Open Call: Free-Play Summer Camp for Educators and the Unschooling/Alternative Education Community

#collaborative_inquiry
#radical_accompaniment
#unlearning
#worldschooling
#outdoor_learning
#parents_cooperative
#forest_school
#children_of_all_ages

This is an open invitation to spend time together, find flow, and connect with like-minded/mindful children of all ages, recovering educators and alternative education researchers, unschooling or world-schooling adventurers, and practice-oriented dreamers of beautiful change, along with our families and friends. We wish to make time and open up possibilities for freedom and togetherness, for free-play, roaming, exploring, making green food, and taking care of ourselves, of each other, and of our environment.
Through this, we aim to create new relationships and strengthen our foundations in learning through art, share our experiences and approaches to cooperative, informal, outdoors, and mixed-age learning practices; and to learn from each other about being together in nature and beautiful rhythm.

Where: Our get-together will take place at the Chirokitia Intentional Community Eco-village, a place that can holistically accommodate our varying interests and needs. We wish to explore and celebrate the potential of the Chirokitia Eco-village as a site for cooperative learning and unschooling initiatives, and as an inspiring place for setting our intentions.

For more information on the Chirokitia initiative take a look at its website & facebook group.
For more information on the eimaste parents cooperative see eimaste.net, and facebook group.

When: Between Monday 21st – Sunday 27th of June

Preliminary Plan
Monday the 21st – Friday the 25th: Join us anytime for a loose daily rhythm, camping, on- and off-site visits, experiencing the place, and exploratory circles and spontaneous co-learning activities. We will be share spontaneously or on-demand:
parents circles
nearby excursions and hiking trails for all ages,
touch and massage for all ages (Justina),
woodworking,

Bring along:
Camping equipment if you wish to stay for one or more nights
Food and water (cooking facilities are provided)
Call Melissa at 99418073 for more information.

Donations will go towards building the eco-village’s water-system.

26th Saturday and Sunday 27th: During the weekend, our time together will culminate into a celebration during the weekend, and our rhythm will expand to include more people and families.

To participate or make enquiries
Contact Chrystalleni Loizidou on 99586369, or Justyna Ataman on 96229369, and consider contributing a few words about your intentions in writing.
Email: nai@eimaste.net

“It takes a village”: Weekly Parents Circle and Waldorf Pedagogy for the Early Years with Erika Wieser

Online, Tuesdays 9pm – contact 99586369 for details

This is an ongoing series of consultations focusing on the Applied aspects of Waldorf-Steiner Early Years Education and unlearning-related wisdom, addressed to educators as well as interested parents. 

Current assignments

  • Collect individual articulations and put together a shared vision in keywords: Capture collective intention: what we wish for the child: which wishes do we have for the body: for the soul: for the spirit 
  • Parents Circle on Nonviolent Communication  and Ethos for parental cooperation

Themes covered

March 30, 9pm -The Twelve Senses: We have twelve senses and these senses are our doors to this world. How do we nourish these senses so that the child can have good roots in this reality?

  • Rhythm and transitions
  • Role models
  • Pedagogic material and activities
  • Family-specific questions and solutions
  • How to connect and meet age-specific challenges
  • Questions about each child’s developmental journey

Erika Wieser biography

I am a Kindergarten Teacher since 1978. Two years working in the Linz Tobacco Factory Kindergarten in Upper Austria showed me that I didn’t know anything about “difficult children” and that I had to continue my education. I went to Vienna for the next two years to complete the school for children with disabilities and then worked for the next 3 years in Christoph Lesigang’s outpatient department for children with multiple disabilities. Professor Lesigang was an excellent anthroposophic doctor for children and I was lucky to learn a lot from his behavior with children and parents. I worked with the children and gave advice to the parents. After the wonderful years in Vienna I came by accident to Greece where I fell in love with my husband Dimitris Papaioannou, a painter of Byzantine icons. When we came back to Austria, I worked for the next 10 years with children with severe disabilities in a dedicated kindergarten. In 1994 my daughter Myriam came to this world and changed my life. In 1996 I started studying Waldorf Education in Vienna which lasted 3 years, completing my final thesis on the subject of the tactile sense. For 5 years I was special assistant in the two Waldorf Kindergartens in Linz for children with additional needs, and finally, 13 years before my retirement, I started and led a natural Kindergarten on a farm focusing on Waldorf Education. Beside my work I taught for 10 years Basal Stimulation for Kindergarten teachers for children with additional needs. For three years I was working with adolescents with very difficult childhoods and trauma from the war in Bosnia. I am a trainer of health gymnastics since 1985. I am a beekeeper since 2005. Now I am in pension and I am lucky to do what I like most: to share my experiences.

Stavrodromi Autumn 2020 Program

Dear families,

We had a beautiful and meaningful time during our Summer Program and our first two months in our new place and we are delighted to share with you our Fall Program starting September 2020. If you are interested in signing up or would like to know more, please fill out this form and we will get in touch with you shortly. Along with the following we wish to organise for additional offerings according to the needs of our community, and are open to your ideas and contributions.

