"The first hour of education is the hour after birth. From the moment the senses of the newborn child begin to receive impressions from nature, nature educates them. It takes great strength to be able to wait patiently for them to mature.” Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827)
The central idea for this online course and workshop is exploring what families and babies need so that they may have positive experiences as they navigate coming into the world. What do we need to know about ‘the second embryonic life’ and why should we protect it? What might be the ‘cosmic task’ of the youngest humans, who are at the very beginning of life?
The central idea for this online course and workshop is exploring what families and babies need so that they may have positive experiences as they navigate coming into the world. What do we need to know about ‘the second embryonic life’ and why should we protect it? What might be the ‘cosmic task’ of the youngest humans, who are at the very beginning of life?
The Basic Needs of Babies: Learning to listen to newborns and why we should
Online
The Basic Needs of Babies online course and workshop is designed for parents-to-be and for parents, for curious grandparents, and educators, for health care workers and for midwives, doulas and birth partners.
We are currently facing a developmental crisis that affects all of humanity: our home, Earth, is at risk. The only way out of this crisis is through changing how we treat life. We can begin with how we treat pregnant women, newborns and their families. We can begin by listening to them and fully supporting them, promoting feelings of safety and eliminating any fears that arise. We cannot continue to care for birth and the beginning of life with the methods of the past. We must see clearly that how we handle a pregnant woman, a birthing women, and how we handle the newly born person leaves a mark. It is of vital importance for the future of society to respect the basic needs of human life during fragile times.
Online
The Basic Needs of Babies online course and workshop is designed for parents-to-be and for parents, for curious grandparents, and educators, for health care workers and for midwives, doulas and birth partners.
We are currently facing a developmental crisis that affects all of humanity: our home, Earth, is at risk. The only way out of this crisis is through changing how we treat life. We can begin with how we treat pregnant women, newborns and their families. We can begin by listening to them and fully supporting them, promoting feelings of safety and eliminating any fears that arise. We cannot continue to care for birth and the beginning of life with the methods of the past. We must see clearly that how we handle a pregnant woman, a birthing women, and how we handle the newly born person leaves a mark. It is of vital importance for the future of society to respect the basic needs of human life during fragile times.
There are two options for taking this course starting in late September 2022. Those who register for the workshop will be attending live Zoom sessions. There is limited enrolment for the workshop. Days and times for the workshop TBD
- Baby's Basic Needs online course will be available for you to watch and read at your own pace, all of the materials will be available online. Following the same schedule as the workshop, new materials will be posted for each topic.
- WORKSHOP TO ACCOMPANY THE BASIC NEEDS OF BABIES COURSE. You will first purchase the Basic Needs of Babies e-course and then register for the online workshop. There are limited spaces. The materials for the online course are the basis for the workshop. In the workshop, participants will be learning about creating an environment for optimal thinking, listening and observing and will be using this model to explore the topics in greater depth.
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“In the care of the newborn, and to do everything one can for him, you have to keep his psychic life very present in mind ... The child, throughout his incarnation, is a spiritual embryo that has to grow at the expense of the environment. But just as the physical embryo needs its own special environment, such the mother's womb, in which to grow, so this spiritual embryo needs to be protected in its external environment, animated, warm with love, rich with nourishment: where everything is done to accommodate and nothing to hamper.”
Maria Montessori Il Segreto dell'Infanzia, p. 39 & 47 (Garzanti) Format
The workshop will use a communication model called 'the thinking environment', a thinking and listening modality that offers a framework for our journey together. What are the components of a thinking environment and how does it feel? The discussion topics and course materials will be available online and participants can watch, read or listen to them at their own pace. The live meetings (only for workshop participants) are every three weeks, and will be used to delve deeper into each topic, and continue to practice the thinking and observation environment, framing and exploring our questions, and following our curiosities. The final session of the workshop will be a discussion using the Thinking Environment structure, offering the opportunity for participants to weave together ideas in small group break-out rooms, and then weave them all together in a synthesis or harvest. "Education must no longer be based on a pre-established program but on an understanding of human life. In light of this conviction, the education of a newborn is of the utmost importance."
Maria Montessori La Mente del Bambino p. 12 (Garzanti) |
topics
Materials available online following the workshop schedule Introductory and Orientation materials Topic 1 Why is Montessori's idea of the spiritual embryo relevant today? with Karin Slabaugh Topic 2 How do we prepare an “observation environment”? with Karin Slabaugh and Ruth Ehrhardt Topic 3 Pioneers in Birth and Birthing: Montessori, Costa Gnocchi, Leboyer and Odent with Karin Slabaugh and Ruth Ehrhardt Topic 4 What are the basic needs of a woman in labor and her newborn? with Karin Slabaugh and Ruth Ehrhardt Topic 5 How are newborn behaviors meaningful language? (Brazelton) with Karin Slabaugh Topic 6 Attachment theory 2.0 and the neuroscience of connection with Karin Slabaugh Final workshop Weaving our ideas together |
How is this workshop designed?
