Special Conference on Pikler approach

Acorns presents:


Saturday 28th June at Greenwich Steiner House


We are pleased to announce the official launch of the Pikler UK Association on


28 June 2014 at Greenwich Steiner School, London, SE3 7SE


www.pikler.co.uk


Inaugural Conference



DO WE REALLY KNOW WHAT HIGH QUALITY CARE IS?


introducing the Pikler approach to the care of the very young child


We have a very special Acorns discount at £25 for the day conference, instead of £40!


Please, do answer to confirm you are coming, I just need to give the number of people attending today, we can pay at the door at our arrival, also let us know of special diet and which afternoon talk you would prefer.

Many thanks!
10.00 Registration and coffee
10.30 Welcome
Oona Alexander
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
10.45 Dance with me in the heart
Every baby is born expecting to dance the
partnership dance, but they cannot dance it
with us when we have forgotten how the steps go.
Pennie Brownlee
11.45 “High quality” play - what does it look like
when we let it happen
Dorothy Marlen
12.30 Lunch
1.45 Workshops (see overleaf)
2.45 Pikler UK Association Official Launch
Clare Caro
3.00 Loczy: A Place to Grow
3.30 Discussion
4.00 Concluding Remarks
4.15 Close of conference & Tea

WORKSHOPS

NEW STORIES FOR THE PARTNERSHIP DANCE

Pennie Brownlee


The underlying principles for true partnership with infants and children are different from the stories about infants and
children which are held in our culture. In this workshop we explore stories and practices that bring bonded partnerships
firmly into our culture. This shift is a shift into the heart and therefore, a shift in consciousness; it is the shift required to
turn around our society’s pathology.


WORKSHOP 2

NATURAL GROSS AND FINE DEVELOPMENT IN THE INFANT -
AN EXPERIENTIAL WORKSHOP

Dorothy Marlen

Which comes first - crawling or sitting? What can happen when an infant is put into a position before he can get there
himself? And what happens when you allow plenty of time for self-initatied movement? Finally what kind of environment
and materials support healthy motor development? This workshop will introduce important research and insights into the
natural progression of gross and fine motor development from the Pikler Institute. Come with comfortable clothing to
change into and be prepared for floor work!


WORKSHOP 3

PREVENTING & RESOLVING TODDLER CONFLICT

Oona Alexander

How and why do conflicts occur? Are there things we can do before the children arrive to support them to have less conflicts?
And importantly how can we respond respectfully and effectively when conflicts do arise in our groups or settings? In
this workshop we will explore how the Pikler approach helps us find answers to these questions.


CONTRIBUTORS

PENNIE BROWNLEE

Pennie is a mother, grandmother, author, artist, teacher and self employed facilitator with 47 years experience in education. In 1983 she
wrote “Magic Places: the adult’s guide to young children’s creative art work”, and has facilitated residential courses for parents and teachers
in fostering children’s creativity since 1990. Following her summer school attendance at the Pikler Institute in 2004 - and influenced
by Dr Emmi Pikler and Joseph Chilton Pearce - Pennie designed and delivered a two week residential training for educators and health
professionals who work with babies, families and young children. In 2008 she wrote “Dance with me in the Heart: the adults’ guide to
great infant-parent partnerships”. Her passion is sharing this liberating way of childrearing with parents. She travels throughout New
Zealand sharing her enthusiasm with communities large and small.

DOROTHY MARLEN

Originally trained as a Steiner Kindergarten teacher, she now has over 20 years experience of running parent and child groups, courses,
and trainings for parents and carers of the very young child. Her work was transformed by taking the Level 1 and 2 training in the Pikler
approach to Early Childhood Education at the Pikler Institute in Budapest, in 2008 and 2010 - the first person from the UK to do so. She
now offers workshops and consultancy to day care settings in the UK and runs Parent and Baby groups inspired by the Pikler approach,
which she pioneered in the UK four years ago. She organised the first Level 1 Pikler® training in the UK in 2011-12 and is presently designing
a new Birth to Three Qualification for carers of young children. This will incorporate important aspects of the Pikler Approach.

