It’s spring, an exciting time of year for our family and for Natural Pod. Our children soon will turn 3 and 6, and we’re celebrating the birthday of Natural Pod with two years of supporting your families with natural play options. If you did not get our birthday special offer, be sure to email us at customerservice@naturalpod.com
With Spring comes more outdoor play, planting of seeds, and the wonder of color coming out everywhere in the garden. This year is extra special for us as we are very proud to be a supporter of the Healthy Families Conference in April. We have one weekend pass to give away, details are below:
On April 18-19, 2009 educators and parents from across the Pacific Northwest will gather to participate in an event designed to inspire, support, and connect the amazing individuals who contribute to building community for our children at home and in school. This two-day conference is packed with great presentations, breakout sessions, workshops, discussion groups, and meals that will create a collaborative and participatory setting giving each participant a toolkit of resources and contacts to take home.
They have got a great line-up of speakers too! Peggy O’Mara (Mothering Magazine), Shea Darian (Author, Parent Educator), Suzanne Down (Juniper Tree Puppets), Cynthia Aldinger (LifeWays), and Anna Rainville, (Top Kindergarten Teacher in California, 2002) will present keynote topics and experiences that are guaranteed to set the tone. For more information on this amazing event check out healthyfamiliescanada.org.
How can you win a weekend pass to the Healthy Families Canada Conference?
It’s easy – simply visit http://www.healthyfamiliescanada.org, come back to Natural Pod blog and use the comment box below to let us know which conference topic is most relevant to you.
Want to double your chances of winning? Visit the blog of our friends at Mama Renew and leave a comment on their contest page. Triple your chances? Join Natural Pod’s Facebook Group and let us know why you’d like to attend the conference.
Our contest deadline is midnight on March 13th, so get clicking!
54 Responses
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HI Bridgitte,
I would love to win! What I am most looking forward to is hearing Peggy speak!
As a long time subscriber of Mothering this is a fantastic opportunity to see her live~
Thanks
NIkiah
I’m interested in Homelife as the foundation for Education. There’s much to be learned about how we relate to the world, and to each other, by the way we do activities at home.
Anita
This sounds very interesting….it’s refreshing to see that such topics are being discussed and making moms healthier and happier! I truly look forward to the discussion forums and to hearing Peggy speak – her topic is so relevant in this day and age when it seems everything is done over the internet or reading….we need to CONNECT with other mom’s in person and learn how to make time to do it as well
I sure hope to win!
Lisa
I’d love to hear Peggy O’Mara as I read up on Mothering Magazine a lot! and the others sound interesting too!
Hi,
I would love to participate in the session about connecting as a community. I want my boys to know that they are surrounded by a village of people who love them and to know that their role in our community is vital.
thanks,
Bethan
Hello,
I am also really looking forward to hearing Peggy speak. The focus on community building is also very exciting.
Definitely hearing Peggy O’Mara! Also, any break out sessions that have to do with creating community for my child – it’s such a difficult thing to consistently do in these hectic times!
I’m looking forward to Suzanne Downs’s session on Imagination, the Key to Thinking.And the Marketplace, or course!
What a great event! Peggy’s keynote address on “Finding & Creating Community” is something that greatly interests me. I’d love to hear what she has to say.
Dear Friends that I look forward to meeting!
The vision of this conference is to support those who are striving towards more conscious responding to their children. Setting the mood in the home, in care and in a school setting sets the foundation for learning. Please do tell any teachers of young children you know that this conference is for them as well. Most early childhood educators begin their career because they love children and are good at meeting their needs. Care and learning are interconnected and must not be separated. This conference will show us all how nuturing and education are intertwined, setting the foundation for the best growth possible in our children.
with care,
Margo
By far, the workshop I would most love to attend would be: The Activities of Home Life as the Foundation for Learning with Cynthia Aldinger, Director, LifeWays North America. As a mother of a 2 1/2 year old & 4 year old who is interested in homeschooling and currently training to be a Waldorf teacher, it would be worth it to attend the conference just for this one workshop!
