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Willi Aeppli offers an in-depth presentation of Rudolf Steiner's ideas on the nature of the twelve human senses as he saw them and their role in education. This book is written for anyone concerned with children's education and philosophies of teaching. It will be of special interest to Waldorf teachers and parents of students.
This is a much needed source of information for those wishing to extend and consolidate their understanding of the Steiner Waldorf high scope approach. It will enable the reader to analyse its essential elements to early childhood and its relationship to quality early years practice.
How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.
How does the built environment affect children - their health, their behaviour, education and development? To support them, what do we need to consider and what do we need to do? Can our surroundings foster environmental and social awareness and responsibility? Based on Christopher Day's experiences designing schools and early childhood centres in the United States and Britain, this groundbreaking book sets out to answer these questions and to offer solutions. Children all too often find themselves living in alien surroundings designed with the needs of adults in mind, cut off not just from the natural environment but also childhood itself. Society's reaction - to cocoon children from the outside world or to resort to drugs to control behaviour - fails to address the fundamental causes of problems which lie in the environment not the children themselves. One of the world's leading thinkers on the impact of buildings on people, Christopher Day's insights offer new light on one of the most important issues for today's society.
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.
Warmth is a hand-knitted woolly jumper and a crackling fire in the grate. Warmth is a smile when we need encouragement and a hug when things aren't going our way. This one word has so many powerful, positive associations. Warmth is one of the basic building blocks of existence; without it, there would be no life or growth. As parents we want our children to be warm - physically and emotionally. We raise them to be warm people full of compassion and hope. In the first book of its kind, anthroposophical therapist Edmond Schoorel explores the role of warmth across many aspects of child development, including: -- physical warmth and what children should wear; -- the role of warmth in bodily processes such as growth, energy and health -- the importance of emotional warmth; -- warmth of spirit, or enthusiasm. This fascinating and practical book gives parents and caregivers valuable insight into how to nurture different aspects warmth in everyday family life, and will also be useful for teachers and anyone who works with children.
This experienced Waldorf teacher allows us to enter his classroom and gain insights that serve as valuable guides for both parents and educators. Aeppli also presents a challenge to teachers: penetrate the subject, grasp its essence, transform it artistically, and present it to the children in a way that fits their evolving inner orientation. This fresh approach is not just another theory about good education. Aeppli writes out of practical experience with the intention of sending young adults into the world who can stand on their own two feet and accept responsibility for their own actions. Previously published as Rudolf Steiner Education and the Developing Child.
Consensus Design offers a practical step by step guide to co-design; an increasingly important consideration for architects as they compete for work. The text moves from identifying the methodology of the process to developing a series of principles and practical steps which illustrate how consensus design can be established. For easy reference, flow charts show the process of achieving consensus design and include variations for different types of project and different groups of people. It gives clear timings so that agreements can be reached within a specific time frame, and also features a number of case studies to illustrate consensus design principles in practice. Case studies include projects in the UK, US, and Sweden. Consensus design isn't just a utopian ideal. It's the only meaningful way in which people can be involved in shaping where they live and work. It can have an influence on social stability, crime-reduction, personal health and building longevity, all of which in turn have monetary and environmental cost implications. Its consideration can also greatly help architects win work and commissions. Day argues that when places are designed by professionals for people, many things obvious to the residents are overlooked. When they are designed by lay people, the design can suffer from the lowest common denominator factor. When places are designed by both it tends to end up in conflict. However, Consensus Design shows that co-design is not doomed to either conflict or banality if it is managed correctly.
We can decide what we teach but we cannot decide what children will learn. Only the children themselves will decide what to learn. These three manuscripts whilst each being an individual study, are linked in their endeavour to assist children with challenges and diverse learning styles. ‘Seeing what is’ examines three topics , looking through the lenses of Steiner pedagogy comparing findings with current research, historical knowledge, current practises, and close observation of today’s children . How do children learn? What influences their learning? How, can we assess children’s learning ? And how do we decide what is important for children to learn.