OONA ALEXANDER

Oona Alexander is an independent under 3s specialist who supports parents and professionals to find authentic relationships with the
young children in their care. She comes from a Steiner background and now incorporates the Pikler approach in her work. Through her
consultancy, Early Childhood Insight, she offers workshops, parent-child groups and one-to-one consultations. Oona trained with the first
cohort of Pikler students here in the UK (they are now on level 2) and by the time of this launch she will have completed the 2nd level
Pikler training in Budapest too. Her innovative groups, Child’s Play for Toddlers and Child’s Play for Babies, are informed by the Pikler
approach.
CLARE CARO
Inspired by a group of Pikler-trained friends, when Clare herself became a mother she had enough information to start the relationship
with her daughter following Piklerian ideas. With such an inspiring outcome, and eager to find more information, she gathered a large
collection of articles about Dr Emmi Pikler and the Pikler approach - and so The Pikler Collection website came about. Through the
research and the website, Clare is in contact with the Pikler Institute, Pikler groups, students and pedagogues around the world.
Welcome to the first Pikler UK Association (PUKA) newsletter.

Our fledgling organisation now has a constitution and a website and we are looking forward to our launch event in London.


 The launch will be on Saturday 28th June 

in Greenwich Steiner School, London.

Come along and hear our inspiring speakers, 

Dorothy Marlen the UK Pikler representative, 

and Pennie Brownlee author of 
Dance with me in the Heart, 
who is working with the Pikler approach 
in New Zealand. 

We are delighted to announce that PUKA is now able to offer membership to both individuals and organisations. Membership entitles you to early alerts of conferences, courses and workshops, plus a regular newsletter with a feature article and all news - just like this one - you will need to become a member to continue receiving the newsletter.  Membership will also entitle you to reduced rates for resources through our PUKA website shop, which will be up and running soon.  For those who join before our launch date, we are making an introductory offer: 18 months of membership for the price of 12 months. 
Visit our membership page and join us www.pikler.co.uk/membership. 

This first newsletter brings you a feature article by Dorothy Marlen, who tells the story so far: how did the Pikler UK Association come into being? You will hear how Dorothy singlehandedly pioneered this initiative, sowing seeds over several years.

We aim to send out a newsletter four times a year so we look forward to connecting with you again in three months, when our feature article will be by Ela Pawluczuk, who describes a mother’s perspective on respectful care in the first year of her child’s life.

With all the best from The PUKA committee, 
Oona Alexander, Helen Bremer, Clare Caro, Elzbieta Pawluczuk, Samantha Greshoff, Dorothy Marlen.A Brief History of PUKA – The Pikler UK Association   By Dorothy Marlen

The Pikler UK Association is very new – only now being officially born – not an infant yet and certainly not a toddler. Here is a brief description and summary of its conception and gestation in a country which has been unaware of the Pikler approach until recently. In 2008, on joining the Basic English Summer 2 week summer course at the Pikler Institute I was surprised to find out that I was the first person living in the UK to do so. Although participants for these popular trainings fly in from all around the world no one had ever come from the UK.

I had only heard about the Pikler Institute and the exemplary care that had been developed there a year or so earlier. This was through colleagues in the Steiner movement living and working abroad in Europe and the USA who were involved in early childcare initiatives where the Pikler approach had been successfully integrated. No one in the UK, it seemed, knew anything about Dr Emmi Pikler and the work of the Pikler Institute. No one apart from Stephanie Petrie and Sue Owen who together edited a book called Authentic Relationships in Group Care for Infants and Toddlers in 2005. This book was based on the work of Magda Gerber who took the Pikler approach from Hungary to the USA and founded Resources for Infant Educarers.

The first two weeks that I spent at the Pikler Institute profoundly changed my practice as an Early Years teacher and trainer. Afterwards I began to run parent and baby groups based on what I have more recently termed “the lemniscate of care”. This is the giving of respectful and conscious care, with full presence, to a young child, primarily during times of bodily care (the natural way to build secure attachment) delicately balanced with allowing the child uninterrupted time to move and play freely without interference (the natural way to ensure full gross and fine motor progression). These two primary needs of the infant and young child I had seen so clearly and exquisitely fulfilled through the talks and videos at the Institute.

I began running mum and baby groups based on the Pikler approach soon after.  I easily saw the difference in the babies’ motor development and play as well as the quality of care and bonding with their mothers.  I observed how the unique approach originated by Dr Pikler revealed new ways of caring for babies.  