* Parent and Child Program for ages 0-3 (Weekdays 8:00-13:00)
* Daily Morning Program for ages 3-6 (Weekdays 8:00-13:00)
* Co-operative Wednesday Afternoons – A weekly community program for various age groups (1:30-18:00)
* Special Education Afternoons according to demand
* Languages of instruction are Greek, English, and Russian
* Healthy meals are prepared and shared in community
* Where? At our Indoor and Outdoor premises in Geri, Nicosia
_________

Our program is cooperatively developed to meet the needs of families interested in Waldorf-Steiner education, alternative, democratic, and community education, and to address gaps in conventional schooling.

Our program is motivated by trust in each child’s wonder in the world and their innate desire to learn through imitation and self-directed free play. It builds on our understanding of their remarkable ability to learn from each other, and the desire to offer them a wide range of emotionally connected activities, in a natural environment, led by mindful and attentive instructors. We work to hold a space of safety and belonging, to create the right conditions for both free and supported learning, full of rich opportunities for stimulation and development.

We believe in the educational advantages of multilingual and multicultural learning environments, and we encourage each of our instructors and parent participants to also introduce material in their mother tongues. Our present team richly communicates in Greek, English, and Russian. For our afternoon program especially, we implement a daily rhythm that allows for mixed age groups as much as possible, prioritising education of the head, hands and heart, emotional literacy, closeness with nature, and seasonal traditions and customs.
_________

Our Morning Program (Weekdays 8:00-13:00) begins Monday September 14th.
Our Afternoon Program (Weekly 1:30-18:00) begins Wednesday October 7th.
Please fill out a separate form for each child.

For more information on who we are, check out:
http://stavrodromi.org
https://parentscollective.eimaste.net

*Contact details
Chrystalleni Loizidou, 99586369
Olga Zoubareva-Zamba, 99521672

_____________________________________________

Our Programs

**Morning Rhythm – Parent and Child Club for ages 0-3 (Weekdays 8:00-13:00)
Parents who wish to stay with their child until it is accustomed and integrated in our school are very welcome to do so. Where possible we encourage parents to stay with their children until they are ready, usually around age 3, and that they provide beautiful examples of participation, productivity, and learning. – 250€ monthly

**Morning Rhythm for ages 3-6 (Weekdays 8:00-13:00)
Free Play, Circle-time and Weekly Rhythm in line with Cyprus seasons, nature, and culture. Parent attendance is optional depending on the readiness of the child. The group is developed under the mentorship of Austrian Waldorf Kindergarden expert Erika Weiser, with Marina Zhebina as lead teacher, and Chrystalleni Loizidou and Olga Zoumbareva-Zamba as assistant teachers. Mindful parents are welcome to stay with us and contribute to our beautiful atmospheres. – 320€ monthly

**Afternoon Co-op (Wednesdays to begin with, 1:30-18:00)
Our children have an abundance of energy and thirst for activity. We have a variety of useful and meaningful tasks for them to contribute to and enjoy, and give ample opportunities for them to pursue their linguistic, literacy, arithmetic, nature-observing and construction-related developmental interests.
We invite parents and other experts from our community to develop, together, a rhythm that includes rest, free play, individual or group instruction in various subjects according to demand, organised games, and access to creative materials. We aim to address our childrens’ needs all in one place, in a warm setting that enables a sense of stability, security, and belonging. We plan for this to include healthy snacks and meals prepared in community, gardening, arithmetic games, singing, circus arts and acrobatics, building with natural materials, drumming, dance and joy, woodworking, fine arts and crafts, animal care, and of course cleaning and tidying together. Special guests will be joining us regularly and more specialised activities (such as individual instruction in musical instruments such as violin, piano, and guitar) may be organised according to demand and at additional cost. – Suggested contribution for our basic program: 70€ monthly

_________

**Participation costs
-Morning Rhythm – Parent and Child Club for ages 0-3 – €250 monthly
-Morning Rhythm for ages 3-6 – €320 monthly
-Afternoon Co-op, on Wednesdays to begin with, 1:30-18:00 – 70€ monthly contribution

*We strive to include families who may not be able to afford our fees. Do contact us for a bursary application.*
_________

** For our Special Education Afternoons please contact us for more information.
**Adult workshops or private instruction in Eurythmy, Waldorf Teacher Training (Kindergarten and Grade School), Drumming, Streetdance, Singing Choir, Healing Belly-dance, Biodynamic Gardening, Advanced Doll-making, and Hand in Hand – Parenting by connection. Please contact us for more information.

Co-op Debates: Ανοικτή Συνεργασία – Η Ανάγκη της Περίστασης

Η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” είναι οποιοδήποτε γεγονός/κατάσταση, προσωπική και γενική που χρήζει άμεσης αντιμετώπισης. Είναι η πρακτική ιεράρχηση αναγκαίων δράσεων.

