Professional development for Waldorf teachers and homeschool parents

This course offers you an invaluable opportunity to focus entirely on your upcoming fifth grade school year in five full days brimming with discussions, presentations, practical activities, and the arts.

With the insights of anthroposophy, gleaned through a daily look at child development focusing on your class’s age group, you will get to know the fifth grade child in depth as they stand on the balancing point between childhood and adolescence. Under the guidance of a master class teacher, you’ll discover how to enliven your teaching and how to approach the blocks so that they may meet the fifth grader in a meaningful and lively way. There will be time and space to consider and hone your skills in such practical matters as main lesson books, block planning, projects and activities, and classroom management.

Your week will be chock-full of key fifth grade topics such as:

– The teaching of ancient cultures, including Greek history and mythology
– Teaching free-hand geometrical drawing
– Developing language skills in reading and writing
– Expanding the reach of geography to encompass all of North America
– Bringing the plant kingdom to life through botany studies
– Building on fractions skills toward the discovery of the decimal fraction

These subjects will be supported by explorations in art, music, and movement, giving you practical tools to take into your school year.

In addition to inspiration and guidance which will support your teaching throughout the year, you’ll gain many invaluable opportunities for building connections among a community of parallel colleagues from across the country, to carry with you into your teaching.

Handouts relevant to your week will be provided to you upon your arrival on campus. Grade-specific resource materials useful for your year, including poems, songs, stories, and main lesson book ideas, will be provided to you electronically..

NOTE: This course is taught with the expectation that you have a background in Waldorf Education.

 

Lead Instructor

Margot Amrine teaches at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1989 and has shepherded several lower school classes. She has also chaired her college of teachers and is a founding teacher of the high school, where she currently teaches history and humanities. A teacher of literacy skills to children from preschool to grade 12 since 1976, Margot was the director of the Waldorf Institute of Southeastern Michigan and mentors Waldorf teachers in the midwest area. She holds a BMA in music and art history from the University of Michigan School of Music and has been a member of the Anthroposophical Society since 1981. Margot has a particular interest in language arts and in working with parents, and enjoys traveling and playing the cello.

Students who took a previous Summer Series course with Margot had this to say:

~ Margot was an amazing teacher. Much learned!
~ Margot was great at staying focused on topic and had prepared well to cover materials in a timely manner.
~ Margot is an excellent teacher of teachers: knowledgeable, encouraging, and funny!
~ Margot always provides practical advice and examples.
~ The knowledge, the flow, the perfect amount of information, the humor, all made it a very successful course.
~ Margot brings so much warmth, liveliness, and wisdom!
~ I am going home brim full of ideas and excitement for the coming year.
~ It was all great.

 

Your course also includes music with Patti Regan of Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School, painting with Brigitte Bley-Swinston of Green Meadow Waldorf School, and movement with Will Crane.

 

Related Recommendations
As a grades teacher, you may also be interested in The Power of Traditional Country Dancing in Grades 1-8 or Working with Parents. Each of these weekend workshops begins Friday evening immediately following the conclusion of your grades course and runs through Sunday afternoon.

 

Schedule
Sunday, July 14: Optional campus tour: 5:30-6pm; registration: 6-7pm; orientation: and your first class 7-9pm
Monday, July 15-Thursday, July 18: Classes begin each day between 8-8:30am and run through 5:30-6pm, with time for lunch and short mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks.
Friday, July 19: Classes begin 8-8:30am and end between 12-1pm, with a mid-morning break.

 

Cost
$860 includes all materials and non-refundable $75 registration fee

 

Three Discount Options (Choose One! Discounts may not be combined.) 

1. Friends and Family (Personal Discount):  Currently enrolled Sunbridge program students receive a 30% discount and Sunbridge program graduates receive a 15% discount off one or more registrations. Discount instructions will appear on your registration form after you answer questions about your Sunbridge background in the Participant Profile section. Accounts must be in good standing.

2. Take Two and Save (Personal Discount):  10% discounts on subsequent registrations (of equal or lesser value) will automatically appear on your registration form when selecting more than one title. (Exception: Waldorf Weekend, which offers an $85 discount when selected as a subsequent registration.)

3. Send More/Save More (School Discount):  Schools paying for five or more registrations will receive discounts in increasing amounts.
Make 5 registrations, receive 5% off the total cost
Make 6 registrations, receive 6% off the total cost
Make 7 registrations, receive 7% off the total cost
Make 8 registrations, receive 8% off the total cost
Make 9 registrations, receive 9% off the total cost
Make 10 or more registrations, receive 10% off the total cost
NOTE: When choosing this option, please be sure to check off “Invoice my School” on your registration form. To qualify for the Send More/Save More discount, registrations must be made by July 14.

 

 

Questions?
Please contact our summer office at [email protected] or 845-425-0055 x20

 

Sunbridge reserves the right to make faculty substitutions when necessary. See registration form for refund policy.