Events

The West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy, located in British Columbia, Canada, offers a 3-year, part time Waldorf Grades Teacher Training, a 2-year, part time Waldorf Early Childhood Educator Training, a 14 month, part time Birth to Three Educator Training, and differing courses each summer for Waldorf teachers and others.

Waldorf Birth to Three Educator Training

Training begins July 3, 2021

July session at Sunrise Waldorf School, Duncan, Vancouver Island; fall & spring at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, BC
Due to covid restrictions, our July 2021 session will be online.

This is a 14 month, birth to three focused option of the part-time Early Childhood Program. It runs for eight weeks over 14 months, comprised of three weeks in two summers (July) and a week in November and February of the first year.

Upcoming Session Dates:

• The summer session in 2021 runs from  July 3-23.  Due to covid restrictions, our July 2021 session will be online.
• The November session dates for 2021 are yet to be determined. This session is held at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, or online if necessary.
• The February session dates for 2022 are yet to be determined. This session is held at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, or online if necessary.

The application deadline has passed; please contact ece@westcoastinstitute.org to be put on the waiting list.

Training Details

Downloadable PDF Poster

Waldorf Early Childhood Educator Training

New cohort begins July 3, 2021

July session at Sunrise Waldorf School, Duncan, Vancouver Island; fall & spring at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, BC
Due to covid restrictions, our July 2021 session will be online.

2 year part time program – 5 weeks each year. 3 weeks in July, 1 week in November and February with additional mentoring, observation and practicums.

Upcoming Session Dates:

• The summer session in 2021 runs from  July 3-23.  Due to covid restrictions, our July 2021 session will be online.
• The November session dates for 2021 are yet to be determined. This session is held at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, or online if necessary.
• The February session dates for 2022 are yet to be determined. This session is held at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, or online if necessary.

The application deadline has passed; please contact ece@westcoastinstitute.org to be put on the waiting list.

Program Details

Downloadable PDF Poster

Waldorf Grades Teacher Training

New cohort begins July 3, 2021

July session at Sunrise Waldorf School, Duncan, Vancouver Island; fall & spring at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, BC
Due to covid restrictions, our July 2021 session will be online.

3 year part time program – 5 weeks each year. 3 weeks in July, 1 week in November and February with additional mentoring, observation and practicums.

Upcoming Session Dates

• The summer session in 2021 runs from  July 3-23.  Due to covid restrictions, our July 2021 session will be online.
• The November session dates for 2021 are yet to be determined. This session is held at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, or online if necessary.
• The February session dates for 2022 are yet to be determined. This session is held at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, or online if necessary.

The application deadline has passed; please contact grades@westcoastinstitute.org to be put on the waiting list.

Program Details

Downloadable PDF Poster

Summer 2021 Courses & Workshops

The West Coast Institute, located in British Columbia, Canada, offers differing courses each summer for anyone who wishes to learn more about Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education.

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

Due to covid restrictions our courses will be held online this year. 

Early Childhood Courses

Unbornness

The body developed out of us
Not us out of the body
We are bees
And our body is a
honeycomb
We made the body
Cell by cell, we made it.
—Rumi

with Louise deForest

July 5th to 7, 2021

In our modern times, embryology often looks at the step by step physical development, from zygote to viable baby. But is this all there is to it?

One week course, open to practicing Waldorf teachers.

More Information
PDF Poster
Click Here to Register

emybryo photo (edited) credit: lunar caustic flickr (cc by 2.0)

Including Children’s Voices

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice with the Persona Doll Approach

with Debbie Laurin

July 19 to 23, 2021

Pioneering this new antibias approach to Waldorf early childhood education, participants will acquire skills to address antibias education with young children.

One week course, open to practicing Waldorf teachers.

More Information
PDF Poster
Click Here to Register

Grades Level Courses

Workshops Open to Everyone

Water Works Summer Camp for Families
a place to be with your kids

An exploration of art, science and nature

with Herb Walsh

July 26 to 30, 2021

Schedule: daily 10:00 to 11:30 am
Times are Pacific Time

Live online workshop, open to all.

Herb will guide families and individuals in the observation of the world of water science through a mixture of online presentations, home-based experiments and field trips into nature in our own neighborhoods.

The week will include water activity observation, plant growth forms, and an ongoing scavenger hunt with daily clues.

A family scavenger hunt will discover the water and nature forms in our everyday world and the growth stages of a plant, which will also be modelled with an inner search for form that invites the participants to create their own forms along the way.

