Waldorf Early Childhood Courses at WCI

Waldorf Early Childhood Summer Courses

Summer training, courses and workshops are held at the Sunrise Waldorf School on Vancouver Island, in beautiful scenic British Columbia, Canada.

Housing is available in homes in the community; visit our Housing page for more information and the housing form.

Meals are available on campus; visit our Meals page for more information. The meals form will be available in May.

Summer Intensive Course

Enriching the Soul of the Caregiver and the Child

with Anna Rainville, Dorota Ignaszewska and Ko Hawkes

June 29 to July 4, 2025

at Sunrise Waldorf School in Duncan, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Opening Sunday at 3:00 pm
Daily schedule 8:00 am to 5:30 pm

Last summer this course was attended by many appreciative participants. They all want to return again this summer! Please join us as we gather together again to study, move, sing and paint while we enrich our inner landscape and repertoire of songs, games, and puppetry skills. In a lively way, as we deepen in the meaning of our work, Anna will guide us to polish our stars. We will look at topics like EC literacy, the second birth of the child and ways to strengthen our practice. Dorota brings expertise with the charm of puppets for their captivating ability to bring magic through speech and gesture. We will make puppets and a story apron and create our own puppet play. Ko will be helping us to explore more of our inner life through biography and painting. There will be time for participants to learn from each other and create beautiful story aprons (cost included in tuition).

This course is open to Waldorf educators and those interested in anthroposophy.

Registration Fee: $100 CDN (non-refundable)
Tuition: $600 CDN
Includes handwork supplies

Registration Form

Course Refund Policy

PDF Poster

Anna Rainville
Anna has lifted spirits with singing games and group harmony for decades. An experienced Waldorf educator, she travels widely to mentor and teach. She also has experience as a Waldorf class teacher and as a public school kindergarten teacher where she received an award from the California Kindergarten Association for outstanding work in early childhood education. Currently, Anna facilitates teacher renewal and integrated arts curriculum development in Waldorf and mainstream schools, universities, and teacher education centers nationally and internationally including the Philippines, Estonia, the West Bank, Ireland, and India. Her book, Singing Games for Families, Schools and Communities, is cherished by early childhood teachers.

Singing games are a part of every culture and generation. These gems provide healthy opportunities for sensory integration while lifting spirits and building community. A special interest in learning through movement led Anna to complete remedial training. Singing and moving together in simple or complicated forms appeals to all ages whether at home, in a classroom, or faculty meeting. They are contagious joy.

Dorota Ignaszewska
Dorota Ignaszewska is a kindergarten teacher at Sunrise Waldorf School in Duncan, BC. One of her passions is making puppets and toys that help unfold the stories and connect and delight the children. Through their breathing movements and gestures, rod puppets can dance and sing, soothe and inspire, help with transitions, and bring magic and gentle humour to young children.

Ko Hawkes
Ko is a graduate of Hibernia School of Art Therapy & has been teaching, conducting workshops and practicing art therapy with children and adults in private practice. She has been on the faculty of the West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy for many years. Ko has been traveling to Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China since 2013 conducting workshops in Waldorf Schools and communities there.

Summer Intensive Course

Deepening Your Watercolour Experience

Enriching and enhancing your painting skills
through imagination and creativity

with Ko Hawkes

July 14–18, 2025

at Sunrise Waldorf School in Duncan, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Daily schedule 10:00 am to 1:00 pm

Please join us for an opportunity to deepen your watercolour experience.

We will paint complementary colours and tertiary colours that express feelings and moods and learn to let go of our restrictions. We will explore perspective, the ‘breathing’ qualities of the different colours and how to paint forms out of the background.

With two classes a day over the course of five days, this will be helpful for beginners, for those who want to develop their work with children in school settings, and also for those who would like creative enrichment and imaginative enhancement of their painting experience.

This course is open to all those with an interest in wet-on-wet watercolour painting.

Registration Fee: $50 CDN (non-refundable)
Tuition: $200 CDN
Includes painting supplies