Weekly News from WECAN - May 8, 2020
Dear WECAN Members and Friends,

Greetings! This is our first issue of the new Weekly News from WECAN that we will be sending you each Friday. The Weekly News will include a variety of resources and listings of opportunities for collaboration during this challenging time of the Covid-19 crisis.

We have established a new WECAN Community Hub for engaging in conversation and sharing resources, with subgroups for Parent Child, Birth to Three, Home Programs, Early Childhood Teacher Educators, and WECAN Organizational Members. We now have 600 members and would like to invite you to join as well.
To subscribe, please go to  WECANCommunity+subscribe@wecan.groups.io

We are also offering and participating in a variety of Zoom calls for early childhood educators. Some calls take place on a weekly basis and others are scheduled as needed. We are grateful to our AWSNA colleagues for also opening some of their Zoom calls to WECAN colleagues who are not members of AWSNA. We will also list other webinars and events that might be of special interest to you. Please see the listings below for the coming week.

Each Weekly News from WECAN will include highlights from the week's activities, links to resources, and thoughts to ponder. This week we share some questions from Holly Koteen-Soule and Laurie Clark about what we are learning in the midst of this crisis.

With warm wishes,
Susan Howard
WECAN Coordinator

What are we learning?

What can we early childhood educators learn from the unusual circumstances that we find ourselves in at the present time that can help us better understand the nature of our work with the young child? What is it that we can offer that would give the kind of experiences that can best support children and families, both now and into the future?

One of our WECAN Regional Reps characterized the situation succinctly as primarily a question of connection. We are trying to maintain and nourish our connection with the children, even when we cannot be physically present in their lives. Early childhood teachers have chosen a variety of ways to try to keep a living relationship with their children and families.

The various means have ranged from the relatively “low tech” provision of weekly craft bags to technology-rich videos of stories and puppet plays, and everything in between. Early childhood teachers are also staying connected with parents by phone, email, audio and zoom. What are the effects of each of these choices on the children, the parents and the teachers themselves?
 
Etheric or life forces, the same forces that build up the child’s physical body, live in nature, are active in healing, and comprise the essence of our imagination and thinking. They are also the substance out of which relationships are built up. Another way of asking the same question might be: Which activities promote life, nourish relationship, heal and generate health, and which ones tend to deplete the upbuilding forces? How can we find a healthy balance for ourselves and the children?
 
While we may have ideas about both of these questions, this situation is an opportunity to gather some concrete experiences. A WECAN Research Group has formed with the intention of  gleaning from your experiences, findings that can be shared and can bring us all a deepened sense of the essence of our work, our core values, new inspirations for how to meet the challenges of our times, and inner strength - as individuals and as a movement. We will be in touch again soon!

Holly Koteen-Soule, Sound Circle Center, WA, and WECAN Board Member
Laurie Clark, Denver Waldorf School, CO, and WECAN Regional Representative

Looking Ahead - Reopening our Programs

As we begin to plan for an unknown future when our programs reopen, we need to stay flexible and creative and not assume that things will be normal or even a “new normal”. How do we move from emergency mode into a place where we are thinking through and developing strategies and plans? How will we work if social distancing is required, or if some children are on campus and some off-campus to reduce density, or if we have some children come in the morning and others in the afternoon? What is distance learning in early childhood?

You can listen to an audio recording of the WECAN Zoom Call that took place on this topic on May 6 here .

And click here for a Summary Report of the call with notes from breakout groups.This report offers a rich resource for looking ahead!

This topic will also be the subject of upcoming zoom calls in the coming week, which are listed below. We hope you will join the conversation!

Susan Howard

Resources from WECAN and the Community Hub

Database of Covid-19 Regulations and Guidance
We are pleased to share this database from the Hunt Institute, where you can find updated information for your specific location in the United States: http://www.hunt-institute.org/covid-19-resources/state-child-care-actions-covid-19/ . It is an excellent, comprehensive resource. We hope to be able to offer similar information for Canada in our next Weekly News.

CDC Interim Guidance for Child Care Programs That Remain Open

Online Waldorf Library
If you are looking for free resources for families or colleagues on storytelling, songs, crafts and other activities for children at home, as well as many other topics, please visit the Online Waldorf Library, which includes free access to electronic versions of many WECAN publications and back issues of our Gateways Newsletter. You can visit the OWL site here: https://www.waldorflibrary.org/journals/15-gateways for Gateways articles. The site also has many free e-books from WECAN and Waldorf Publications.
Upcoming Zoom Calls and Events

LAST MINUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR TODAY, FRIDAY, MAY 8

Parent Child - Thinking about Next Year –  with Magdalena Toran from the Hartsbrook School
Hosted by WECAN Birth to Three Task Force
1 pm ET, 12 pm CT, 11 am MT, 10 am PT
Meeting ID: 775 0068 056z
Password: 3Ve8uR
 
Don't Look Away, Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms  -  a conversation with authors Dr. Stephanie Curenton, Dr. Tonia Durden and Dr. Iheoma Iruka
Hosted by the Trust for Learning
12:15pm ET, 11:15 CT, 10:15 MT, 9:15 PT
An interactive meeting highlighting practical ways for early childhood educators to identify and mitigate their own biases, support children of color equitably, and use anti-bias practices to create ideal learning environments for all children. 
 
California Early Childhood Educators – Looking to the Future   - with Steve Spitalny from the Santa Cruz Waldorf School
Hosted by WECAN Northern and Southern California regional representatives
4:00 PM PT
Meeting ID: 871 1514 1558
Password: 04600

CALLS FOR NEXT WEEK:
 
MONDAY, MAY 11

Returning to School: Scenario Planning Seri es, Part I:  
The Big Picture - Assumptions, Initial steps ,  an Interview with Siân Owen Cruise from the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor
Hosted by AWSNA for AWSNA Administrative and Pedagogical Leaders including EC Department Chairs,  w/Beverly Amico, AWSNA
9 am HI, 12 pm PT, 2 pm MT, 3 pm CT, 4pm ET 

TUESDAY, MAY 12

Early Childhood Teacher Educators,  with WECAN Teacher Education Coordinator, Ruth Ker  
Hosted by WECAN for faculty members in WECAN Member Institutes.
3:30 PM ET, 2:30 PM CT, 1:30 PM MT, 12:30 PM PT
Contact  teachered@waldorfearlychildhood.org  if you would like to participate.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13

Programs for Children Age 3 and Under  w/Katherine Scharff and Heather Church
Hosted by WECAN .
2:00 PM ET, 1 PM CT, 12 PM MT, 11 AM PT
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 811 9684 6830
Password: Birth-3
 
Early Childhood Programs in AWSNA Member Schools,  Planning for Next Year ,  w/Beverly Amico
10am HI, 1pm PT, 2pm MT, 3pm CT, 4pm ET

THURSDAY, MAY 14

Faculty Members in AWSNA Member Teacher Education Institutes , w/Melanie Reiser
Hosted by AWSNA
7am HI, 10am PT, 11am MT, 12pm CT, 1pm ET

Other WECAN Resources

Click Here to view some titles included in our current Special Spring Book Sale!