Renewal Online First Grade
Week 2 — Online July 6 – Friday, July 10, 2026 From your own chosen location REGISTER NOW Preparing for First Grade: Online with with Lori Kran Step into the transformative journey of teaching first grade with confidence, creativity, and purpose. This course offers an inspiring and practical foundation for educators preparing to guide young learners through their first year in the Waldorf approach. First grade marks a profound developmental milestone for children as they step into the classroom as individuals and as part of a new community. This course equips you with the tools and understanding to meet their unique needs with warmth, artistry, and intention, while also fostering an inclusive and equitable environment for all. Foundational Insights Learn Rudolf Steiner’s perspective on child development and how it informs the first-grade experience. Artistic Education in Action Explore how to weave academics, arts, and movement into an engaging, holistic curriculum. Classroom Culture Discover strategies to build an inclusive and collaborative classroom environment that supports co-creation and restorative practices. Practical Resources Receive comprehensive access to electronic resources and materials, including stories, poems, verses, painting and drawing guides, a resource list, and demonstrated movement, speech, song, and artistic techniques. Who Should Attend This course is designed for teachers, homeschooling parents, and anyone curious about the Waldorf approach. Whether you’re an experienced educator, new to teaching, or exploring Waldorf education for the first time, you will leave with the tools, inspiration, and confidence to guide a meaningful first-grade year. Additional Course Offerings This course also includes Teaching Music and Singing in First Grade with Meg O’Dell, offering practical, developmentally appropriate approaches to cultivating musical life and rhythm in the classroom, as well as Artistic Engagement with Narsingh Khalsa, providing rich artistic experiences that deepen teaching practice, inner life development, and pedagogical renewal. Join us to gain not only an abundance of inspiration, but also the confidence, joy, and imagination needed to guide children through this foundational year of wonder and growth. Lori Kran earned a PhD in American and Women’s History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her Waldorf teacher certification from the Waldorf Teacher Development Association in Ann Arbor, MI. Before her current role as the coordinator for PITEP (Pilot In-Service Teacher Education Program) Lori was the pedagogical director at Shining Mountain Waldorf School. Lori was a grades 1-8 Waldorf class teacher, Waldorf high school teacher, and university history/gender studies adjunct professor. Lori has served as an AWSNA delegate for 20+ years. Lori continues to serve as a mentor and as a visiting school evaluator to several Waldorf schools. She enjoys hiking in the Rocky mountains, gardening, reading novels, and playing her banjo! Lori Kran Included with all Online Renewal Courses: Music and Singing with Meg O’Dell Leading Artistic Engagement with Narsingh Khalsa Meg O’Dell loves helping people access their innate capacity for wellness, vitality, and connection. She does this as a somatic coach, supporting individuals and couples in growth, transformation, and healing, and also as a music teacher and vocal mentor. She teaches music at The Bay School, a Waldorf school on the coast of Maine, and leads a large intergenerational all-comers chorus called Misty Mountain Singers. Meg serves as faculty for Antioch University’s Waldorf Teacher Training and CfA’s Waldorf High School Teacher Education Programs. She is a regular instructor for CfA’s the Renewal Courses and introductory Explorations program, and she has taught with LifeWays North America. She received her M.Ed. from Antioch University New England in 2008. Her great joys include spending time with her growing children and visiting the small, misty mountain that rises out of the sea near their home. Meg O’Dell Narsingh Khalsa is a Waldorf educator and artist with a degree in Education from Prescott College and teacher training from Sunbridge Institute. Currently teaching a combined 2nd and 3rd grade class at the Waldorf School of Princeton, Narsingh brings 18 years of experience teaching fine arts to students from 1st through 12th grade. Passionate about creativity, she enjoys making children’s books, developing Waldorf curriculum for homeschoolers and teachers, and engaging in handwork. Outside the classroom, Narsingh loves hiking, yoga, and exploring the beauty of nature. Narsingh Khalsa Community Gatherings Online For all Renewal Participants, Monday, July 6 – Friday, July 10, 2026, 11:30-12:30 ET. Daily Keynote with Sarah Nelson and Rubeena Sandhu Principles Into Practice: A five-part keynote series designed to bridge the depth of Waldorf pedagogy with the realities of daily teaching, leading, and learning. Each morning will also include Community Singing with Meg O’Dell, inviting us to begin the day together in song—strengthening connection, enlivening our hearts, and creating a shared rhythm that carries us into the learning. REGISTER NOW HOUSING & MEALS RESERVATIONS