Waldorf in the Home

We are living in times of tremendous change and challenges that call upon us to educate our children to have both new ways of seeing and creative thinking. What do children really need to be able to meet the problems they will be asked to solve as adults? How can we keep their idealism alive and provide the skills and abilities they will need to develop new ways of living sustainably?

This conference will offer more than three dozen workshops on social change, sustainability, parenting, home schooling and Waldorf education, which was founded out of an impulse for social change and cultural renewal. It will bring together keynote speakers from various social impulses:

"The Blessings of Change" will be discussed by Shea Darian, author of the new book Living Passages for the Whole Family, as well as Seven Times the Sun and Sanctuaries of Childhood: Nurturing a Child's Spiritual Life. Shea will explore the transformative power of blessings in family and community life, and how meaningful rites of passage from birth to adulthood help us and our children to live joyfully in the present, heal and celebrate the past, and foster courage and hope for the future. Shea is the mother of two grown daughters who attended Waldorf schools.

Lisa Bennett, Communications Director at The Center for Ecoliteracy, will share the principles and exciting applications of their program "Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability" as it is being taken up by school communities across the country and around the world. Lisa is a researcher and writer, and has spoken at the National Press Club and appeared on the BBC, C-SPAN, Hardball, and many other programs.

John Bloom is Director of Organizational Culture at Rudolf Steiner Foundation Social Finance. He will share from the work he has been developing with the Transforming Money Collaborative as well as other educational programs addressing the intersection of money and spirit in personal and social transformation. RSF Social Finance provides innovative investing, lending, and philanthropic services to promote environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

Focusing on the tremendous changes in adolescence, DeAnna L'am will address the question, "How would our world be different if adolescent children were witnessed, cherished, and celebrated as they transitioned into adulthood?" DeAnna is a Waldorf parent and the founder of Red Moon--Cycles of Women's Wisdom™. She was the first to bring Rites of Passage work to mixed groups of Jewish and Palestinian women in Israel/Palestine, her country of origin. Her work helped participants bond as women beyond all political differences and artificial divides. DeAnna trains Red Tent facilitators, helps reclaim and renew Coming of Age traditions, and works internationally to inspire and equip adults to assume the task of Eldering our children. She is the author of Becoming Peers, Mentoring Girls into Womanhood.