But I was still a “singleton” as no one else from the UK had as yet ventured to Budapest.  So in 2009 I began to give introductory talks about the Pikler approach, to early year practitioners and parents, primarily in the UK Steiner movement. Returning to the Pikler Institute for another two weeks of training in 2010 I met a Dutch Pikler pedagogue, Hedie Meyling, who was assisting on the training at the Institute. I saw then that there was an opportunity to organise a Pikler training in the UK. Hedie agreed and in 2011 fifteen Steiner Early Years practitioners signed up for the Basic Pikler training. This was held in York, North Yorkshire during 2011-12 over approximately eight full weekends.

By the time this first level Pikler training was competed in 2012 there were finally enough of us - six in total – who agreed to come together to form the Pikler UK Association and take up the committee posts. There are three members (Helen Bower, Elzbieta Pawluczuk and Clare Caro) who are not involved in the Steiner movement and three of us who are (Sam Greshoff, Oona Alexander and myself). Elzbieta now has some training at the Pikler Institute and is raising her child the Pikler way and Helen is a Pikler pedagogue, trained in Germany. Clare Caro is raising her two children the Pikler way and has started Nature Play parents and children in London, and created a wonderful Pikler resource for all people in the English speaking world calledwww.thepiklercollection.weebly.com.

Awareness of the Pikler approach is growing in the UK now, and there are invitations to give talks to nurseries and Early Childhood carer trainings in mainstream. There are also more people from the UK making the journey to the Pikler Institute for the summer courses and a steady stream of visitors to the Pikler collection website.

PUKA’s main aim is to bring awareness of the Pikler approach and practice to all parents and early childhood settings in the UK. It has taken six years to birth the UK Pikler Association. Hopefully before another six years is up, children in the UK will be benefiting fully from the new understanding of quality care which the Pikler approach promises to provide.

Holistic Baby and Child Care (EYE)
Steiner Waldorf with the Pikler approach to child development, play and care with a birth to three emphasis.

Take a journey in learning and self development that will equip you with skills and confidence in caring for your children and supporting parents. 
This pioneering course synthesises Steiner Waldorf and the Pikler approach whilst meeting the new EYE critieria.

It is a part time Level 3 (EYE) training for childminders, parent and child group leaders and those wishing to care for the young child. 
It starts in September 2014 in London with residentials at 
Emerson College, Sussex.
Visit www.emerson.org.uk/holistic-baby-and-child-care for more information.
The Official Launch of PIKLER ASSOCIATION UKThe official launch of PIKLER ASSOCIATION UK will take place on Saturday 28 June 2014.    

With the 1st UK Pikler Conference -
DO WE REALLY KNOW WHAT HIGH QUALITY CARE IS?  INTRODUCING THE PIKLER APPROACH TO THE CARE OF THE VERY YOUNG CHILD
Talks by Pennie Brownlee, Dorothy Marlen, workshops and discussions.  To be held at Greenwich Steiner School, London.
Registration fee including lunch £30 for members £40 for non-members. 
For further information and to download the booking form visit 
www.pikler.co.uk/upcoming-events 

Workshop with
Pennie Brownlee
 We are delighted to be able offer a workshop with Pennie while she is in the UK all the way from New Zealand.  

The full day workshop 


'Anyway! You're Not The Boss of Me'


 is suitable for all parents and teachers, 
and looks at upgrading our ideas and skills around working partnerships with young children.

To be held at Steiner House in London,
 on
Sunday June 29th.

For more details visit
www.pikler.co.uk/upcoming-events

Acorns Open Day

a few places left, please hurry!
 
Monday 23rd June

9.30 @ Woodlands (Drop off Playgroup)


This is your chance to visit and participate, observe and ask questions.

Come to the Drop off session as a visitor (bookings only) and experience in person; leaders/teachers will be available for more info and questions.

Please if you would like a space contact Maria or Erika through the contact form. 


Parents of children who are two years old already, and wish to start playgroup in September apply now!

Parent and Child session on that day will also be open for visitors by appointment only, apply by simply sending a brief request via contact form.


Acorns Playgroup is for 2 to 3 years old, and it is a natural transition from Parent and Child group, getting the children used to the rhythms of the Kindergarten, making them feel more independent, creative and start socialize and play with their little friends. A couple of hours away from mummy and daddy makes the child feel like a 'big boy' or 'big girl'!

 Yes, we still have some places available for September intake as, of course a bunch of children are moving up to Kindergarten.
 
Playgroup will start back on the 8th September 2013.
 The fee is £820 per term, this is for 4 days a week.

