Professional development for Waldorf teachers and homeschool parents
This course offers you an invaluable opportunity to focus entirely on your upcoming sixth grade school year in five days filled with discussions, presentations, practical activities, and the arts.
Under the guidance of an experienced class teacher, you’ll discover ways to enliven your teaching and learn how to approach the blocks so that they may meet the sixth grader in a lively and meaningful way. 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 sixth grader in depth as he or she enters early adolescence. 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 course will be chock-full of such key sixth grade topics as:
- Roman history and the early Middle Ages
- New math concepts, including business math and the percentage
- Geometrical drawing with compass and straight edge
- Geography
- Sciences, including earth science, physics, and observational astronomy
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 the 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.
Useful grade-specific resource materials, including poems, songs, stories, and main lesson book ideas, will be provided to you when you arrive on campus.
Note: This course is taught with the expectation that you have a background in Waldorf Education.
Instructor Calisa Tucker is currently teaching grade seven at The Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor (MI). Calisa has been a class teacher at the school since 2002. Her first class, which she taught from second through eighth grade, completed their eighth grade year in 2010. Prior to becoming a Waldorf teacher, Calisa worked on an Organizational Learning and Lean Manufacturing internal consulting team for Ford Motor Company. Lessons learned in the automotive industry inspired her to seek out an education that nurtured systems thinking, creativity, and a love of learning. In 1999 during her Montessori teacher training, Calisa rediscovered Waldorf Education; after completing her Montessori training, she completed her Waldorf teacher education through what is now the Waldorf Institute of Southeast Michigan. Calisa also received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. The mother of two high school students, she enjoys backpacking, traveling, and watching high school sporting competitions.
Students who took Approaching Grade Six in summer 2016 had this to say:
~ Excellent quality, with ample opportunity for dialogue between all participants
~ Very rich in content and developmental indications
~ This was my second time at Sunbridge, and I have found it to be a wonderful experience.
~ It was a very full and informative course. All the teachers were fantastic.
Schedule:
Sunday, July 9: Optional campus tour 5:30-6pm; Registration 6-7pm; First session takes place 7-9pm
Monday, July 10-Thursday, July 13: Classes begin each day by 8:30am and run through 5:30pm, with an hour for lunch and short mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks.
Friday, July 14: Classes begin by 8:30am and end between 12-1pm, with a mid-morning break.
Fee:
$795 (includes all materials and non-refundable $75 registration fee). Discounts may apply; see registration form for details.
Visit https://www.sunbridge.edu for further information.
