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Dear colleagues,
We are writing to you from snowy New York and Ontario. Although we live far apart from one another, and from many of you, we carry you and the work you do close to our hearts. We are working diligently to listen to your experiences: your work, your shining moments, and your challenges.
The past few months have been a flurry of activity, from surveys and online events to conference planning and the celebration of 100 years of Waldorf early childhood education. Now, we share the fruits of our labors.
Ruth Ker and Laura Mason, who supported the creation and distributed the survey, have sent a short synopsis of what we heard from you to those who participated. When the WECAN Board meets in February, we will plan next steps for sharing a more fulsome picture of the findings and consider how this work will continue.
The February Conference in Spring Valley will not only celebrate 100 years but also focus on spiritual research and on how each of us can support the transformation, growth, and development of Waldorf early childhood education in North America. The Pacific Northwest Conference will focus on Work and Play in Early Childhood. We greatly hope the workshops at both conferences will serve and support your work in classrooms, programs, and schools, and we look forward to the warmth and joy that comes from gathering together.
Below, you will also find several new publications, along with reports from our committees and working groups. We hope you will take time to read through them and gain a sense of the work we are taking up in support of those of you in classrooms across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Warmly,
Meggan Gill and Heather Church
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In this deep winter darkness,
A mighty urge impels the soul
To manifest her inner strength,
To guide it into darknesses
And feel as dawning vision
Through warmth of heart
the senses’ revelation.
Calendar of the Soul week 42
Translation by Brigitte Knaack
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JOIN US IN CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF WALDORF EARLY CHILDHOOD WORLDWIDE
Heather Church, WECAN Co-Director on behalf of the WECAN Board
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Attached is the celebratory 100-year packet featuring our butterfly theme, which we hope you find enlivening and meaningful in your classrooms, schools, and communities. This packet and the butterfly represent our deepest wish that you will help embrace our movement through study, circles, and stories in the classroom, and be inspired to visit with one another, pollinating or spreading small acts of connection, sharing the fruits of our love and labour, and uplifting us all. As the leadership of WECAN, we are asking: What do we need to learn to enable Waldorf Education to grow beyond 100 years?
Below you will find the link to the Celebration Packet and a warm invitation from two of our Board Members, Keelah Helwig (English) and Gabriella Nũnez (Spanish), or you can read the full article by clicking here.
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BOARD REPORT
Anjum Mir, WECAN Board
In an echo of nature, the autumn for WECAN has been a busy time of work and preparation for the rich reflection and activity that comes with winter and the time following it. Our new leadership team has been finding a rhythm, enriching the work that has been ongoing, and evaluating new directions for our work in the service of childhood.
To conserve our budget for the activity ahead, this fall, the board met virtually with an eye on our collaborative work with IASWECE, continued reflection on our work with inclusion, expansion of our membership services, and centennial planning.
As we mark the 100-year celebration of Waldorf Early Childhood education, our committee has been planning the activities and festivities that we hope will inspire an enriched celebration that will express the diverse beauty of our movement and our ongoing commitment to healthy childhood. Our next board meeting will be in the days leading up to the February conference in Spring Valley, with the hope of setting a beautiful tone for the gathering to come. This year's conference will be the third and final reflection on New Adult Learning through the lens of our colleagues from the Everlasting Tree School.
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PUBLICATIONS
Meggan Gill, WECAN Co-Director
We are very excited to be releasing two new titles, which will be available at the WECAN conference and in the online bookstore:
- Parenting through the Seasons by Sherry Jennings
- Giving Children Strength for Life by Phillip Gelitiz
Stay tuned:
In honor of the Centennial Celebration, Nana Goebel, author of the History of Waldorf Education Worldwide (Waldorf Publications), has turned her attentions to creating an anthology of The Founders of Waldorf Early Childhood Education.
Pre-order sign-up will be available at the WECAN Spring Valley Conference Bookstore table, for sale SOON on our online bookstore and at the International Conference in Dornach.
We are diversifying our offerings by adding conference recordings for purchase on the bookstore website (under the "additional resources tab).
We hope you check out this groundbreaking event available only until April 15th!
Stay tuned for additional conference and recorded offerings.
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Excellent Books for Mid- year support:
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GATEWAYS
Nancy Blanning and Anjum Mir, Gateways Co-Editors
Gateways is flourishing with many colleagues responding to the journal's "Call for Submissions." The topic for the next issue is announced in each issue now. We are hearing from many new voices and programs, offering diverse perspectives and describing the diversity of burgeoning and sustaining work in North America.