We also offer 2 or 3 day sessions;
 the fee for 2 days a week is £410 per term, 
3 days a week is £605 per term

 A fee deposit of £200 is required on acceptance of a child`s place at playgroup, but this is deducted from the fees due for the final term that the child is at playgroup.



Playgroup is held at the Greenwich Steiner School, Woodlands building, 09.30 - 11.30 am, Monday to Thursday.

 An additional Forest school day is offered, as part of Playgroup  which means we will have the whole session outside at Woodlands/Mycenae Gardens.For more info ask the leader.

 This is a brief description of a daily rhythm of the group:
We start the session outdoors where we can all enjoy some fresh air and have adventures. 
After outside time at 10.00am we go indoors and we get ready for toilet time where all toilet trained children use the toilet, nappies are changed if needed and all children wash their hands. We sing a few songs while we wait for everyone to be ready.
At about 10.20 we have our ring time, singing seasonal songs and nursery rhymes with the children, followed by story time. 
After this, at around 10.40 am, we go to the snack table, sing our blessing and eat our snack (Which often turns into more of a meal!); 
at about 11.00 children have finished eating, we say thank you for the food and they leave the table to have free indoor play and activities. These are the activities which mark the weekly rhythm:

 Mon. making bread rolls
 Tue. art with crayons
Wed. making vegetable soup,
 Thu art with watercolours painting. 
We start to tidy at around 11.25 and gather for 
goodbye songs and our session ends at 11.30 am. 

Our settling in period is extended over the course of two weeks to help with the settling in process of your child into the group.

Birthdays and festivals are celebrated throughout the year and we will keep you informed of these.

If you are still interested you need to download the application form from here:
 www.greenwichacorns.org.uk and send it to us via email 
(as the school is closed for the summer holidays). 
We will be in contact in due course regarding an interview(an informal chat)and is for completion of the child`s profile, also gives us a better picture of the child. It will also enable the parents/guardians to have a better picture of the Playgroup and questions answered.
It would be great if you could let us know asap if you are still interested and 
which days you would prefer for your son/daughter to attend.


If you have any further questions, please don`t hesitate to get in touch.

The Acorns Drop off Playgroup team.

Inviting all Acorns staff and families to join us in a small informal celebration of summer.

The theme is flowers,herbs, fruit, the Sun, fire, warmth and laughter!
Come dance with us and the fairies!


Oxleas Woods


Friday 20th from 2 pm, 


meet by main lawn in front of cafe,
 we will go to the large meadow where the wild flowers grow...


bring a picnic to add to our feast, water/juice and a blanket to sit on.


Susannah and the Acorns team

Acorns Open Day

a few places left, please hurry!
 
Monday 23rd June

9.30 @ Woodlands (Drop off Playgroup)


This is your chance to visit and participate, observe and ask questions.

Come to the Drop off session as a visitor (bookings only) and experience in person; leaders/teachers will be available for more info and questions.

Please if you would like a space contact Maria or Erika through the contact form. 


Parents of children who are two years old already, and wish to start playgroup in September apply now!

Parent and Child session on that day will also be open for visitors by appointment only, apply by simply sending a brief request via contact form.


Acorns Playgroup is for 2 to 3 years old, and it is a natural transition from Parent and Child group, getting the children used to the rhythms of the Kindergarten, making them feel more independent, creative and start socialize and play with their little friends. A couple of hours away from mummy and daddy makes the child feel like a 'big boy' or 'big girl'!

 Yes, we still have some places available for September intake as, of course a bunch of children are moving up to Kindergarten.
 
Playgroup will start back on the 8th September 2013.
 The fee is £820 per term, this is for 4 days a week.

We also offer 2 or 3 day sessions;
 the fee for 2 days a week is £410 per term, 
3 days a week is £605 per term

 A fee deposit of £200 is required on acceptance of a child`s place at playgroup, but this is deducted from the fees due for the final term that the child is at playgroup.



Playgroup is held at the Greenwich Steiner School, Woodlands building, 09.30 - 11.30 am, Monday to Thursday.

 An additional Forest school day is offered, as part of Playgroup  which means we will have the whole session outside at Woodlands/Mycenae Gardens.For more info ask the leader.

