IASWECE Newsletter
February 2022
Dear Colleagues and Friends around the World!

To be born is an act full of courage. To start walking the way towards our future needs long, careful preparation. What does a child need to prepare for her life journey? How do we welcome a newborn baby? How do we come to know her? What are her needs? What does she bring? And most importantly, what does she need from us? How can we accompany her on her path into life? The baby is a powerful source of love. Before birth, she has been living surrounded by love, and love will be her way to encounter us and for us to encounter her. And our life will never be the same as before!

You may find inspiration in this newsletter for how to encounter the very young child and experience her gifts and needs. Time, care, movement, sleep, and parenting: these form the ground for a warm welcome and a healthy development of the child.

Also in this newsletter:
Colleagues from India and New Zealand introduce us to the special flavours and moods of their cultures. And don’t miss the new publications: Eurythmy in Kindergarten, by Sabine Deimann, and Sleep, based on quotations from Rudolf Steiner.

We are deeply grateful to the authors and artists for their contributions to this newsletter. We hope you will enjoy it, and please, share it with all your colleagues and parents!

Very warm greetings,

The IASWECE Birth to Three Working Group
Lourdes Tormes, SIlvia Jensen, Heather Van Zyl, Michal Reshef, Aurelia Udo de Haes and Joli Kiss

The Child from Birth to Three
Moving with Soul: Supporting movement development in the early years 
By Renate Long-Breipohl

Rudolf Steiner describes incarnation as the process
of finding one’s place in the world, of becoming
conscious of and at home within three-dimensional space.

Francisco de Goya
Good Sleep and How Children Can Learn to Find It: Care and promotion of sleep regulation in children
By Christoph and Cristina Meinecke

The more that children become aware of their self-efficacy and the more they can help shape their own living conditions, the stronger a further power of trust can grow in them.
Wally Moes
The Misbelief That We Are Never Enough: The challenge for parents and caregivers to reconnect with themselves
By Pia Dögl

How can I be present and deeply connected with each child in my care, especially when I am a parent myself? And how do I stay connected with myself?

Vincent Van Gogh
Grandparents and Grandchildren: What are the secrets of this unique relationship?
By Stefanie Allon

The terms grandchild and grandparent express the potential of a grand and great relationship between someone who may look back on a long and rich life-experience and a young child who has a whole life in front of him or her.
Paula Modersohn-B.
Arriving Safely: What the baby needs
Video clips by Gesundheit Aktiv

What is needed in the first months of a baby's life for her to grow up healthy and secure?

Shibata Suika
Waldorf Worldwide
The Māori and Pakeha and Their Different World Views
By Kathy McFarlane

Aspects of the differences between Māori and Pakeha (European) world views in New Zealand and how they affect education.


Butterflies
By Patricia Grace

Laura Junger
Understanding Indian Culture through Anthroposophy 
By Sucheta Garud

The story of the Parijat tree comes from ancient Indian mythology. It is a story of pure love, utter devotion, and sacrifice toward transformation, where change brings something new.


The Story of the Parijat Princess

Silvia Jensen
Waldorf Pedagogy in Colombia
By María Rita Aristizábal, Marcela Ossorio and Yaneth Beltrán

The development of Waldorf education in Colombia and its challenges, needs and values

#KidsOnTech
By Paul Zehrer, Henning Kullak-Ublick and others

What happens to the child when he sits in front of a digital screen on a regular basis, instead of being active in the world?
A Michaelic Fighter for the Little Child:
On the 100th birthday of Wilma Ellersiek
By Ingrid Weidenfeld

Conferences
WECAN Online Early Childhood Educators Conference
"Toward A Kinder, More Compassionate Society -
Working Together Toward Change"
11 - 13 February 2022
Continuing our work on diversity and inclusion, our colleagues will share their research through lectures and workshops.
Lectures workshops and conference events will be recorded and made available afterwards to those who register. This might be helpful for those in time zones where direct participation is difficult.  
Care1
International Early Childhood Conference
"I feel good in your eyes"
15 - 18 June 2022

It is becoming increasingly clear how strongly maternal experience and professional support during pregnancy and birth affect the child. In the upcoming conference we will share our experiences, strengthen our relationships, and work together on central questions about the healthy development of the young child.
Publications from IASWECE
Eurythmy in Kindergarten
by Sabine Deimann

Eurythmy in Kindergarten is a beautifully illustrated answer to the question, “Why eurythmy in kindergarten?” This unique, artistic form of movement with its deep connection to the formative power of speech is especially important for the development of young children’s speech, which is increasingly under threat in our times.

The following publications and resources have been created through the collaboration of IASECE Council members and colleagues from IASWECE Member countries.

Books with prices in $ can be ordered through the WECAN Bookshop in the USA (just click on the links below).

Books with prices in € can be ordered by sending an email to [email protected]. We will take your order, calculate the shipping fees, and send the books to you after receiving your payment through wire transfer.
How You Can Help

IASWECE provides financial and pedagogical support to projects working to develop and foster the quality of Waldorf early childhood education all over the world.  

How you can make a donation:

Job Offers
Sponsors
The IASWECE Newsletter is published on behalf of the IASWECE Council by Lourdes Tormes, with support from Clara Aerts, Susan Howard, and Lara Radysh. 

Country Projects, Outreach and Collaboration, and Support
Clara Aerts, Belgium
Tel 0032 498 223 281

Membership, Training, Recognition and World List
Susan Howard, USA
Tel 001 413 549 5930

Newsletter, Website, Publications, Birth to Three and Projects
Lourdes Tormes, Spain
Tel +34 653 91 31 99