LearnSweden Blog

Elements of Early Childhood

 

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that the Waldorf Connection is having a new course which starts tomorrow called,"The Elements of Early Childhood." I'm so excited about this course and the support it can bring to those of us with small children in our homes.

The “Elements of Early Childhood” 5-week course is starting this Thursday, Feb. 10. That means you still have time to enroll!

Let me tell you a bit about The Waldorf Connections, "Elements of Early Childhood course. It was created especially for moms, parents & early childhood educators who are ready to get the back-stage pass into Early Childhood and start experiencing the wonders of Waldorf without the struggles.

(In a hurry? Grab your seat here: http://thewaldorfconnection.com/dap/a/?a=26&p=www.elementsofearlychildhood.com/preview.htm )

You'll learn in-depth "behind-the-scenes"information from Waldorf Early childhood teachers like Rahima Baldwin Dancy, Sharifa Oppenheimer, & Patricia Rubano. Led by Carrie Dendtler of The Parenting Passageway, here are foundational concepts you will come away with:

*Raise your confidence by knowing your child is just where they need to be and how you can create the optimal environment

*Create smoother daily rhythms and transitions throughout the day

*Discover realistic expectations of your child's age and stage that can take you off the hook

*Strengthen your bond and communication skills with your child with less talking

*Easily foster creativity through music, stories and movement, and puppetry

*Learn why play is the foundation for learning and how inspire creative play

*Receive the support you need at this time to grow within yourself as a mom and parent

Here is the link to get all the details and see the success stories from past participants. : http://thewaldorfconnection.com/dap/a/?a=26&p=www.elementsofearlychildhood.com/preview.htm


This invaluable training could be just what you have been looking for to bring harmony and rhythm to your daily routine.
This is a thorough, interactive training where you will be guided by your own Waldorf coach for 5 weeks, so take advantage of this! All calls are recorded so you can listen again and again, as well as you will receive the CD/Notebook shipped to your door.
http://thewaldorfconnection.com/dap/a/?a=26&p=www.elementsofearlychildhood.com/preview.htm 

Thanks again to Donna Ashton for bringing us such wonderful and supportive programs. Hoping to see you there.

Valarie

Nobel Peace Prize

Regardless if you are for or against President Barack Obama winning the peace prize the result is the same and that is, he's there right now receiving it.

It is my hope that this prize and what it stands for will "inspire" him to step forward and change the world.

I am ashamed of being part of a world where humans fight.

I am proud to be part of a world where people work together, reaching out, making connections, and together taking the first steps towards peace.

You may watch the broadcast of the presentation here. 

A view on Swedish politics

As you read this I'm somewhere in the Carribean sea with my family. Today Shane is on the blog. Enjoy.....and thank-you Shane.

I was thrilled to be asked by Valerie to write a few posts for learnsweden blog whilst she is sunning herself in the tropics!  Its almost tropical here its a full 2 degrees which is a massive improvement on the minus five or so it seems to have been in Sweden since Christmas. Anyway I digress....

I have been keeping a blog on my life in Sweden for over a year now and always have plenty to say but when you are put on the spot to write something its a little difficult. I have been thinking what I can write about that Valarie hasn't already blogged about...there isnt much.

This may surprise you but I have decided to write a little about Swedish politics. I mean, after Obama everyone is interested in politics again right? ;-)

Seriously though I think its important to take an interest in the politics of a country where you may be living or spending a lot of time.

If you are a Brit like me, or come from the US or Australia then Swedish politics is refreshing. Why? Well, back home I have a choice of two Parties and thats it whereas there are many in Sweden to choose form representing most ideas and philosophies.

In the next government election there are at least 7 Parties in the running, so not just a choice of an 'Obamasson' or a 'McCainqvist,' you can vote for a Reinfeldt, a Sahlin, a Björklund, an Olofsson, an Ohly, a Hägglund, an Eriksson, and a Wetterlund.

Traditionally Sweden has always voted in large numbers for the Social Democratic Party. Sweden was virtually a one Party state during the 20th Century. It worked on the basis of a socialism with compassion. Sweden has a very strong Trade Union movement and welfare state.

In 2006 the Social Democrats lost the election to an alliance of Centre/Liberal/Centre Right parties.  The current Statsminister or Prime Minister is the leader of the 'Nya Moderaterna' or 'new Moderates' his name is Fredrik Reinfeldt. The Foreign Secretary is Carl Bildt who was Prime Minister of Sweden, the last time the Social Democrats lost in the early nineties. He is well known for his involvement in the former Yugoslavia during the troubles there. A lady called Maud Olofsson is leader of the Centre Party (Centerpartiet) and is the Energy and Enterprise Minister. The Education Minister is Jan Björklund who is leader of the Folkpartiet Liberalerna (Liberal Peoples Party). Göran Hägglund is Minister for Health and Social Affairs he is also leader of the Christian Democrats.