 This is a brief description of a daily rhythm of the group:
We start the session outdoors where we can all enjoy some fresh air and have adventures. 
After outside time at 10.00am we go indoors and we get ready for toilet time where all toilet trained children use the toilet, nappies are changed if needed and all children wash their hands. We sing a few songs while we wait for everyone to be ready.
At about 10.20 we have our ring time, singing seasonal songs and nursery rhymes with the children, followed by story time. 
After this, at around 10.40 am, we go to the snack table, sing our blessing and eat our snack (Which often turns into more of a meal!); 
at about 11.00 children have finished eating, we say thank you for the food and they leave the table to have free indoor play and activities. These are the activities which mark the weekly rhythm:

 Mon. making bread rolls
 Tue. art with crayons
Wed. making vegetable soup,
 Thu art with watercolours painting. 
We start to tidy at around 11.25 and gather for 
goodbye songs and our session ends at 11.30 am. 

Our settling in period is extended over the course of two weeks to help with the settling in process of your child into the group.

Birthdays and festivals are celebrated throughout the year and we will keep you informed of these.

If you are still interested you need to download the application form from here:
 www.greenwichacorns.org.uk and send it to us via email 
(as the school is closed for the summer holidays). 
We will be in contact in due course regarding an interview(an informal chat)and is for completion of the child`s profile, also gives us a better picture of the child. It will also enable the parents/guardians to have a better picture of the Playgroup and questions answered.
It would be great if you could let us know asap if you are still interested and 
which days you would prefer for your son/daughter to attend.


If you have any further questions, please don`t hesitate to get in touch.

The Acorns Drop off Playgroup team.

Welcome to the first Pikler UK Association (PUKA) newsletter.

Our fledgling organisation now has a constitution and a website and we are looking forward to our launch event in London.


 The launch will be on Saturday 28th June 

in Greenwich Steiner School, London.

Come along and hear our inspiring speakers, 


Dorothy Marlen the UK Pikler representative, 


and Pennie Brownlee author of 
Dance with me in the Heart, 
who is working with the Pikler approach 
in New Zealand. 

We are delighted to announce that PUKA is now able to offer membership to both individuals and organisations. Membership entitles you to early alerts of conferences, courses and workshops, plus a regular newsletter with a feature article and all news - just like this one - you will need to become a member to continue receiving the newsletter.  Membership will also entitle you to reduced rates for resources through our PUKA website shop, which will be up and running soon.  For those who join before our launch date, we are making an introductory offer: 18 months of membership for the price of 12 months. 
Visit our membership page and join us www.pikler.co.uk/membership. 

This first newsletter brings you a feature article by Dorothy Marlen, who tells the story so far: how did the Pikler UK Association come into being? You will hear how Dorothy singlehandedly pioneered this initiative, sowing seeds over several years.

We aim to send out a newsletter four times a year so we look forward to connecting with you again in three months, when our feature article will be by Ela Pawluczuk, who describes a mother’s perspective on respectful care in the first year of her child’s life.

With all the best from The PUKA committee, 
Oona Alexander, Helen Bremer, Clare Caro, Elzbieta Pawluczuk, Samantha Greshoff, Dorothy Marlen.A Brief History of PUKA – The Pikler UK Association   By Dorothy Marlen

The Pikler UK Association is very new – only now being officially born – not an infant yet and certainly not a toddler. Here is a brief description and summary of its conception and gestation in a country which has been unaware of the Pikler approach until recently. In 2008, on joining the Basic English Summer 2 week summer course at the Pikler Institute I was surprised to find out that I was the first person living in the UK to do so. Although participants for these popular trainings fly in from all around the world no one had ever come from the UK.

I had only heard about the Pikler Institute and the exemplary care that had been developed there a year or so earlier. This was through colleagues in the Steiner movement living and working abroad in Europe and the USA who were involved in early childcare initiatives where the Pikler approach had been successfully integrated. No one in the UK, it seemed, knew anything about Dr Emmi Pikler and the work of the Pikler Institute. No one apart from Stephanie Petrie and Sue Owen who together edited a book called Authentic Relationships in Group Care for Infants and Toddlers in 2005. This book was based on the work of Magda Gerber who took the Pikler approach from Hungary to the USA and founded Resources for Infant Educarers.

The first two weeks that I spent at the Pikler Institute profoundly changed my practice as an Early Years teacher and trainer. Afterwards I began to run parent and baby groups based on what I have more recently termed “the lemniscate of care”. This is the giving of respectful and conscious care, with full presence, to a young child, primarily during times of bodily care (the natural way to build secure attachment) delicately balanced with allowing the child uninterrupted time to move and play freely without interference (the natural way to ensure full gross and fine motor progression). These two primary needs of the infant and young child I had seen so clearly and exquisitely fulfilled through the talks and videos at the Institute.