With the anniversary of the "official" founding of Waldorf early childhood classrooms in 1926 upon us, Gateways has brought forward questions about our practices and picturing of child development. Are our foundational practices and understanding of the growing child still relevant and accurate? The Fall 2025 issue and the upcoming Spring 2026 edition focus on literacy. As mainstream attitudes push to begin academic instruction earlier and earlier, are our Waldorf programs still acting in children's best interests as we focus on oral experience and enrichment through stories, rhymes, rhythmic and pictorial speech, singing, and circle times? Gateways offers information and resources to affirm that an oral invitation to literacy is essential and confirmed by mainstream research as well as professional experience.
Click here for the full article.
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FROM THE MEMBERSHIP OFFICE
Laura Mason, Membership Coordinator
WECAN currently has 194 active member and affiliate schools, early childhood centers, and home programs! 130 Full Members, 40 Associate Members, and 24 Registered Initiative Affiliates.
Congratulations to our newest Associate Member program, The Siskiyou School in Ashland, OR, for completing a membership application process this fall. The school was established in 2006 as a grade school program. They added a kindergarten class of 18 children, ages 4 to 6, in 2023.
New Registered Initiative Affiliates
In the interest of widening our circle of colleagues, we expanded affiliation this fall to include newly established EC initiatives and schools, as well as small early childhood-only programs. Five programs have recently joined us! Please help us welcome them!
Click here to read full article
| | The Siskiyou School, Ashland, Oregon | | |
INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND ACCESS UPDATE
Meggan Gill, WECAN Co-Director on behalf of the DEIJ committee
Our board DEIJ committee has been active and has prioritized a review of our Alma Partners Audit (2022) to continue our ongoing assessments of what has been accomplished (for now) and which areas need continual or renewed attention. We are committed to integrating this foundational lens into all our work and time together as an organization. In addition to our committee work, some areas of focus have been:
Board Meetings: Studying the book, The Identity Conscious Educator, and continuing to develop our shared aspirations within our meeting life. We believe this work is core to how we move together as a group and in our individual roles as WECAN leadership.
Click here for the full article.
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BIRTH TO THREE
Heather Church and Anjum Mir, on behalf of the Birth to Three Working Group
Our new team is just finding its rhythm after Magdalena Toran stepped down and Debbie Laurin and Katherine Scharff joined us in the fall. Anjum and I are deeply grateful for the new energy and collegiality they bring to this important work.
We had a wonderful Birth-to-Three Conference at Sophia’s Hearth in November, where we explored the sense of life, or well-being, together. We look forward to deepening this work next year.
We continue to glean important information from the Family/Caregiver and Child Survey (2024) as we explore the resources we might create to support you in this work. Additionally, we are revisiting our publication A Warm and Gentle Welcome to see what can be renewed or expanded to support work with young children today. It has become clear that much has changed since the book was first written—so stay tuned for our next steps in this project.
We are pleased that our Family and Caregiver and Professional Development events have been well attended, and we appreciate all who have participated. It is already time to consider topics for next year’s offerings! If you have any thoughts or suggestions, we would love to hear from you.
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TEACHER EDUCATION
Ruth Ker, Teacher Education Coordinator
Five of our WECAN member teacher training institutes and two new applicants will be experiencing a WECAN site visit in the next year. This means they are in the process of deepening together with their colleagues as they review their practices while they prepare their Self-Study. The general feedback WECAN receives about this is gratitude for a supportive process that helps institutes raise consciousness and improve the quality of their offerings. For your interest, here are the guidelines for Waldorf early childhood trainings in the WECAN Shared Principles for Early Childhood Teacher Education 2023. Also, to improve clarity, a more succinct version of the WECAN Teacher Education Expectations is currently in development.
The institutes continue to meet monthly to share knowledge and conversation, and the Teacher Education Committee meets regularly in support of our institute membership. These are rhythmical, dedicated moments that keep us all awake to the changing face of teacher education in our times.
Click here to read the full report.
