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The Bridge: The 12 Senses with Nancy Blanning

January 27, 2021 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Up Next on The Bridge: The 12 Senses

How do the 12 senses lay the foundation for healthy student development? This week on The Bridge, Waldorf educator Nancy Blanning offers a framework for understanding these senses, how they serve us, and how they develop as “partners” in setting the foundation for how we will live comfortably within our bodies and with each other in social life.

Date: January 27, 2020

Time: 10am MST

Location: Online via Zoom

We will follow the presentation with a live Q&A. Please register to reserve a seat.

What You’ll Learn

Waldorf education works from a unique — and sometimes curious — view of how the human being grows and develops through the whole of life, not just during childhood. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, described that each of us has twelve senses. There are the commonly recognized five senses that tell us about the world around us. Yet there are also other sensing avenues that tell us about ourselves within ourselves and our physical relation to the world. Still more inform us about and connect us to the outer social world with other human beings. Steiner went on to say that how these senses mature in childhood lays the foundation for future development in all realms for the rest of life.

It is exciting for Waldorf education that modern neurological research is confirming that this is true. The sensory experiences we have from early childhood on literally build the brain. The way the body moves also forms the brain we will have for the whole of life.

About Waldorf Educator Nancy Blanning

Nancy Blanning is an early childhood educator with a special interest in movement and has been working with young children in Waldorf settings for nearly 40 years. She has served as Denver Waldorf School faculty since 1987 as both lead kindergarten teacher and educational support staff. Nancy is a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at national and international Waldorf early childhood conferences. She is co-director of Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training at Sunbridge Institute in Spring Valley, NY, and is guest faculty at other teacher training programs. Nancy has also traveled widely as mentor and consultant to Waldorf schools in the US and Canada. She is editor of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association journal, Gateways, has edited several books, and is author of Walking with Our Children: The Parent as Companion and Guide. DWS colleague, Laurie Clark, and Nancy have written and published movement imaginations for Waldorf early childhood teachers, Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures, Vol. 1 and 2.

About The Bridge

The Bridge is a bimonthly webinar series hosted by The Denver Waldorf School on the benefits of Waldorf education. By connecting one another, we aim to join in the worldwide effort to educate for humanity.

About The Denver Waldorf School

The Denver Waldorf School is an urban pre-K through 12 independent school in Colorado. Founded in 1974 on Rudolf Steiner’s humanitarian curriculum, DWS believes education should foster what it is to be human, cultivate lifelong curiosity, and inspire a love for the world. We are currently enrolling for in-person learning:

Want to learn more about us? Schedule an in-person tour of our Denver campus or join us online during our virtual events.

Register to Attend The Bridge

Details

This is a peek into 6th grade medieval history, where as part of their studies of monastic life, they each patiently created their own illuminated manuscripts. This coincided with their work that also encompassed learning about the Islamic Golden Age, and practicing Arabic calligraphy as well. 

Art finds its way into all that we do - it is not an extra. Through the arts, subject matter comes to life through experience, creativity, and meaningful connection. As they study history, for example, students are invited not only to study facts about a period in time, but to enter into it through their own hands and imagination.

Moreover, each project supports our curriculum in meeting our students where they are developmentally. In 6th grade, at a time when their developmental stage seeks structure and clarity, this work in calligraphy requires patience, deep focus, and adherence to form. While the completed piece of art is always wonderful to marvel at, moreover, it is about the journey along the way as we nurture our capacities as whole human beings. 
Every day, our first graders would arrive to discover a small change in Ms. Nelly’s chalk drawing that welcomes them into the classroom. A tiny detail. A moment of wonder. A symbol of growth. A cherishment of the season. An awakening before a morning of imagination, stories, and connection. 

And on the last day of school, just as they had on so many school days before, they enthusiastically pointed out the new detail. May we carry forward their delight to take notice of beauty, be curious, and find joy in all the little things. 

Watch until the end to see how the tree evolved over our school year. What a gift! ❤️
As we celebrated three distinct ceremonies to close out our school year - our golden knights (kindergarten) graduation, 8th grade continuation, and 12th grade graduation - it is always a beautiful reminder of the interconnectedness of our education. A holistic journey to becoming through goodness, beauty, and truth. 

Our Rose Ceremony brings all three milestones together, with reflection for our students on where they have come from and where they are going. It is a celebration of growth, connection, and community - one we do not take for granted as a K-12 school! 