Blessings…
I would love a chance to hear Suzanne Down on Imagination, the Key to Thinking. As both a parent and an educator. I think puppetry is fast becoming a lost art whose value within the school system is underrated. (Although the whole conference sounds fantastic!) I would hope more public school teachers will be attending and I will do my best to spread the word!
There are so many topics of interest. One that I find interesting is “Cultivating Reverence and Gratitude with Our Children” My kids are small, but I hope they learn to appreciate what gifts they have in life.
I would love to attend all or part of this great event. I would most like to hear Peggy’s keynote address on “Finding & Creating Community”
The Tasks of Home Life as the Foundation for Education is the part I am most interested in, although I am also excited to hear Peggy O’Mara speak!
I would love to attend.
Hi,
I think the keynote on nuturing gratitude in the family is the most interesting. I have teens coming up and it’s something that I don’t always get myself!
Great conference
Hi there,
This conference sounds amazing…
As a Mothering Magazine subscriber, I am most excited about hearing Peggy O’mara speak.
Hello, I am also most excited to see Peggy O’mara speak!!! and just everything . . . sounds like a great vat of information and education! Would LOVE to go!!!
Wow that sounds like a fabulous conference! I hope you will blog about it, since I won’t be able to attend this year!
I’m most interested in ‘The Tasks of Home Life as the Foundation for Learning’.
I would love to attend the The Tasks of Home Life as a Foundation for Learning. I’m always looking for ways to improve my parenting skills with my 2 boys – sometimes I feel as though I don’t do enough to stimulate their minds!
I would love to win passes! I’d love to hear Peggy speak, but I’m most interested in the NURTURING topic by Shea Darian.
It’s always great to hear different ways to teach a child necessary skills no matter how young s/he is. What better way to do this then to use “The Tasks of Home Life as the Foundation for Education”.
I would love to attend this event. I am most interested in Hearing Peggy O’mara speak, her magazine has inspired me and probably changed my life more then any other single publication.
I am very interested to hear everyone speak but especially Cynthia Aldinger on The Activities of Home Life as the Foundation for Learning. I was home schooled for three years and found that experience was life changing for me in terms of how I approached learning. I see now, with my 6 month old son his endless wonder in the world. I hope to cultivate this as he grows through making everyday a possibility for learning. I hope I can go to the conference!
I definitely need help finding my community and getting some “Yes’ into my days. What a great theme for a conference.
I am most interested in the talk by Peggy O’Mara on Finding & Creating Community. Moving around alot we find it hard to reconnect with new neighbourhoods, and find like minded souls in a society where those who want to live more naturally are the minority.
I keep coming back to setting the table as the session that intrigues me the most. With a child who wants my attention on what he is doing constantly, finding ways to bring his interest to the household and life tasks that are essential for all of us is a constant creative process.
I have been reading Mothering magazine for a few years now, and would love to hear Peggy speak. She is an amazing writer, and I’m sure an amazing speaker too!
I am most interested in the topic of cultivating relevance and gratitude with our children. I think this would be extremely useful to me not only as a parent, but also as an early childhood educator.
I think the whole conference sounds interesting, as an educator and a parent. I’m most interested in ” Working Wonders: Cultivating Reverence and Gratitude with Our Children”.
Hope you are well!
Catherine
Looks like a great conference. I’m intrigued by the talk with Shea Daria – Working Wonders: Cultivating Reverence and Gratitude with Our Children.
It is so hard to choose a favorite – they all seem intriguing!
Hi Bridgitte and Allan,
Obviously I hope I win and get to go. As a long time subscriber of Mothering I would love to hear Peggy in person. The workshops sound also very inspiring. The one I would be most interested would be about building a community. I live in area that is not homebirth/midwifery/ breastfeeding/ natural living friendly. I tried several times to take the initiative and opened my house to community support /info groups regarding various topics but there is just no interest it seems. I feel quite secluded and when I share anything out of my life with people around I feel like I had grown a second head, the way they look at me. But I cannot help letting them know that there are other ways of living/ raising families. Even cooking meals from scratch seems to be ‘way out there’ here.