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WECAN CONFERENCES
Heather Church, WECAN Co-Director
This year has been, and continues to be, an exciting one for gatherings and shared learning. Last summer in Spring Valley, the very first CARE 1 conference in North America took place. This meaningful and inspiring event brought WECAN together with members of the Medical and Pedagogical Sections of the Goetheanum, alongside several representatives from IASWECE. Midwives, therapists, doctors, caregivers, and teacher educators came together in a spirit of collaboration to explore the child’s journey from conception through the first three years of life. If you weren’t able to join us, there’s good news, the conference was recorded and is now available to watch.
Click here to read the full report.
| | WECAN 2026 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS CONFERENCE | | |
Remember, Observe: Shape the Future
February 6-8, 2026
Click here for details about the keynotes, workshops, and live online sessions.
We would like to offer special thanks to our VIP Sponsors: Alma Partners, Gradalia, Great Lakes Waldorf Institute, LifeWays, Mercurius, Rudolf Steiner College Canada, Sophia's Hearth and Sunbridge Institute, for their generous support of the conference!
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Work and Play in Childhood: Building Foundations for the Whole of Life
February 14 & 15, 2026
Click here for details about the keynotes, workshops, and live online sessions.
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WECAN Zoom Family and Caretaker Event
AN UNFOLDING FLOWER: SPIRITUAL GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND BIOGRAPHICAL JOURNIES OF FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS
with Adam Blanning, M.D.
February 25, 2026 at 3:30 pm HT, 5:30 pm PT, 6:30 pm MT, 7:30 pm CT, 8:30 pm ET Online
Click here for more information.
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WECAN Professional Development Event
"TELL ME A STORY FROM YOUR MOUTH" -The Journey from Orality to Literacy
with Holly Koteen Soule
March 16 & 17, 2026 at 2:30 pm HT, 5:30 pm PT, 6:30 pm MT, 7:30 pm CT, 8:30 pm ET Online
Click here for more information.
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COMING SOON!
Giving Children Strength for Life
Waldorf Early Childhood Education in the Contemporary World
By Philipp Gelitz
Third in the Right to Childhood series, Giving Children Strength for Life offers a brief but powerful consideration of how Waldorf early childhood education can meet the needs of children today. Author Philipp Gelitz describes the basic “pillars” of this form of education, which aim not at particular achievements that will soon go out of date, but at strengthening the individuality of the child, and so preparing the child to meet an unknown future. Recent discoveries in scientific research and current trends in society can thus be taken into account and integrated into a pedagogy that is never static or backward-looking, but ready to move with the times, while still preserving its fundamental principles.
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COMING SOON!
Parenting Through the Seasons
A Companion for Self-Discovery and Daily Life with Children
By Sherry Jennings
Painting vivid pictures of the changing face of nature, Sherry Jennings offers suggestions for keeping children active and engaged with the wonderful world around them, while allowing their parents and caregivers to find moments of much-needed peace. Through her warm, compassionate guidance, harried adults are encouraged to slow down, breathe with the seasons, and find the time that is needed to be truly present for the children in their care.
Packed with practical activities and thoroughly grounded in the essential principles of Waldorf early childhood education, this book can be a true “companion for self- discovery and daily life with children” along all stages of the journey.
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The Little Book of Parenting
By Chinyelu Kunz
Chinyelu Kunz is a Waldorf early childhood educator who recognized the need for Waldorf-inspired parenting advice and created a mentorship program, the We Nurture Collective. Out of her series of podcasts, her mentorship materials, and countless hours guiding parents and caregivers in the art of childcare, she has published this uniquely wise and reassuring resource. The book includes simple, clear lists to guide busy parents in the practice of unconditional love, building a healthy foundation for the family culture, and more.
$18. Order Now
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DONATE TO SUPPORT WECAN'S ACTIVITIES
Your contribution will help us support our members with additional resources, more ways to connect with colleagues, and inspiration for their ongoing professional development. Your support will also help us collaborate with other organizations to keep a light shining on the ever more critical and precious treasure of the first seven years and protect the young child’s joyful devotion to everyday life and unmitigated hope for the future.
We are grateful for any contribution you are able to make!
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JOIN WECAN BY BECOMING AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBER!
Membership benefits include:
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A subscription to the Gateways Journal (includes the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 issues)
- WECAN News Updates
- A 10% discount on WECAN book sales
- Discounts on registration fees at WECAN conferences
- Regular email messages that include reports on activities, conferences, and events of both WECAN and IASWECE (the International Association of Waldorf/Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education).
Click here for more information.
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