Welcome to Morning Meadow!

Please explore our website for information about our school, community events and other Waldorf-Inspired opportunities in Gainesville.


Morning Meadow Preschool and Kindergarten's mission is threefold;

We endeavor to protect childhood, engage children's creativity and foster their imaginations - all while nurturing a connection to the Earth.

Morning Meadow serves children ages two-and-a-half through Kindergarten and is a full member of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN). We have  two, three and five day options available. We invite you to visit Morning Meadow, meet our wonderful teachers and amazing families that support and enhance our school community.   Please take a moment to look through our website and contact me if you would like to schedule a visit, or have further questions.

We look forward to meeting you!

Ms. Sylvia
Director at Morning Meadow preschool and Kindergarten
Where Creativity and Imagination Flourish

Notifications and Upcoming Events

SCHOOL CALENDAR

POSITION OPEN: NOW HIRING

 

WECAN PARENT EVENINGS

WECAN (The Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America) is excited to offer a new series of 5 Parent Zoom Evenings. Our first Parent Evening will take place next week on September 20, 2023.

Please share this with your parents and communities.

The registration fee is $10 for each event and you can register online through the WECAN bookstore under the Events tab. Each person who registers will receive access to the recording of the evening, with the exception of Love the Skin They Are In, which will NOT be recorded.

We want everyone to be able to participate in these parent evenings. If you require financial support, please contact Heather Church at hchurch@waldorfearlychildhood.org.

NOTE: IF YOU ARE PURCHASING FOR A GROUP, you must provide the email addresses of each person attending in the notes on the first page of the checkout.

 

REGISTRATION FOR EACH EVENT CLOSES 24 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT BEGINS.

Register Now
(NOTE: This event takes place earlier than usual, as our guest speaker is joining us from Europe.)

Why is self-initiated play, beginning in the earliest years, the most appropriate way of developing a long-lasting interest in the changing environment and an active engagement in society? Why it is an excellent support for building self-confidence and trust in life? How can we foster and accompany free play without disturbing the initiative of the child? How can we welcome each child’s initiative while keeping the environment (relatively) harmonious? Philipp Reubke will give examples from his experiences at home and as a kindergarten teacher.

Philipp was born in 1960 and attended Waldorf schools in Stuttgart and Berlin. He studied philosophy, literature, and education in Germany and France and became a Waldorf teacher in France in 1989. He was a Waldorf kindergarten teacher from 1995 until 2017. From 2010 to 2020, he was a member of the IASWECE Coordinating Group. Since 2021, together with Constanza Kaliks, he has led the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland.

Children find both comfort and capacity through activity and exploration. Our senses, bones, muscles and organs can only finish maturing when they are put to use – they are not at all complete when we are born. In this parent evening, we will explore what kinds of learning help support this rapidly developing process and when a task is too specific too soon. Children thrive with a broad base of activity that mixes many different sensory experiences together.

Adam Blanning, MD

Dr. Blanning practices anthroposophic medicine in Denver, CO, and works closely with children, families, and schools to support healthy development on a physical, social, sensory, and spiritual level. Dr. Blanning teaches nationally and internationally as a co-leader of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. He is the author of Raising Sound Sleepers: Helping Children Use their Senses to Rest and Self-soothe.

Many children came out of the last years with heightened stress and lingering patterns of anxiety. This evening will share ways to assure children and help them to find a sense of safety and build greater resilience. There will be practical suggestions for how to strengthen many of the good things we are already doing as parents.

Adam Blanning, MD

Dr. Blanning practices anthroposophic medicine in Denver, CO, and works closely with children, families, and schools to support healthy development on a physical, social, sensory, and spiritual level. Dr. Blanning teaches nationally and internationally as a co-leader of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. He is the author of Raising Sound Sleepers: Helping Children Use their Senses to Rest and Self-soothe.

Nancy Blanning

Nancy Blanning, a Sunbridge Early Childhood Program Co-Director, has retired from nearly forty years teaching at the Denver Waldorf School, where she served as a kindergarten teacher and educational support teacher. Nancy’s primary focus is therapeutic education, with a particular emphasis on developmental movement in supporting young children’s physical incarnation and sensory development. Nancy is a frequent keynote speaker and presenter at national and international early childhood conferences and workshops, including serving as a faculty member at Denver’s Nurturing the Roots Therapeutic Course. She is currently a contributor and editor of Gateways, the publication of WECAN.

We move more in early childhood than at any other time in our lives. What is the child working on with all this movement? What does healthy movement look like in children of this age group? How do children develop balance? How can we support our children to move freely and joyfully, with coordination and ease? What attitudes of the adults and what materials support this? What are the differences between the child-led movements of free play and adult-taught movements?

 

Jane will explore these topics in her presentation. She will also bring many tried and true movement ideas for children from three to seven in the family setting. There will be slides, videos, and time for questions.

Jane Swain

Jane Swain is an associate director and core faculty member of the teacher education program at Sophia’s Hearth in Keene, NH. She is a movement therapist as well as a pediatric physical therapist. Jane is a level III graduate of the Spacial Dynamics® Institute. She is certified in Bothmer Gymnastics®, Sensory Integration Praxis testing, and Bobath/Neuro-developmental Treatment for children with Cerebral Palsy. Jane has studied at the Pikler Institute in Budapest. Jane previously taught movement education in the early grades, provided classroom consultation, and worked privately with children for many years. Jane is writing a book on movement in the first three years of life.

To allow for open and free sharing during the event, this Parent Evening will not be recorded.

Children as young as 3 months begin to notice race and by two years old, they are recognizing, exploring, and asking questions about the differences between themselves and others. We know that children thrive in loving environments where they are surrounded by parents and caregivers who both see and celebrate them. In this parent evening, we will explore what every adult can do to foster a school or home environment of belonging and affirmation. We will define Racial Identity Development and chart a path to support its unfolding as we encourage each child to embrace their own race and ethnicity and celebrate the race and ethnicity of others.

Keelah Helwig

Keelah Helwig is an Early Childhood educator at the Waldorf School of Garden City, NY. She has is a Board member of Sunbridge Institute, WECAN, and AWSNA. As a co-founding member of Alma Partners, Keelah is interested in partnering with Waldorf leadership and faculty circles who are ready to examine, name, and transform the obstacles of bias and systemic racism that prevent them from being communities where all children and families can thrive.

 

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