Caregiver Class at New Amsterdam School

“ If During the first period of life, we create an atmosphere of gratitude around the children, then out of this gratitude toward the world, toward the entire universe, and also out of thankfulness for being able to be in this world, a profound and warm sense of devotion will arise…upright, honest and true.” 

-Rudolf Steiner

The Child’s Changing Consciousness

Our Caregiver Class will meet on Wednesdays

11:30 AM -12:30 PM for 9 weeks, beginning Wednesday October 1^st

The Caregiver Class gives parents and caregivers alike the tools to provide care for children and infants that is reflective of the Waldorf approach, and will help support families to work with this approach in their homes.

This nine week course warmly invites anyone interested in deepening his or her understanding of the very young child, birth to three years old.  The course intends to support parents and caregivers in their work with children through study of the developing human being and self development in relationship to the wellbeing of the child and its relationship to their environment.

Course Outline

Week 1: The Unfolding Human Being

Week 2: The Unfolding Human Being

Week 3: Self Initiated Movement

Week 4: Rhythm

Week 5: Rhythm

Week 6: Imitation

Week 7: Foundational Senses

Week 8: Practical Activities: Bread Baking

Week 9: Artistic Activity / Review

The price for the course is $414

Please contact our Admissions Director, Cherish Pratt, to fill out an application or for more information
cherish.pratt@newamsterdamchildhood.org

Holy Mama - Holy Papa Group at New Amsterdam

A workshop to support, honor and inspire the inner life of mothers and fathers will meet Wednesday, October 1st, 9:15am-11:15am, at 1 Avenue B and once monthly thereafter

A holy mama/papa is aware that parenting is an initiation into wholeness. Meeting, accepting, and learning to work with all the parts of our self we meet in being parents - we become healthy, whole, holy.

Please come check out the free workshop offered Oct 1st, 9:15am, at 1 Avenue B.  This workshop sets the stage for a once a month group of parents interested in growing themselves while they grow their families.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me @ jerilynbrownstein@gmail.com

Evacuation Plan in the Unlikely Event of an Emergency

Emergency Plan for the New Amsterdam School

Evacuation of 62 Avenue B and 1 Avenue B

In the event that we must evacuate our buildings our emergency location is:

Tompkins Square Library at 331 E. 10^th Street, New York, NY 10009 

It is right off Avenue B at the edge of Tompkins Square Park. Their phone number is 212-228-4747.

If asked to leave our buildings, the children will be taken to the library by their teachers and staff. The teachers will remain with the children until they are picked up by their parents or caregivers.

In the event of loss of phone/communications, a sign will be posted at the school buildings advising that we are at the library.  If signs can’t be seen and no one is at the school, proceed to the library to meet your child. 

Welcome to the 2014-2015 School Year

Dear Families,

Welcome to Our 2014-2015 School Year!

It has been wonderful to see our classrooms fill with smiling faces… to hear sweet voices laughing and melodic voices singing… to hear little footsteps echo in the halls… to see the first First Graders sitting proudly at their desks, while the letter B has formed around them and enlivened their imaginations!

We are looking forward to another joyous year at New Amsterdam and we are grateful to all of you for being a part of it.

With Gratitude,

New Amsterdam School Staff

Lecture at the Steiner School with Douglas Gerwin, Ph.D.

Community Lecture at the Steiner School with Douglas Gerwin, Ph.D.

Rudolf Steiner School, Upper School, 15 East 78th Street 

Monday, September 17th 7pm

Sleep On It
In education, we are finally waking up to the value of sleep.

Recent research confirms what Waldorf teachers have long known: children and teenagers learn more––and more deeply––when they sleep than when they are awake. In an age of insomnia, how do we guard the sleep of our youngsters?  Indeed, how do we restore restful sleep for ourselves?

Douglas Gerwin, Ph.D., will guide us on a journey to the land beyond the River Lethe –– where sleep is practiced as a vibrant activity, not as a vacuous zoning out.

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Douglas Gerwin, Ph.D., has taught history, literature, German, music, and life science at college and Waldorf high school levels for over 35 years. As Director of the Center for Anthroposophy (CfA), he divides his time between adult education and teaching adolescents, as well as mentoring Waldorf schools across North America.
Himself a Waldorf graduate, Douglas is the founder of CfA's Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program, as well as the first Executive Director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. He is author and editor of nine books on Waldorf education, as well as numerous articles on education and anthroposophy. His most recent publication, due out this year, is a collection of articles entitled Trailing Clouds of Glory: Essays on Sexuality and the Education of Youth in Waldorf Schools.

At present, Douglas resides on the outskirts of Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife Connie, a Waldorf high school teacher of mathematics.

An Invitation to Join us on June 7th

Dear New Amsterdam Community,

Our faculty and board invite you to join us as we 

welcome Chris Schaefer to New Amsterdam 

June 7th from 1 to 5pm.

Chris Schaefer will lead us into discussion around 

building community.  We will look at some of the

current tasks the New Amsterdam Community has and how to address

the questions we are all carrying.

If you are a parent, friend, and or have served on committees it would be great if you were able to join us.

It is important to us that we know if you are coming.

Please RSVP to lisa.bono@newamsterdamchildhood.org

by June 1st.

An agenda for the day will be circulated June 3rd.

Here is a link to an article about Chris Schaefer's new book " Partnerships of Hope: Building Waldorf School Communities" and his BIO.

http://www.anthroposophy.org/articles/article-detail/?tx_ttnews%5Byear%5D=2013&tx_ttnews%5Bmonth%5D=03&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1167&cHash=0f8c01f0e7177a62ce8cfbcba205e6f9

Christopher Schaefer is a Waldorf graduate and a Waldorf parent and grandparent. He was a founding member of the Waldorf School in Lexington, Massachusetts, and has worked as a Waldorf school advisor on questions of school and community development in the United States and Canada as well as internationally. He was for many years a faculty member
and program director at Sunbridge College in Spring Valley, New York, where he founded and directed the program in Waldorf School Administration and Community Development. In Europe he was the co-founder and co-director of the Center for Social Development at Emerson College, as well as a founder of Social Ecology Associates, an international organization development
consultancy institute. He travels, consults and lectures extensively and is the co-author of Vision in Action: Working with Soul and Spirit in Small Organizations.

Blessings to you all,

Lisa

New First Grade Teacher!

Dear New Amsterdam Community, It is with joy in our hearts that we share with you the news that Jamie Loftus will be joining us as our first First Grade teacher. Many of you had the opportunity to meet Jamie when he spent a week with our community. Jamie has graciously accepted our offer to join our school and help pioneer our first grade. Jamie hails from Sydney, Australia, where he has taught in Waldorf schools for over 20 years. He will bring his adventuresome spirit to this task, and infuse the classroom with his inquisitive mind and joyful energy. We are profoundly grateful to his commitment to our school and to our growth. And we look forward to many years of working together. With Gratitude, The Hiring Committee