Adele Costa Gnocchi studied newborns in Montessori’s name from 1947 to 1967 and she believed that Montessori’s educational approach for children was also the best approach for adults. She prepared learning environments for her students where they could be actively involved and observe at the same time, such as the foundling orphanage of Rome; hospital labor and maternity wards; family homes with children under three; and the Scuoletta (opened in 1927 as her study of children in the Casa dei bambini) where they observed how the youngest children learn when they are left to their spontaneous nature. These ‘prepared environments' provided embodied experiences which could then be looked at through a Montessori lens in the afternoon group time. After two years of this daily practicum and theory her students were awarded a birth-to-three Montessori diploma. Those attending the Assistants to Infancy Montessori School (called the AIM School for short) spent these afternoons in “class”, but Adele Costa Gnocchi rarely lectured. She didn’t believe that that was how people best learned. Rather her technique was Socratic. She asked questions and presented ideas that were to be explored and measured up against one’s own experiences.
Her students were encouraged to come to their own conclusions and to do so by working with what they were seeing every morning in the field and to understand what the children’s behaviors were teaching them about the 0-3 age group. Only then were they prepared to discuss how Montessori’s ideas related to what they were experiencing in their internships.
Maria Montessori felt strongly that people could not teach each other anything, and each person’s very own experiences were the primary source of their learning. “We cannot create observers, saying to the children, ‘observe!’ rather we must give them the power and the ability to make their observations, and this ability is acquired by the education of the senses”, La scoperta del bambino p.185. And so we will be learning by using our own senses, engaging in observations and discussions. When we come together online for the workshop, what is discussed, analysed and explored will depend on the participants. Materials are provided ahead of time in the online course to provoke your curiosity and perhaps strong reactions. These presentations, readings, observations and audios represent a “prepared environment” where you can, at your own pace, find what you need to stimulate your senses.
Adele Costa Gnocchi studied newborns in Montessori’s name from 1947 to 1967 and she believed that Montessori’s educational approach for children was also the best approach for adults. She prepared learning environments for her students where they could be actively involved and observe at the same time, such as the foundling orphanage of Rome; hospital labor and maternity wards; family homes with children under three; and the Scuoletta (opened in 1927 as her study of children in the Casa dei bambini) where they observed how the youngest children learn when they are left to their spontaneous nature. These ‘prepared environments' provided embodied experiences which could then be looked at through a Montessori lens in the afternoon group time. After two years of this daily practicum and theory her students were awarded a birth-to-three Montessori diploma. Those attending the Assistants to Infancy Montessori School (called the AIM School for short) spent these afternoons in “class”, but Adele Costa Gnocchi rarely lectured. She didn’t believe that that was how people best learned. Rather her technique was Socratic. She asked questions and presented ideas that were to be explored and measured up against one’s own experiences.
Her students were encouraged to come to their own conclusions and to do so by working with what they were seeing every morning in the field and to understand what the children’s behaviors were teaching them about the 0-3 age group. Only then were they prepared to discuss how Montessori’s ideas related to what they were experiencing in their internships.
Maria Montessori felt strongly that people could not teach each other anything, and each person’s very own experiences were the primary source of their learning. “We cannot create observers, saying to the children, ‘observe!’ rather we must give them the power and the ability to make their observations, and this ability is acquired by the education of the senses”, La scoperta del bambino p.185. And so we will be learning by using our own senses, engaging in observations and discussions. When we come together online for the workshop, what is discussed, analysed and explored will depend on the participants. Materials are provided ahead of time in the online course to provoke your curiosity and perhaps strong reactions. These presentations, readings, observations and audios represent a “prepared environment” where you can, at your own pace, find what you need to stimulate your senses.
1909 Montessori Course participants - Adele Costa Gnocchi is in the second row
The first topic is about Maria Montessori and how she regarded the development of the spiritual embryo as the most significant phase of a person’s whole life. Anyone who comes into contact with the newborn and the child in the early years might be seen as being part of the “womb” that holds this embryo: his or her environment. This reality means that those who touch the life of the smallest children have a great responsibility to protect them.
The second topic is about how we create 'a sense of place and belonging'. How do we enter a new experience, how do we receive others? How do we connect, crossing over a bridge to meet them where they are, and how do we offer ourselves as an observation environment? How can we witness feelings and thoughts? What does it mean to hold space, coming from the heart and how do we prepare ourselves for that? The themes are: connection, authentic relationships and being truly present for others: a pregnant mother-to-be, a newborn just coming into the world, a new father, but in reality, for anyone, including the relationship to oneself. How do we listen with all of our senses?
The third topic is weaving together the lifework of pioneers of birth and birthing: Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Adele Costa Gnocchi (1883-1967), Frederik Leboyer (1918-2017) and Michel Odent (b. 1930) and Nils Bergman (b. 1955). What do these pioneers on birth say about what makes a positive experience for mothers and babies, for society? What are their stories, backgrounds, and legacies?
The fourth topic is looking at the basic needs of a woman in labor and what newborns and their mothers need. Montessori was talking about this as early as 1923. She described the environment in which mammals in nature give birth and how instincts guide a mother to protect her child from early experiences that could be harmful, remaining isolated and protected for both the birth and for a period of time after before rejoining the group. Today, Michel Odent talks and writes about how important it is for humans to remember that we are mammals. His books are packed with science as well as the experience of more than 60 years working with birth.