Σε ατομικό επίπεδο, η διαβίωση χαρακτηρίζεται από τρεις βασικές δράσεις που βρίσκονται συνεχώς σε λειτουργία – την ανάγκη της τροφής, την ανάγκη της στέγασης και την ανάγκη της ένδυσης.

Όταν αυτές οι τρεις βασικές ανάγκες καλυφθούν πλήρως, τότε αυτό που απομένει είναι η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” δηλαδή οποιαδήποτε ανάγκη δημιουργηθεί, είτε από το άτομο, είτε από το περιβάλλον του που πρέπει απαραίτητα να καλυφθεί για να μπορεί το άτομο να λειτουργήσει.

Προφανώς εάν μια από τις τρεις βασικές δράσεις/ανάγκες δεν είναι εκπληρωμένη, τότε γίνεται αυτή η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης”. Εάν κάποιο άτομο διαθέτει τροφή και ένδυση αλλά δεν διαθέτει στέγαση, τότε για το άτομο αυτό πρωταρχική ανάγκη (Ανάγκη της Περίστασης) είναι να στεγαστεί.

Σε γενικό επίπεδο, δηλαδή στο επίπεδο οργάνωσης μιας μεγάλης ομάδας ατόμων που κινούνται προς ένα συγκεκριμένο σκοπό – την διαβίωση τους, τότε η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” θα είναι οτιδήποτε χρειάζεται – ανά βαθμό σημαντικότητας, για να μπορεί η ομάδα αυτή να λειτουργήσει σωστά.

Παράδειγμα: Η Ανοικτή Συνεργασία οφείλει να προβλέψει πρώτα για τις τρεις βασικές ανάγκες των μελών της – τροφή, στέγαση, ένδυση. Αυτές οι τρεις βασικές δράσεις/ανάγκες ορίζονται σαν “Ανάγκες της Περίστασης” αφού τίποτα άλλο δεν μπορεί να επιτελεστεί μέχρι να καλυφθούν αυτά τα ζητήματα. Αφού λοιπόν καλυφθούν αυτές οι ανάγκες τότε η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” θα είναι οτιδήποτε χρήζει, λογικά και συναισθηματικά, προσοχής. Στην περίπτωση που όλα τα μέλη της Συνεργασίας διαθέτουν τροφή, στέγη και ένδυση, “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” είναι να δημιουργηθούν υποδομές υγείας και να υπάρχει στο σύνολο κάποιος/κάποιοι γιατροί. Γιατί είναι αυτό απαραίτητο; Γιατί να οριστεί αυτό σαν “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης”; Διότι αυτονόητα εάν το σύνολο νοσήσει, δεν θα μπορεί να υπάρξει και η Συνεργασία.

Το να αναγνωριστεί ποια είναι η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” σε κάθε στιγμή είναι πάρα πολύ απλό. Δεν χρειάζεται κάποιος ειδικός επί του θέματος, δεν χρειάζεται κάποιος “αρχηγός” για να καθοδηγήσει, δεν χρειάζεται κάποιος “ηγέτης” που θα αποφασίσει. Η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” είναι πάντα αυταπόδεικτα ξεκάθαρη για κάθε άτομο, σε προσωπικό επίπεδο, και για κάθε σύνολο σε γενικό επίπεδο.

Παράδειγμα: Οργανώνοντας τις υποδομές της Ανοικτής Συνεργασίας, και αφού έχει βεβαιωθεί ότι όλοι διαθέτουν τροφή, στέγαση και ένδυση, μπορεί να τεθεί το ερώτημα, τι άλλο χρειάζεται, τι άλλο επείγει για να γίνει. Η απάντηση και πάλι είναι απλή και δεν χρειάζεται σωρεία επιτροπών με κουστωδίες ειδικών για να αποφασίσουν. Μπορεί κάποιο μέλος της Συνεργασίας να προτείνει πως αυτό που χρειάζεται τώρα η Συνεργασία είναι ένα Λουνα Παρκ. Σας ακούγεται αυτό, στο παρόν στάδιο, λογικά και συναισθηματικά ορθό; Φυσικά και όχι. Θα ήταν παράλογο κάποιος να σπαταλήσει πόρους, χρόνο και ενέργεια για να κτίσει ένα Λούνα Παρκ. Στην περίπτωση αυτή η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης” μας δείχνει ποια θα ήταν η σωστή δράση: το να κτιστεί ένα Ιατρείο. Το σύνολο της Ανοικτής Συνεργασίας μπορεί να λειτουργήσει χωρίς Λούνα Παρκ για απεριόριστο χρόνο, αλλά δεν μπορεί να λειτουργήσει χωρίς κάποιο Ιατρείο, χωρίς να βεβαιώσει πώς τα μέλη του συνόλου θα έχουν την δυνατότητα Ιατροφαρμακευτικής περίθαλψης. Αυτή είναι λοιπόν η “Ανάγκη της Περίστασης”, αυτό που κάθε στιγμή και ανά τις περιστάσεις επιβάλλεται για να γίνει.