LifeWays: Creating A Warm & Loving Environment

<p>In our last episode with <b>Cynthia Aldinger</b> we heard how LifeWays was founded.  We have Cynthia with us again and we’re excited to hear about the principles and practices of LifeWays.  LifeWays was born out of the need to address the care of young children.  We live in a time where many young children are in full-time care, LifeWays created a model for addressing the needs of the whole child through a strong foundation in anthroposophy and child development.</p><p>Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or caregiver, Anthroposophy helps build strength through self-development and through striving to be “worthy of imitation”.  It is through focusing on our internal environment that we are first and foremost able to create a warm, loving environment.  Cynthia, tell us more about this LifeWays principle which she calls Self as Curriculum.</p><p><br/></p><p><b>Cynthia Aldinger</b> received her Waldorf teacher training certificate at Emerson College in Sussex, England.  She served fourteen years on the board of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America and was a founding teacher of Prairie Hill Waldorf School in Wisconsin.  Cynthia is the author of <a href='https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/book/life-is-the-curriculum/?wenurture-s2-e2'><em>Life is the Curriculum</em></a> and co-author of <a href='https://lifewaysnorthamerica.org/book/home-away-from-home-lifeways-care-of-children-and-families/?wenurture-s2-e2'><em>Home Away From Home</em></a><em>, </em>and she presents throughout North America and internationally, as well as through numerous online courses. A mother and grandmother, Cynthia’s passion is the preservation of the playful spirit of childhood and helping to create environments that provide the comfort, security, and activities found in a healthy home.</p><p><br/></p><p><b>Anthroposophy</b> is a spiritual philosophy, developed by Rudolf Steiner at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.  It is a path of knowledge or spiritual research.  Anthroposophy strives to bridge the d