Coalition or co-operative politics is something I have never seen in Britain so its interesting to see how it works. I think its refreshing that you have four parties that are running the country because a) it puts a check on any extremism and b) four heads are better than one right?

The next election is 2010, lining up on the other side is Mona Sahlin who is head of Swedens biggest Party - the Social Democrats. She has also put together an alliance to fight the Alliance Government. It comprises of Lars Ohly, leader of the Left Party (former Communists) and the Greens (Wetterlund and Eriksson - they have two leaders!) they are known as the Rödgröna.

There are many differences between the two camps. To give you an example as you have probably read Saab cars are facing bankruptcy - the Alliance Government are refusing to bale it out on the grounds that they were not elected to support a failing company but to concentrate on health, education and the police.

On the other hand the Rödgröna want the government to invest millions in Saab to get it working again.

If you are from the EU then you are entitled to vote in the next major elections which are in June this year, the European Elections. You can either vote in Sweden or your home country. Personally I will be voting here in Sweden as this is where 'home' has been since January 2008. Who will I vote for? Tricky one but it wont be the rödgrona ;-)

Hoorah for Women!

Today, March 9th is International Women's Day.

While International Women's Day may be a day of global celebration, there is no room for complacency as women still struggle on many fronts.

From the International Women's Day website:

Global Issues ...

• Females in developing countries on average carry 20 litres of water per day over 6 km
• Globally women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80
• Pregnant women in Africa are 180 times more likely to die than in Western Europe
• 530,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year
• World population hit 6,872,741,131 on 1 January 2009
• Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women
• 80% of the world's 27 million refugees are women
• Women own around only 1% of the world's land
• AIDS sees women's life expectancy of 43 in Uganda and Zambia
• 5 people are added to the world's population every 2 seconds
• Women are 2/3 of the 1 billion+ illiterate adults who have no access to basic education

Please hug the women and girls in your life and fully appreciate and empower them. For those who still yet need our help please see what you can do to bring change to the many who need us.

        

Today's beautiful photo was created by Melanie Cook.

The Moment

          

It has arrived...Inauguration Day. About a week ago I decided that I didn't want to be sitting home all by myself watching the biggest moment in U.S. history, at least the biggest moment in U.S. history since I've been alive. I sent out the emails saying we would have an Inauguration Brunch. Everyone can bring their best and favorite dishes and we could watch and share this moment together.

.....the reality........

Monday we had the biggest snow fall in 7 years . It was already a holiday so we had a lot of snow play. When I woke up Tuesday morning it was by phone call from the school district stating that our schools had been closed. This was just perfect ....my children had wanted to stay home and watch the inauguration. Now not only would we be able to share this together but so would our closest friends and their children.

People started arriving at 10 AM and the last to leave said their good-byes at 5 pm. Here's how are day unfolded:

                            

        

       

It was surprising how many of us can sing like Aretha. How many of you sang along? I know you did. What a moment it was watching her sing 'My Country Tis of Thee'.

             

First it was Joe and Jill Biden.

         

and then it was Barack and Michelle Obama

                       

     

        

We stood for the oath and singing .....and then......

       

     

It was time to eat. A perfect day with all of my family and friends. And then do you know what happened ? At 5 pm it started snowing again.   Yea!

                          

Hejdå Rebecca

              

           

Sadly this weekend we said a fond farewell to our friend Rebecca who returned back to Sweden. The last three months were so much fun and we have so many wonderful memories. Goodbye was hard for all of us to say and we had some precipitation and leaking eyes. Never mind smiles were found again when Rebecca got off the plane in Stockholm to greet her family, friends, and her dog Diesel. 

                            

                                 

                                                    

             

        

American wins Nobel Prize for Economics

                                                            

The 2008 sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to US economist and columnist Paul Krugman.

The swedish Royal Academy committee, who awarded the prize, emphasized Krugman's work in bringing together two previously very separate fields of economics, international trade and economic geography.

Krugman's theories explain the effects of free trade and globalization, as well as what lies behind global trends such as urbanization. Traditional trade theory states the countries are different, and so exports different goods and services. Krugman tries to explain why global trade is dominated by countries which have similar conditions and which trade in similar products. Krugman's theory relies on his concept of the economies scale, shich says that many goods and services can be produced cheaply when produced in mass volumes. He also says that consumers demand a wide range of goods. This results in the limiting number of local small scale operations which become replaced by large scale productions for the world market.

                                                                

Krugman who teaches at Princeton University in New Jersey and serves as a coumnist with the New York Times, has been cited for his analysis of trade patterns and locations of market activity. Krugman earned his Ph.D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1977 and taught at Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley, the London School of Economics, and Stanford University.

Unlike other Nobel Prizes, the economic prize was established in 1968 to celebrate the 300th year anniversary of the Riks Bank. This prize is funded by the Riksbank and the winner is chosen by the Swedish Royal Academy.