Take care and keep up the good work.
Finding & creating community would be the most interesting to me. But everything else seems so interesting too. Gratitude is another great topic.
I would love to hear Peggy O’Mara speak. I was given a copy of Mothering Magazine as a gift before my son was born and have been hooked ever since.
Hi,
I’m most interested in hearing Peggy speak on COMMUNITY; Finding & Creating Community.
Best,
Kathryn
It all sounds so amazing! The most exciting topics to me are the ones on creating community – both Peggy O’Mara’s talk and Anna Rainville’s Dancing as a Village. I can just imagine the possibilities!!
I would love to attend this event. It all looks really interesting. Peggy is such an inspiration. I love Mothering and Magazine, and her books. I always feel so good after reading them.
I had no idea this event was on!!! I was recently lamenting how I am as a first time parent to be going to get in touch with other like minded people and how to set a foundation for our child in this rather complex world. I am also completing my MA in Counselling Psych and this would be an excellent augmentation to my skill set. So please send me
I am much interested in: Activities of Home Life as the Foundation for
Learning:Cynthia Aldinger, Director, LifeWays North America
I’d love to go to this conference. The topic that interests me most is the keynote speaker’s topic – about finding and creating community.
Oh my goodness – Peggy O’Mara! Wow she would be a great keynote! I am very excited about the ‘Sunday Dinner’ workshop. This is something (family eating dinners together) that we are trying to instill in our toddler. I am also keen on Shea Daria ‘Working Wonders: Cultivating Reverence and Gratitude with Our Children.’
Thanks for the chance to go.
I would love to attend Peggy’s talk.
Sounds like an inspiring a mama-nurturing experience.
Jennifer
Oh how to pick a favorite…Shea Darian speaking about “cultivating reverence for life and relationships, creating meaningful daily rhythms”, celebrating awe and wonder! and Suzanne Down encouraging imagination, the joy of moving and singing together…I can’t get enough of this encouragement to help shape and guide our everyday lives. Thank you. Julia
The topic of cultivating gratitute and reverence is the one that inspires me most!
I am new to the world of Waldorf. I have a six year old who does not fit into the standard school system. I am looking at homeschooling my child using the Oak Meadow Waldorf. I live in Kamloops and there is no Waldorf school close by. I would like to know more about the resources available in the local area. A conference would be very helpful.
Hello,
I would like to hear and learn from Cynthia about how the activities of the home can be a foundation for learning. Now that I’m at home and working less, I’m looking for ways for my daily tasks to flow with my daughter (too often they are incongruent and it leads to frustrations). Thanks so much!
Amanda
As a Waldorf kindergarten teacher in Denver, Colorado, I am inspired by the speakers and topics of the Healty Families conference planned for April in Vancouver. I hope many seeds are planted for our children’s future. My school, Parzival Shield, would love to send a member of our community to bring back some of the wisdom that will be shared there. I’ll print out the poster and send the email to our families. I am happy to work together with so many advocates for healthy children.
Hi
I live in Kamloops and I am a mother of a 6 yr old and a 3 yr old, interested in Waldorf Education.
Anyone in the Kamloops area may contact me at :
lorilinda@shaw.ca
Lori
As a family living mostly off my husband’s income and wanting to eat natural, organic foods I would love to attend the conference workshop “Family friendly natural meals on a budget.” What a a great opportunity to hear some great speakers like Peggy O’Mara.
I am a transplant from a Saskatchewan farming community and I struggle everyday with the desire for the kind of community I took for granted growing up. I find the world to be very individualistic and big city living to be anonymous and lonesome. I crave for my children the feeling of belonging, support and extended family that I grew up with. A long time reader of Mothering magazine, I would love to hear what Peggy has to say. Please, pick me!!
We love our daughter Jet so much and would like to have as much knowledge and skills as possible to ensure she is the healthiest and happiest kid on the block!
Continuing the Discussion