I began running mum and baby groups based on the Pikler approach soon after.  I easily saw the difference in the babies’ motor development and play as well as the quality of care and bonding with their mothers.  I observed how the unique approach originated by Dr Pikler revealed new ways of caring for babies.  

But I was still a “singleton” as no one else from the UK had as yet ventured to Budapest.  So in 2009 I began to give introductory talks about the Pikler approach, to early year practitioners and parents, primarily in the UK Steiner movement. Returning to the Pikler Institute for another two weeks of training in 2010 I met a Dutch Pikler pedagogue, Hedie Meyling, who was assisting on the training at the Institute. I saw then that there was an opportunity to organise a Pikler training in the UK. Hedie agreed and in 2011 fifteen Steiner Early Years practitioners signed up for the Basic Pikler training. This was held in York, North Yorkshire during 2011-12 over approximately eight full weekends.

By the time this first level Pikler training was competed in 2012 there were finally enough of us - six in total – who agreed to come together to form the Pikler UK Association and take up the committee posts. There are three members (Helen Bower, Elzbieta Pawluczuk and Clare Caro) who are not involved in the Steiner movement and three of us who are (Sam Greshoff, Oona Alexander and myself). Elzbieta now has some training at the Pikler Institute and is raising her child the Pikler way and Helen is a Pikler pedagogue, trained in Germany. Clare Caro is raising her two children the Pikler way and has started Nature Play parents and children in London, and created a wonderful Pikler resource for all people in the English speaking world calledwww.thepiklercollection.weebly.com.

Awareness of the Pikler approach is growing in the UK now, and there are invitations to give talks to nurseries and Early Childhood carer trainings in mainstream. There are also more people from the UK making the journey to the Pikler Institute for the summer courses and a steady stream of visitors to the Pikler collection website.

PUKA’s main aim is to bring awareness of the Pikler approach and practice to all parents and early childhood settings in the UK. It has taken six years to birth the UK Pikler Association. Hopefully before another six years is up, children in the UK will be benefiting fully from the new understanding of quality care which the Pikler approach promises to provide.

Holistic Baby and Child Care (EYE)
Steiner Waldorf with the Pikler approach to child development, play and care with a birth to three emphasis.

Take a journey in learning and self development that will equip you with skills and confidence in caring for your children and supporting parents. 
This pioneering course synthesises Steiner Waldorf and the Pikler approach whilst meeting the new EYE critieria.

It is a part time Level 3 (EYE) training for childminders, parent and child group leaders and those wishing to care for the young child. 
It starts in September 2014 in London with residentials at 
Emerson College, Sussex.
Visit www.emerson.org.uk/holistic-baby-and-child-care for more information.
The Official Launch of PIKLER ASSOCIATION UKThe official launch of PIKLER ASSOCIATION UK will take place on Saturday 28 June 2014.    

With the 1st UK Pikler Conference -
DO WE REALLY KNOW WHAT HIGH QUALITY CARE IS?  INTRODUCING THE PIKLER APPROACH TO THE CARE OF THE VERY YOUNG CHILD
Talks by Pennie Brownlee, Dorothy Marlen, workshops and discussions.  To be held at Greenwich Steiner School, London.
Registration fee including lunch £30 for members £40 for non-members. 
For further information and to download the booking form visit 
www.pikler.co.uk/upcoming-events 

Workshop with
Pennie Brownlee
 We are delighted to be able offer a workshop with Pennie while she is in the UK all the way from New Zealand.  

The full day workshop 


'Anyway! You're Not The Boss of Me'


 is suitable for all parents and teachers, 
and looks at upgrading our ideas and skills around working partnerships with young children.

To be held at Steiner House in London,
 on
Sunday June 29th.

For more details visit
www.pikler.co.uk/upcoming-events

Acorns Parent and Child summer special

Inviting all Acorns staff and families to join us in a small informal celebration of summer.

The theme is flowers,herbs, fruit, the Sun, fire, warmth and laughter!
Come dance with us and the fairies!


Oxleas Woods


Friday 20th from 2 pm, 


meet by main lawn in front of cafe,
 we will go to the large meadow where the wild flowers grow...


bring a picnic to add to our feast, water/juice and a blanket to sit on.