The fifth topic is looking at Berry Brazelton’s legacy as a pediatrician: his Newborn Behavioral Assessment Scale for medical practitioners and the simplified version of Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) for parents and professionals who work with new parents. “A baby’s behavior is his language ... and you can trust that language” means that becoming fluent in the language of behavior, gestures, movements (not just the different cries) because this allows us to understand the earliest non-verbal communications.
The sixth topic is looking at the science of attachment. Attachment to life is what we hope for each person and the power of connection is the force behind it. Birth trauma, separation trauma, medicalization trauma, and insecure attachment trauma can be overcome and healed. This may be the first step in ‘normalization’ - feeling loved and finding secure attachment. Neuroscience and attachment theory can now explain what happens in the brain as it develops, and what is needed for the child to develop secure attachment to mother, to family, to life.
The final workshop meeting is an opportunity for sharing ideas in small group break out rooms, and weaving them together with the larger group. We will use the model of the Thinking Environment that we have been learning about during the workshop meetings.
The second topic is about how we create 'a sense of place and belonging'. How do we enter a new experience, how do we receive others? How do we connect, crossing over a bridge to meet them where they are, and how do we offer ourselves as an observation environment? How can we witness feelings and thoughts? What does it mean to hold space, coming from the heart and how do we prepare ourselves for that? The themes are: connection, authentic relationships and being truly present for others: a pregnant mother-to-be, a newborn just coming into the world, a new father, but in reality, for anyone, including the relationship to oneself. How do we listen with all of our senses?
The third topic is weaving together the lifework of pioneers of birth and birthing: Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Adele Costa Gnocchi (1883-1967), Frederik Leboyer (1918-2017) and Michel Odent (b. 1930) and Nils Bergman (b. 1955). What do these pioneers on birth say about what makes a positive experience for mothers and babies, for society? What are their stories, backgrounds, and legacies?
The fourth topic is looking at the basic needs of a woman in labor and what newborns and their mothers need. Montessori was talking about this as early as 1923. She described the environment in which mammals in nature give birth and how instincts guide a mother to protect her child from early experiences that could be harmful, remaining isolated and protected for both the birth and for a period of time after before rejoining the group. Today, Michel Odent talks and writes about how important it is for humans to remember that we are mammals. His books are packed with science as well as the experience of more than 60 years working with birth.
The fifth topic is looking at Berry Brazelton’s legacy as a pediatrician: his Newborn Behavioral Assessment Scale for medical practitioners and the simplified version of Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) for parents and professionals who work with new parents. “A baby’s behavior is his language ... and you can trust that language” means that becoming fluent in the language of behavior, gestures, movements (not just the different cries) because this allows us to understand the earliest non-verbal communications.
The sixth topic is looking at the science of attachment. Attachment to life is what we hope for each person and the power of connection is the force behind it. Birth trauma, separation trauma, medicalization trauma, and insecure attachment trauma can be overcome and healed. This may be the first step in ‘normalization’ - feeling loved and finding secure attachment. Neuroscience and attachment theory can now explain what happens in the brain as it develops, and what is needed for the child to develop secure attachment to mother, to family, to life.
The final workshop meeting is an opportunity for sharing ideas in small group break out rooms, and weaving them together with the larger group. We will use the model of the Thinking Environment that we have been learning about during the workshop meetings.
Karin Slabaugh is an early childhood educator who now works with families and newborns. She has been researching the origins of the Montessori birth to three movement in Italy since 2010 and has studied with the first generation of Assistants to Infancy who specialised in the care of the newborn. Ruth Ehrhardt is trained as a Certified Professional Midwife and practices as a traditional birth attendant in Cape Town, South Africa. She has studied midwifery with Ina May Gaskin and Paramanadoula work with Michel Odent and teaches the Art of Presence and Holding Space. She will share how to shift our 'thinking' so it is from a Heart Space. We will talk about several pioneers of birth and birthing: Maria Montessori, Adele Costa Gnocchi, Frederick Leboyer and Michel Odent and the basic needs of a woman during pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period for her and the child as he or she is welcomed into the world, based on the latest science. In the course and workshop we delve deep into the sensitivity of babies at the beginning of life. We will look at this second embryonic life according to Maria Montessori and others such as John Bowlby, Barry Brazelton, and Allan Schore... and talk about how the newborn develops the capacity to process stimuli, how he or she communicates with behaviors, and why co-regulation is critical in allowing for self-regulation to develop.
Registration open September 1, 2022
Course Registration - not available yet
For more information about Ruth visit
www.truemidwifery.com
$225 US - online course
$100 US - online workshop + $225 for the online course
Please contact Karin if you need a payment plan
questions? e-mail: info@montessori-for-life.org
Course Registration - not available yet
For more information about Ruth visit
www.truemidwifery.com
$225 US - online course
$100 US - online workshop + $225 for the online course
Please contact Karin if you need a payment plan
questions? e-mail: info@montessori-for-life.org