This course is designed to get families, and friends, exploring natural phenomena together and off screen as much as possible.

Participants will have a chance to visit video resources before, during and after the workshop.

Registration is open until the workshop begins
Cost per family, or individual: $225 CDN

PDF Poster
Click Here to Register

Herb Walsh
Herb has been teaching practical arts: clay modeling, wood and copper, for WCI since 2017 and is a Board Member. He is semi-retired and makes his living doing small renovations and building furniture. Herb and his wife Monique have five sons and have spent many years as part of the Vancouver Anthroposophical community.

Waldorf Without Boundaries

Workshops for homeschooling parents

with Kim Hunter, Diane Walters & Barbarah Nicoll

July 5 to 9, 2021

Schedule: Wednesday, June 30, 9:00 to 10:30am
Public Introductory Gathering

Monday through Thursday
9:00 to 10:30am: Early Childhood
11:00am to 12:30pm: Grades
1:00 to 2:30pm: High School

Friday, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Forum and Q&A/wrap up
Times are Pacific Time

Live online workshops, open to all

This workshop series is open to parents and others who wish to know more about Waldorf educational approaches to homeschooling and how to incorporate them into an at home program. We will focus on three age groupings of Early Childhood, Grades 1-8 and High School.

Early Childhood with Kim Hunter: Through the lens of early child development we will explore what to do when and why, with part of each class being devoted to practical suggestions (activities, the arts, movement, etc.) that you may want to include in homeschooling. We will consider ideals such as routine, rhythm, nutrition, sleep and technology and look at philosophical ideas around home-educating and education in general.

Grades with Diane Walters: Homeschooling tips and tricks for Grades 1-8 will be offered by Diane Walters. She will walk through the scope of the Waldorf curriculum using a program she calls the ‘Curriculum Seal.’ This is a multidisciplinary approach to both teaching and learning ideally suited to the home school environment.

High School with Barbarah Nicoll: Engaging with high school aged youth in self-directed learning can be a rich and fulfilling experience for the whole family. We will look at the questions that arise within adolescents from the ages of 14 to 18 and explore Waldorf curricular approaches that can support homeschooling during the upper grades.

Registration is open until the course begins
Costs: Individual workshop streams cost: $175.00 CDN. If you pay for two streams you can come to all three.

PDF Poster
Click Here to Register

Kim Hunter
Early Childhood Educator, Kim Hunter, is passionate about her work with young children, she believes that children need LOVE and time and space to PLAY. She recognizes that culturally we are on a trajectory of over-intellectualizing children at ever earlier stages of development and is concerned about the impact this is having on human evolution – both individual growth and our development as a species. Hunter says, “I made the film, Time to Play! to try to make a difference in our understanding of what children need to support their development into free-thinking human beings who will be able to guide humanity to a better future.”

In 2016 Hunter received the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education for her work with young children. Since then, her film, Time to Play! has been in high demand and she travels the globe presenting at universities, colleges, conferences, to parent groups, homeschoolers and film festivals.

She homeschooled her daughter, now aged 28, from age 6 - 18.

At the moment - due to Covid19 -  between gardening, being an activist and other hobbies, Kim is writing a book about homeschooling, and plans one day to return to working directly with young children. For more look at: https://timetoplayfilm.com

Diane Walters
Diane Walters MA, has 35 years of experience in Waldorf and alternative Unschooling Educational platforms. She is an educational strategist, Curriculum Artist and Solution Evangelist serving as a Homeschooling Consultant, keynote speaker, and Professional development mentor for teachers.  Her work is deeply informed by her life-long interest in education and in life, through the lens of Steiner’s educational philosophy, contemporary educators, theorists and futurists. She offers parent and faculty talks, webinars, and online participatory sessions to develop a greater understanding of what makes us human, how we learn, and how we teach, whatever the subject, the system, and the environment. Check out more www.teachingintothefuture.com

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Barbarah Nicoll
Barbarah is the Administration Director at WCI. She brings years of experience in administration, educational leadership and mentorship from a variety of settings. Engaging with the art of Goethean Conversation and Social Eurythmy, she works to build inner strength and resiliency for developing consciousness in our times. Living in rural BC with husband Len, close to her 3 children and 3 grandchildren, she is grateful for all past and ongoing learning: Auriel Eurythmy, Waldorf High School Teacher certification, Master of Integrated Arts, Expressive Arts certification, Improvisation for the Classroom, and The Art of Facilitation Training.