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Dear Friend,
This morning we welcomed our grades 1-8 students back to school with our opening assembly featuring our rising first and eighth graders and the rose ceremony. The eighth graders presented each first grader with a rose, welcoming them and walked with them back to their class.
Tomorrow, September 8th our Lily and Rose Kindergartens begin, and Monday, August 12th our Morning Glory class begins.
It has been an amazing summer here at CSWS. Our Early Childhood playgrounds have been transformed into magical wonderlands. If you haven't had a chance to visit, please do. You will be amazed at the final result. As you walk through the grounds you can feel the emotion in your heart. The love and care that went into this project has left it's mark and will continue to bless our campus.
Plans are underway for part two of our campus playground improvements; a par course for the upper grades movement classes. Keep your eyes and ears open for more information to come.
Enrollment has begun for our very popular Parent-Child Program. This year, we welcome
Ms. Alyssa Hellesvig as our Parent-Child teacher.
Another change this year is our Parent-Child classes will be held on Saturday mornings.
Space is limited and pre-registration is required. See below for more information.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Bumgarner
Director of Community Development
Inspiring our students to reach their highest potential as free-thinking, creative human beings who have a life-long love of learning, Cedar Springs offers a Waldorf Education to families and their children, infants through Eighth grade.
- CSWS Mission Statement
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Early Childhood Playground Renovation Thank You!
On Saturday, August 27th we welcomed our First Kindergarten Teacher and Founder Nancy Jewel Poer to open the iron gold heart lock to our newly renovated Early Childhood playgrounds. Friends and the family came and walked through the new playgrounds seeing all the new additions and beautiful touches.
The playgrounds have
been blessed with gifts of love poured out in many ways. The passion that was put into this project has left its mark on our campus and will continue to grow and bless our community. We are so grateful and blessed.
Thank you to our community for this great gift to our children.
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Parent-Child Classes Now Enrolling
Five Sessions Available September 2016 to June 2017
Enrollment has begun for our very popular Parent-Child Program. This year, our Parent-Child classes will be held on Saturday mornings.
The Parent-Child Program is a wonderful way to introduce your child to a classroom experience, and for parents to learn more about the rich, developmental approach of Waldorf Education. The home-like atmosphere of the program is calming and enriching for both the young child and the attending parent or caregiver. Classes include parent-child interactive games, child observation, craft activities, creative & dramatic play and a wholesome snack. The focus of the program is to enhance the parent's understanding of child development and to offer ideas for activities that can be done at home.
All snacks and supplies are included. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. We regret that due to demand for classes, we are unable to offer refunds or make-up classes.
This program is for parents (grandparents or caregivers are welcome) and their children, toddlers to 3 years old. (Children who turn three prior to September are not eligible for this program.)
Introducing Ms. Alyssa Hellesvig
We are pleased to welcome Ms. Alyssa Hellesvig as our Parent-Child teacher. Alyssa first found her way to Cedar Springs nearly 20 years ago as nanny to Michaela and Carly Roach, CSWS alumnus. Her love of children, the CSWS community and Waldorf Education, led her to complete the Waldorf teacher training in 2005. She is mother to six children; Marley (fourth grade) and Eliana (Lily Kindergarten) attend CSWS, and her youngest, Lilah is not far behind.
Alyssa has assisted in the Lily Kindergarten and is entering her third year teaching upper grades handwork. Her ready sense of humor and eagerness to build community sustain her stamina for volunteerism and service in many realms at our school.
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From The New York Post
August 27, 2016
By Dr. Nicholas Kardaras
Susan* bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. "I thought, 'Why not let him get a jump on things?' " she told me during a therapy session. John's school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades - and his technology teacher had raved about their educational benefits - so Susan wanted to do what was best for her sandy-haired boy who loved reading and playing baseball.
She started letting John play different educational games on his iPad. Eventually, he discovered Minecraft, which the technology teacher assured her was "just like electronic Lego." Remembering how much fun she had as a child building and playing with the interlocking plastic blocks, Susan let her son Minecraft his afternoons away.
Read full article here.
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 Happiness in the Classroom
Published by AWSNA Essentials in Education Blog
By Beverly Amico
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Photo Credit: Detroit Waldorf School |
We all want our children to be happy, and while this is traditionally thought of as an at-home concern, we send our kids to school hoping that they will have an emotionally enriching and balanced day.
Carol Gerber Allred, President/Founder of the
Positive Action Program, geared toward fostering more positive classrooms, believes that families and students both expect and desire well-being at school, but unfortunately, testing culture has shifted the expectations of educators.
Here in her
Educational Leadership article
at
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
website, she says: "Unfortunately, the accountability requirements of No Child Left Behind have created a different definition of positive classrooms for many educators. For them, positive classrooms have come to mean places where students arrive at school ready to learn; work diligently to master academic standards (particularly math and reading); go home and accurately complete homework; and return to school the next day eager to learn more. Often, teachers are so focused on ensuring that students pass achievement tests that they have little or no time to address students' social and emotional needs." Read the full article here.
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Could Steiner schools have a point on children, tablets and tech?
Published by The Guardian
Studies have yet to show much benefit from technology in schools, leading some to wonder whether the offline life is better for children
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Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian |
It's late morning and the children in Maria Woolley's class at the Iona school in Nottingham are busy kneading dough. The dough is made from flour they saw ground at the local windmill using grains harvested from a nearby farm they had visited. During the morning lesson the children have sung songs, recited poetry and done rhythmic clapping and stomping.
There is no uniform here, and no headteacher - the school is run by staff and friends - and, unlike the
vast majority of primary schools these days, here the students don't work on tablets or computers. At the front of the class is an old-fashioned blackboard.
Read the full article here.
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Cedar Springs Waldorf School |
(530)642-9903 |
w
ww.cedarspringswaldorf.org
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