Susannah and the Acorns team

Monday 23rd June

9.30 @ Woodlands (Drop off Playgroup)


This is your chance to visit and participate, observe and ask questions.

Come to the Drop off session as a visitor (bookings only) and experience in person; leaders/teachers will be available for more info and questions.

Please if you would like a space contact Maria or Erika through the contact form. 


Parents of children who are two years old already, and wish to start playgroup in September apply now!

Parent and Child session on that day will also be open for visitors by appointment only, apply by simply sending a brief request via contact form.


Acorns Playgroup is for 2 to 3 years old, and it is a natural transition from Parent and Child group, getting the children used to the rhythms of the Kindergarten, making them feel more independent, creative and start socialize and play with their little friends. A couple of hours away from mummy and daddy makes the child feel like a 'big boy' or 'big girl'!

 Yes, we still have some places available for September intake as, of course a bunch of children are moving up to Kindergarten.
 
Playgroup will start back on the 8th September 2013.
 The fee is £820 per term, this is for 4 days a week.

We also offer 2 or 3 day sessions;
 the fee for 2 days a week is £410 per term, 
3 days a week is £605 per term

 A fee deposit of £200 is required on acceptance of a child`s place at playgroup, but this is deducted from the fees due for the final term that the child is at playgroup.



Playgroup is held at the Greenwich Steiner School, Woodlands building, 09.30 - 11.30 am, Monday to Thursday.

 An additional Forest school day is offered, as part of Playgroup  which means we will have the whole session outside at Woodlands/Mycenae Gardens.For more info ask the leader.

 This is a brief description of a daily rhythm of the group:
We start the session outdoors where we can all enjoy some fresh air and have adventures. 
After outside time at 10.00am we go indoors and we get ready for toilet time where all toilet trained children use the toilet, nappies are changed if needed and all children wash their hands. We sing a few songs while we wait for everyone to be ready.
At about 10.20 we have our ring time, singing seasonal songs and nursery rhymes with the children, followed by story time. 
After this, at around 10.40 am, we go to the snack table, sing our blessing and eat our snack (Which often turns into more of a meal!); 
at about 11.00 children have finished eating, we say thank you for the food and they leave the table to have free indoor play and activities. These are the activities which mark the weekly rhythm:

 Mon. making bread rolls
 Tue. art with crayons
Wed. making vegetable soup,
 Thu art with watercolours painting. 
We start to tidy at around 11.25 and gather for 
goodbye songs and our session ends at 11.30 am. 

Our settling in period is extended over the course of two weeks to help with the settling in process of your child into the group.

Birthdays and festivals are celebrated throughout the year and we will keep you informed of these.

If you are still interested you need to download the application form from here:
 www.greenwichacorns.org.uk and send it to us via email 
(as the school is closed for the summer holidays). 
We will be in contact in due course regarding an interview(an informal chat)and is for completion of the child`s profile, also gives us a better picture of the child. It will also enable the parents/guardians to have a better picture of the Playgroup and questions answered.
It would be great if you could let us know asap if you are still interested and 
which days you would prefer for your son/daughter to attend.


If you have any further questions, please don`t hesitate to get in touch.

The Acorns Drop off Playgroup team.

This week could be a preparation for Whitsun, Sunday 8th June.
 Also some people celebrate Whit Monday. 
In some Waldorf Steiner Kindergartens and schools they have a special feast with all white foods, like rice, cream, yogurt, etc...

A nice activity is to make paper white doves for hanging.

The white dove is a symbolic image of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Spirit of Truth. In celebrating Whitsun we celebrate the insight that the singularity of the individual is sacred, that a spark of divine fire shines from each one of us, and that the accord between individuals rests on the ability truly to understand one another. 
It is a festival of communication and the spiritual insight, the divine in all of us that we all share; we are all children of God and how to truly be aware of our lovely strong qualities as individuals and understanding our place as individuals in the community.
To communicate in a spirit of truth is often difficult challenge in today's world. If this challenge can be met, even in modest ways, then the vision of the dove descending - the symbol of the Holy Spirit and the symbol of peace - becomes a reality for individuals, for groups, for nations.


Of course this is never explained to the children we just celebrate using symbols and come together with a festive mood with joy, laughter, song and a smile, bringing something to share...


At Acorns we would like to bring the mood of this time of the year with the white doves for the children to admire and play with and as a reminder for the adults of the meaning behind it.


Happy Whitsun!