures of developmentally inappropriate education for
young children and high-stakes testing of children of all ages; far too much screen time
and far too little time for child-initiated play; too little time spent outdoors in nature and in
healthy physical activity; too few strong, consistent relationships with caring adults.”
Sea Star Initiative, a non-profit group in Boca Raton, is committed to bring Waldorf
Education to the area as a healthy alternative for young children and their families. It is
currently offering a morning arts enrichment program that aspires to allow children to
blossom and grow without sacrificing the spirit of the child. The children are engaged
through creative play indoors and outdoors, with artistic experiences including singing,
storytelling, dramatizations, watercolor painting, beeswax modeling, crayoning, and
crafting. Domestic arts such as gardening, simple woodworking, and cooking and baking
with wholesome foods are also an essential element of the daily curriculum. In a truly
natural, loving, and creative environment, children 3 ½ – 7 years participate in a range of
activities within a rhythmic structure that supports the best possible healthy development at
this early stage in life.
Rena Osmer has been a Waldorf educator since 1985 and has been a trainer of
Waldorf teachers for 17 years. She is the former director of the Early Childhood
Department at Rudolf Steiner College and is one of the pioneers of the LifeWays
program. Rena currently works with the children and families of Sea Star Initiative, a
nonprofit organization committed to creating a Waldorf school in southern Palm Beach
County. In addition to their Arts Enrichment program for 3 ½ to 6 year olds, Sea Star
offers weekly Parent/Child classes for younger children. Intentions for the fall include a
program for children of first grade age.
Parent Testimonial
Waldorf came to us at the perfect time, I had been home schooling my daughter for about
a year. Olivia was no longer having a good time schooling, and seemed rather
melancholy about the whole thing. She seemed to be losing her sparkle and zest for
things.
Waldorf allowed her to develop more naturally, and creatively, to regain her sparkle. I now
see why this is a more important foundation than strict curriculum. I now see nurturing a
child’s spirit, being and creativity as a natural path to a happy, healthy, well developed
child.
Sea Star has been a wonderfully nurturing community not only for Olivia, but also for our
whole family. The loving energy that comes from both the teachers and the families of Sea
Star has truly been a gift in our lives. We hope others can come and be a part of the truly
wonderful spirit that lives in Sea Star.--Maria Reposa
Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA)
www.whywaldorfworks.org
Waldorf schools offer a developmentally appropriate, balanced approach to education that
integrates the arts and academics for children from preschool through twelfth grade. It
encourages the development of each child’s sense of truth, beauty, and goodness, and
provides an antidote to violence, alienation, and cynicism. The aim of the education is to
inspire in each student a lifelong love of learning, and to enable them to fully develop their
unique capacities.
Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN)
www.waldorfearlychildhood.org
Alliance for Childhood http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/
Books On Waldorf Education and Parenting
Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing Our Children From Birth to Age 7 - Barbara J.
Patterson & Pamela Bradley
Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Children- Sharifa Oppenheimer
You Are Your Child’s First Teacher- Rahima Baldwin
Waldorf Education: A Family Guide - edited by Pamela Fenner
Renewal: A Journal for Waldorf Education - published twice yearly by the Association of
Waldorf Schools of North America
Article Featured In Natural Awakenings: Palm Beach, March 2008
Raising Healthy Children Requires a Healthy Education
by Rena Osmer, MA
In February 2007 the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre released its latest “report card”
on the well-being of children in 21 wealthy nations. (For the full report go to www.unicef.
icdc.org.) The findings were sobering and surprising: The United States and United
Kingdom were rated at the bottom of the list overall.
The Alliance for Childhood, a partnership organization of educators and health
professionals in the US and UK, formed in 1999 to address this serious decline in children’
s health and well-being which they noted exists across all socio-economic groups, with
steady increases seen in allergies and asthma, depressions and autism, learning
disabilities and hyperactivity disorders, obesity and type 2 diabetes. “Multiple factors
contribute to this predicament,” says Joan Almon, Alliance for Childhood U.S.
Coordinator: “the growing pressures of developmentally inappropriate education for
young children and high-stakes testing of children of all ages; far too much screen time
and far too little time for child-initiated play; too little time spent outdoors in nature and in
healthy physical activity; too few strong, consistent relationships with caring adults.”
Sea Star Initiative, a non-profit group in Boca Raton, is committed to bring Waldorf
Education to the area as a healthy alternative for young children and their families. It is
currently offering a morning arts enrichment program that aspires to allow children to
blossom and grow without sacrificing the spirit of the child. The children are engaged
through creative play indoors and outdoors, with artistic experiences including singing,
storytelling, dramatizations, watercolor painting, beeswax modeling, crayoning, and
crafting. Domestic arts such as gardening, simple woodworking, and cooking and baking
with wholesome foods are also an essential element of the daily curriculum. In a truly
natural, loving, and creative environment, children 3 ½ – 7 years participate in a range of
activities within a rhythmic structure that supports the best possible healthy development at
this early stage in life.
Rena Osmer has been a Waldorf educator since 1985 and has been a trainer of
Waldorf teachers for 17 years. She is the former director of the Early Childhood
Department at Rudolf Steiner College and is one of the pioneers of the LifeWays
program. Rena currently works with the children and families of Sea Star Initiative, a
nonprofit organization committed to creating a Waldorf school in southern Palm Beach
County. In addition to their Arts Enrichment program for 3 ½ to 6 year olds, Sea Star
offers weekly Parent/Child classes for younger children. Intentions for the fall include a
program for children of first grade age.
Parent Testimonial
Waldorf came to us at the perfect time, I had been home schooling my daughter for about
a year. Olivia was no longer having a good time schooling, and seemed rather
melancholy about the whole thing. She seemed to be losing her sparkle and zest for
things.
Waldorf allowed her to develop more naturally, and creatively, to regain her sparkle. I now
see why this is a more important foundation than strict curriculum. I now see nurturing a
child’s spirit, being and creativity as a natural path to a happy, healthy, well developed
child.
Sea Star has been a wonderfully nurturing community not only for Olivia, but also for our
whole family. The loving energy that comes from both the teachers and the families of Sea
Star has truly been a gift in our lives. We hope others can come and be a part of the truly
wonderful spirit that lives in Sea Star.--Maria Reposa
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Contact Us:
561-452-3618
information@seastarinitiative.com
561-452-3618
information@seastarinitiative.com
Resources
