Renewal Online Second Grade
Week 2 — Online July 6 – Friday, July 10, 2026 From your own chosen location REGISTER NOW Preparing for Second Grade: In-Person with Jen Persinotti Second grade is a year of transition and awakening. Children stand at a meaningful threshold between early and middle childhood, ready to engage more consciously with a world that now reveals its contrasts—virtue and mischief, truth and imperfection. Building on the self-assurance gained in first grade, second graders enter new academic, emotional, and social territory with curiosity and intensity. Through story, humor, and imagination, children explore the duality of human nature. Tales of heroic individuals and traditional fables offer a developmentally appropriate mirror through which students can reflect on themselves and their relationships to others. At the same time, academic work deepens: reading becomes more fluent, writing grows into fuller composition, and mathematics begins its gradual movement from concrete experience toward abstraction. For the second-grade teacher, this year is both dynamic and rewarding. The curriculum offers a harmonious balance of reverence, humor, and engaged learning—inviting creativity while supporting strong pedagogical foundations. What This Course Covers This course equips teachers with the tools, insight, and inspiration needed to meet the richness of the second-grade year with clarity and confidence. Curricular Foundations Selecting stories, songs, and activities that resonate with the developmental needs of second graders. Artistic Practice Guided drawing, form drawing, beeswax modeling, and wet-on-wet watercolor painting as integral supports for academic and emotional development. Movement, Rhythm, and Sensory Integration Circle work, rhythmic activities, verses, and games that foster classroom harmony, focus, and embodied learning. Festivals and Nature Integrating seasonal rhythms, festivals, and nature-based experiences to nurture reverence and connection to the natural world. Inclusive Classroom Life Creating environments that support belonging, community, and healthy peer relationships. Language Arts and Mathematics Exploring Rudolf Steiner’s indications for language arts and math, thoughtfully adapted to meet the needs of today’s learners. Teacher Practice and SustainabilityGuidance for year planning, block rotations, classroom management, parent communication, and balancing the demands of teaching with self-care. What You’ll Take Away Participants leave the course with a rich collection of practical and inspiring resources, including: Sample main lesson book pages, songs, poems, and classroom activities Sample block plans, parent communication templates, and a curated reading list Artistic projects and ideas to enliven teaching and learning Who Should Attend This course is ideal for classroom teachers, homeschooling parents, online educators, and anyone preparing to teach second grade within a Waldorf-inspired framework. Whether you are new to Waldorf education or deepening your practice, this course offers meaningful guidance and support for the journey ahead. Additional Course Offerings This course also includes Teaching Music and Singing with Meg O’Dell, offering practical and developmentally appropriate approaches to cultivating musical life, rhythm, and song in the classroom, as well as Artistic Engagement with Narsingh Khalsa, providing rich artistic experiences that deepen teaching practice, creative confidence, and inner renewal. Join us to explore the heart of second grade—a year of contrasts, growth, and wonder—and leave prepared to meet this transformative year with creativity, confidence, and inspiration. As a second-generation Waldorf teacher and a former student of Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton, New Hampshire, Jen Persinotti has been connected to Waldorf education from her earliest years. She has been a class teacher at the Waldorf School of Philadelphia for eleven years, graduating the class of 2021, and now leading the class of 2029. Jen enjoys bringing the rich Waldorf curriculum to life and is passionate about creating spaces of belonging for her students, honoring the unique gifts that every child has to offer. She holds a BSE in Earth and Space Science from Millersville University and received her Waldorf teacher training certificate from Sunbridge Institute. Jen Persinotti 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