Though each chapter of the journey is unique, they are all woven together in this path of becoming - to foster what it is to be human, cultivate lifelong curiosity, and inspire love for the world. 
Not a farewell, but a “see you later” to our school founder, Ina Jaehnig. As we closed the year with our Rose Ceremony, it was only fitting to present one last rose to Ina to mark this new stage in her journey as she retires from DWS.

Ina opened the doors of The Denver Waldorf School on Michaelmas in 1974. For over 50 years, she has exemplified what our Waldorf education is all about with her steady presence, love for children, and unwavering care for our community. She has guided our vision, inspired countless students, and gifted us with her humour and wisdom. 

While we will miss seeing her regularly in our halls and classrooms, her guiding light lives on in the heart of our school and in the generations of students, families, and teachers whose lives she has touched. With deep gratitude for all she has given, we send Ina into this next chapter with all the love of our DWS community!
With a passing of a rose from our first graders to both their 8th grade buddies and our graduating seniors, we closed out our 2025-26 school year with the Rose Ceremony. The Rose Ceremony is always how we begin and end our years - it is an event that marks the transition from one stage of life to another. With much celebration especially for our 1st, 8th, and 12th graders, we come full circle at the end of the year with connection, reflection, and a marking of this passage of time and growth within each student. We are filled with gratitude as we celebrate these significant moments as a community and cherish the closing of another school year together! 💫🌹
This weekend, we celebrated these 18 incredible and unique students. As a class, they are artists, scientists, environmentalists, entrepreneurs, historians, athletes, coders, designers, musicians, writers, and thinkers. They are each full of curiosity, and have a remarkable capacity to recognize the humanity in one another - and to always come from love. 

As we listened to our teachers share about who each of them has become, our gratitude for the privilege of sharing this journey with these wonderful students sat deeply within us. Their indelible presence within our community will be deeply missed. 

DWS Class of 2026 - you are ready for the world beyond, and how lucky that world is to receive your contributions! Congratulations 🎓🌹🌟!!
“May the long time sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on.” 

We know that our brave golden knights (the oldest children in our kindergarten, now rising first graders!) are ready to do what is good and right! We celebrated this morning with a cherished ceremony to honor their wonderful growth and our shared journey together. With song, story, reflection, and many watering eyes, we savored these moments with full hearts as they crossed the bridge to the world beyond our early childhood classrooms! Golden knights, we’re ready for you to lead the way with your light 🌟
Before we break for summer, our rising 3rd graders worked their hands and hearts to bring our school garden to life! They planted tomatoes, onions, corn, beans, squash, and more. Over the summer, along with their families and the help of our community, they will lovingly tend and water the garden. When we return in the fall, the students will continue this work as part of their farming block - and get to experience the joy of the harvest season and the fruits of their labor! 
 
Connecting to the natural world around us is an integral part of our curriculum and culture. We celebrate the seasons. We foster a sense of wonder and reverence for the earth and its many gifts. We stay curious and cultivate care. We believe that our work and commitment together can make a difference! 🌿
This morning our graduating seniors took their “Walk Through the Grades” - a tradition that carries them back through the full arc of their Waldorf journey. The seniors visited each grades classroom and were presented with a small remembrance from their younger days in our community - whether it be a song, morning verse, recorder melody, poem, or nostalgic pillar of our curriculum. 

Through the watering eyes, warm embraces, and laughter shared- the morning was a reflection of how deeply this journey lives within each of our students. We are holding onto their presence as we near their graduation at the end of this week! 

May our graduating Class of 2026 cherish the many lessons through their days at DWS as they embark on their journey into the world that awaits 🌟.
The DWS Class of 2026 continues to impress us as they commit to colleges and prepare for the next chapter of their journeys. Together, these 18 students have earned an incredible $7,769,240 in merit scholarships for college- an average of about $430,000 per student- a remarkable reflection of years of dedication, creativity, and hard work.

The Denver Waldorf School has proudly maintained a 100% college acceptance rate, and year after year admissions offices share how excited they are to see a Waldorf application come across their desk. Our students stand out as thoughtful contributors, collaborative classmates, courageous learners, and creative problem solvers- prepared not only for college, but for meaningful and purposeful lives beyond it. We are deeply proud of the Class of 2026 and grateful to celebrate both their individual achievements and the community that helped nurture them along the way. Congratulations, seniors- you inspire all of us. We can’t wait to soak in these last few days with you back on campus this week!

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The Denver Waldorf School

2100 S. Pennsylvania St.
Denver, CO 80210
p) 303-777-0531
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