THE NEXT STEP IN TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
The current (twelfth) cycle of AHE's three-year Educational Support Program started in October 2018 and will conclude in July 2021. The course is offered in a series of sessions (modules) that take place during extended weekends in fall and winter, with longer sessions in the summer. All in-person sessions are held at the Rudolf Steiner House, which is the headquarters for the Anthroposophical Society in America, 1923 Geddes Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. We began offering the modules online when we were unable to meet in person.
The table below lists the details for each of the modules. Modules 11 and 12 will (mostly) be in Ann Arbor.
If you have any questions about the above, or want to discuss your particular situation, contact Connie Helms at registrar@healingeducation.org.
Testimonials from current students:
“Jumping into the AHE training course at the last minute has been one of the best decisions I have made in furthering my understanding of child development, educational pedagogy, and in practical skills to enhance the educational experience for all students regardless of age or current capabilities.”
M.S. Educational Support teacher, Washington state
“The AHE program is essential work for anyone working in a Waldorf school. This is the next level of teacher training. It is not just for Student Support faculty, as the program is readily applicable for use in the classroom with a full class of students. The children who are coming to us today need this work. As a Class Teacher, I have appreciated the opportunity to implement the training in my class immediately.”
Julie B, Class Teacher, Texas
“This training is affording me the opportunity to become aware of the multitudinous layers involved in human development, and how important being aware of the more spiritual layers is in our striving to help children along their developmental path. This is very deep work, for ourselves and for the children in our care. As I begin to see the effects of this work on children, qualitative changes in how they meet and go through their days, it affirms the trust that is put into the efficacy of this training and work. We are given not just the ‘nuts and bolts’ and ‘how-to’s’, but also acknowledgement of the importance of our own inner life, our own empathy, our own compassion, our own objectivity, and our recognition of the sacred gift that these children and our cohorts bring in sharing themselves with us.”
L.N. Educational Support teacher, Colorado
Previous Sessions
Module 1
October 18-21, 2018
Class Wide Learning Support
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Mary Jo Oresti, Connie Helms
- Essential Activities to support child development
- Guiding the foundation senses
- Working Memory and Attention
- Body Geography, Spatial Orientation, Dominance-foundations for thinking
Module 2
March 21-24, 2019
STRENGTHENING THE WHOLE CLASS
Jeff Tunkey, Connie Helms
- Games for Integrating the balance and movement systems
- Dyslexia and Math, inroads to success
- Forces at work in community building
- Boys and Girls - different learners
Module 3
July 15 - 18, 2019
EARLY CHILDHOOD AND THE INTEGRATION OF THE SENSES
Betty Jane Enno
- Developmental movement circles in EC
- Rhythms as a basis for learning
- Resilience and the foundation senses
- Hands on active learning
- Restless children
- Parent work in EC programs
Module 4
July 22-26, 2019
EXTRA LESSON INTENSIVE
for teachers and specialists
Connie Helms, Mary Jo Oresti and guests
- The art of child observation
- Foundation principals in Extra Lesson:
- body geography, spatial orientation, bilateral integration, dominance, mirroring, harmonization, expansion and contraction
- Basic assessments for balance, gross motor function, integration, eye tracking
- Exercises to recapitulate the developmental path and assist sensory integration
- Form drawing and painting
Module 5
October 17-20, 2019
Extra Lesson Intensive
- Basics of the Extra Lesson assessment
- Discovering themes in our findings
- Building a Case Study
- Midline integration: horizontal and vertical
- Directionality and Dominance
- Form Drawing and Painting in Extra Lesson
Module 6
March 26-29, 2020
Connie Helms and Elyce Perico
- Archetypes in the growing child
- Level 2 of E.L. assessment
- First grade entry observation
- Second grade developmental screening
- Children's drawings and the PHT
Module 7
online, various dates
Extra Lesson in Practice
Connie Helms, Elyce Perico, Mary Jo Oresti
- Adolescents and the Extra Lesson
- Developing the will through E.L.
- Body geography and self identity
- Extra Lesson and constitutional challenges
- Sharing case studies, writing reports
Module 8
July 27-31, 2020 Online course
"BUILDING THE HOUSE"
Supporting the Physical Body to Develop and Learn in Order for the Soul to Mature Within
with Joep Eikenboom
- Structural and Constitutional differences
- Foundations of the Extra Lesson - Themes from Rudolf Steiner's 1909 lectures "A Psychology of Body, Soul and Spirit"
- The importance of the physical development as a foundation for learning and social skills
- Mirroring and imprinting
Module 9
October 15-18, 2020
BALANCE IN TEACHING
with Paul Gierlach
- High School and Adolescence: Expectations and Challenges
- Dynamic Form Drawing
- Healing the Senses in the teen years
- Therapeutic Speech or Eurythmy
Module 10
(offered online)
April 15-18, 2021
HEALTH AND ILLNESS
with Dr. Bruno Callegaro
- Autism spectrum children
- Environmental influences
- Alternative therapies
- Nutrition
Forthcoming Sessions
Module 11
July 18-19, 2021 (online)
Becky Rutherford
Curative Education (lectures 7-12) Rudolf Steiner (Education for Special Needs)
July 21-24, 2021
TUTORING from a WALDORF PERSPECTIVE
and Extra Lesson in Practice
Connie Helms, Mary Jo Oresti, Elyce Perico
- On Reading and Writing - Dr. Karl Konig
- From inner speech to comprehension and the role of language
- Putting it all together: observation, assessment, goals, implementation
Module 12
July 26-30, 2021
EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT in SCHOOLS
Working with Teachers and Parents
Connie Helms, Elyce Perico, Gleiçe da Silva
- Case Studies from the Extra Lesson work
- Pedagogical Story
- Sleep: Its Influence on Health and Education
- Healing Madonna series for children