Waldorf in the Home

Lorene Allen is an independent trainer in the art of compassionate communication developed by Marshall Rosenberg in his book Nonviolent Communication (NVC). She was a Waldorf parent and now has a a grandchild in a Waldorf program. Lorene teaches this work and compassionate parenting in Wldorf charter schools in northern California.
Rahima Baldwin Dancy is internationally known as a midwife, parenting educator and author of You Are Your Child's First Teacher on Steiner's indications from birth through age six. She has been organizing "Waldorf in the Home" conferences for more than twenty years (first as "The Magical Years" Conference).
William Bento is co-director of Gradalis, a resource center for remedial, therapeutic and transdisciplinary education. He has been an adult educator in the field of human development for over 30 years. William has been a noted pioneer in the field of a new anthroposophical approach to psychology (Psychosophy). He brings a unique synthesis of sociological, psychological, cosmological and spiritual perspectives to bear on almost every facet of education and therapy.
Nancy Blanning taught Waldorf kindergarten 17 years before becoming the remedial and therapeutic teacher at the Denver Waldorf School. She also does teacher training and mentoring.
Kristie Burns, MH, ND has lived half her life in the Midwest and half in the Middle East. She studied Waldorf by reading and assisting in a Waldorf school in Illinois, then ran a Waldorf Enrichment program from her home in Saudi Arabia for four years. She holds a Naturopathic Doctorate and Masters in Herbalism from Trinity College.
Thomas Cowan, MD has been in prviate practice in natural and Ahtroposphic medicine for over 20 years. He is a founding board member of the Weston A. Price Foundation, promoting traditional nutrition. He is principle author, with Sally Fallon and Jaimen McMillen, of The Fourfold Path to Healing.
John Cunningham is both a Waldorf teacher and a certified NVC trainer. He trained individually with Marshall Rosenberg, the developer of Compassionate Communication (also called Nonviolent Communication, or NVC). Since June 2000, John has been giving trainings in NVC throughout the country as well as consulting to the Waldorf school movement (see www.empathyconexus.com).
David Darcy has a deep understanding of Waldorf education and Steiner's social philosophy. He has been a Waldorf class teacher, admissions director, high school teacher and consultant to home schooers. He helped start The Harvest, a Waldorf school in The Woodlands, Texas, and has written a curriculum integrating Waldorf activities into a program for homeless children.
Barbara S. Dewey holds a Masters in Waldorf education, has written many publications, and consults internationally on Waldorf home schooling through Waldorf Without Walls, which she founded (see www.waldorfwithoutwalls.com). She has recently returned from a speaking tour in Australia.
Cynthia Hoven works as a full-time faculty member at Rudolf Steiner College, where she directs a four-year, full-time training in Eurythmy. She has taught eurythmy and given courses on subjects in anthroposophy for over 25 years.
Linda Knodle is an experienced Waldorf teacher and the founder and director of Community Education Toward a Healthy Social Life. She is a pioneer in bringing coming of age work into the Waldorf schools, teaching blocks in many Waldorf middle school classrooms. She has recently published I Find My Star Curriculum, written by Tamara Slayton, Linda Knodle and Anne-Marie Fryer (see www.LindaKnodle.net).
Claudia McLaren Lainson has been a Waldorf educator for the past 24 years, teaching both Waldorf kindergarten and adult classes in Anthroposophic Studies. Claudia studied Therapeutic Education with Gradalis Institute and has been in private practice in Boulder since 1998, helping children and parents meet the challenges facing so many families today. Claudia has raised three children, and she and her husband John recently founded Wind Rose Farm outside of Boulder, Colorado.
Regina Mason holds her M.Ed. from Antioch/New England, with both Public School and Waldorf Certification. Her journey with Waldorf began in Camphill Village and stretches through 22 years of continuously homeschooling five children, with a two-year experience of "life in school" as a class teacher at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor. Her family left Ann Arbor seven years ago to make their home in community on BelleWeather Farm in upstate New York, where she homeschools, farms and also has been able to offer workshops for teachers, parents and children. Regina, her husband and three children who are still at home are developing The Shepherd's Child handwork and fiber arts studio at BelleWeather Farm.
Myra McPherson has served children with learning challenges for more than two decades. She maintains a private practice in therapeutic education work with children, families and teachers and does consultant work with Waldorf schools in and around Fair Oaks.
Michael Mendizza has been an educational and documentary filmmaker for the past 25 years and is founder of Touch The Future, a nonprofit learning design center in California (www.ttfuture.org). He has done extensive research on what athletes call the zone, researchers call flow, and children call play. By studying the lives of peak performers, Michael discovered that excellence, at any age or in any field, is "state specific," which he explains in his talks. He is coauthor, with Joseph Chilton Pearce, of Magical Parent-Magical Child: The Optimum Learning Relationship, which applies the basic principles of "state specific learning" or "being in the zone" to parenting and education. Kelly Morrow is a Waldorf teacher and reading specialist. She taught at Four Winds Waldorf School in Illinois and is now taking a class through the grades at Shining Mountain Waldorf School. In this workshop, she shares how she taught painting with grades 1 and 3.
Jack Petrash is the founder and director of the Nova Institute (www.novainstitute.net) and a nationally-known parenting educator. He taught for over 30 years and took three classes of children from grades one to eight at the Washington Waldorf School. His books include Covering Home: Lessons on the Art of Fathering from the Game of Baseball, Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the Inside Out and Navigating the Terrain of Childhood: A Guidebook for Meaningful Parenting and Heartfelt Discipline. Jack and his wife Carol have raised three children (31, 27 and 16).
Nancy Jewel Poer is known across the US for her lively lectures on Waldorf education, parenting, child development, the spiritual feminine and role of women in America, and threshold work with the dying. She is an artist as well as a writer and is cofounder of Rudolf Steiner COllege, where she has taught for 30 years. Nancy and her husband live on White Feather Ranch in the Sierra foothills, where they raise cattle, have a biodynamic garden, sponsor youth conferences, and Nancy gives women's retreats and threshold conferences to pass the work on to others.
Cook Rodgers was the founding teacher at River Song Waldorf School in Ft. Collins, Colorado and taught Waldorf early childhood for 10 years. She has also been a pioneer in Animal Assisted Therapy and directs Wildflower Nature Center, from her home in Boulder.
Rainbow Rosenbloom, M.Ed., is a Waldorf educator who has been working with home schooling programs since 1985. He is founding director of Live Education!, offering a Waldorf home schooling curriculum and consultation for grades K-8.
Daena Ross has been involved with Waldorf education for 22 years as a grade, kindergarten and specialty teacher and mentor for teachers. She also guided homeschool families in a California state charter for 8 years. She has a private practice and has worked with learning challenged children for 20 years and is currently the remedial support teacher at East Bay Waldorf School in El Sobrante, California.
Penni Rich Sparks is a Waldorf master teacher, consultant and parent educator. Penni has developed workshops for adults who would like to be effective, present and loving authorities for all the children in their lives through her empowerment-based programs called Take Heart (see www.teachingheart.us).
Elizabeth Seward, PhD, bridges academia and Waldorf education, having recently earned a doctorate in education after 17 years as a Waldorf teacher, specializing in handwork. She also directed the Waldorf teacher preparation program in Los Angeles and San Diego for three years. Elizabeth serves as a mentor to Waldorf handwork teachers throughout California.
Betty Staley is well-known as the author of Between Form and Freedom, A Practical Guide to the Teenage Years, which has become a classic for parents in grades 5-12. She has worked with adolescents for 35 years and currently directs both the Waldorf High School Training Program and the Foundation Year at Rudolf Steiner College, where she also works with public school teachers and with teachers of at-risk students from throughout California. She consults with Waldorf schools (and Waldorf-inspired charter schools) and gives workshops for parents, university students and teachers.
Cynthia Wand is a trainer and facilitator for Virtues Project International, recognized by the UN as a model global program for families of all cultures. She is also a homeschooling mother, applying Waldorf principles for her daughters, ages 11 and 5. Her presentations and workshops are designed to inspire parents and educators to "be the change they want to see" by discovering and strengthening their inner gifts.