From the Womb: A Community-Scientist Discussion about Chemical Exposures and Children’s Development

 

 

This month the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS) is co-sponsoring Carolina Science Cafés focused on how the environment affects children’s health.

 
On February 26, Dr. Stephanie Engel will lead a conversation on endocrine disruptors and their adverse effects on children’s development. Endocrine disruptors, which are chemicals found in a number of consumer products, harm human health by interfering with hormonal, reproductive, and neurological development. This café will be hosted at Flyleaf Books on 752 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Chapel Hill (next door to Foster’s Market) from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Dr. Engel is associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and studies how prenatal environmental exposures harm neurodevelopment in children.

 
The Carolina Science Café is sponsored by the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility and the Society of Sigma Xi at UNC Chapel Hill. Each Carolina Science Café features a brief expert presentation on an emerging science topic followed by informal discussion with community audiences. For more information, contact Neasha Graves (neasha_graves@unc.edu) or Jonathan Frederick (jfred@email.unc.edu). For additional information about this event and other CEHS-sponsored events, visit http://sph.unc.edu/cehs.

The Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World

www.beholdnature.org

 

Toward Wholeness:

Caring for the Soul of the Child

 

March 1, 2014

9:30 am - 4:00 pm

Place: The Peace and Justice Room, St. Francis Springs

477 Grogan Road, Stoneville, NC 27048

Cost: $75 (lunch included)

(We will be taking an Earth Walk in the morning, so please wear

comfortable shoes and come dressed for the weather)

Click here to register online

"Earth Elder Thomas Berry regularly reminded us that children must understand that their home is not the industrial world but the world of "woodlands and meadows and flowers and birds and mountains and valleys and streams and stars." Thomas counseled us that children must also be enabled to directly experience the Universe. In fact, he believed the child is our guide to how the Universe ought to be experienced by all of us.

Caring for the soul of children is one of the keystones of responding, in both a practical and spiritual way, to our current ecological crises."

~ Bill Plotkin, "Care of the Soul of the World" in Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth,

ed. by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

In this day retreat at beautiful St. Francis Springs, we will deepen our understanding of caring for the soul of the child through presentations by master practitioners on "The Soul Development of the Child in Nature" (Colette Segalla), "Caring for the Soul of the Child in Nature" (Sandy Bisdee), "Caring for the Soul of the Child in Song" (Jennie Walker Brunner), "Caring for the Soul of the Child at Home" (Marie Nordgren) and "Caring for the Soul of the Child in Illness" (Andrew Levitt). Retreat weaver: Peggy Whalen-Levitt.

Sandy Bisdee is the Director of Children's Programs at the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World. She holds a Montessori International (AMI) Teaching Certificate and brings over thirty years of experience as an educator of children to her work at the Center.

Jennie Walker Brunner is a classically trained violinist who also enjoys composing tunes and playing fiddle with the Walker Family Band. She holds a bachelor's degree in Music Education and is a trained Suzuki violin teacher. Jennie is currently working on receiving her Life Ways teacher training and has a deep interest in encouraging people to lift their voices in song.

Andrew Levitt is a pediatric cosmic clown at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC. He holds a Ph.D. in Folklore from the University of Pennsylvania and is a professional mime and storyteller.

Marie Nordgren is the founder, director and a teacher at The Children's Garden Preschool, a nature and play based early childhood program in Durham, NC. She received her training in Waldorf early childhood education from Sunbridge College in Spring Valley, New York.

Colette Segalla is a clinical psychologist in Raleigh, NC. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in California, where she completed her dissertation on "Spirituality and its Embeddedness in Nature as it Relates to a Child's Development of a Sense of Self."

Peggy Whalen-Levitt is the Director of the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World. She holds a Ph.D. in Language in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, where she co-created a graduate program in Childhood Imagination.

Check out City of Raleigh's 2014 programs to help your family kick-start the new year active and outside! 

 Recess at Millbrook Exchange Park

 

Let’s Get Active Homeschoolers
Get your homeschooler active in this unique program at Millbrook Exchange Center. Coach Shawn will guide your homeschooler through a variety of sports and games that will keep your child moving and having fun. Coach Shawn is skilled in a variety of sports and specializes in working with youth sports. Each week will feature a different activity or sport. Sign up by the month for $17.00 or per week for $5.00. Class meets each Friday! Sign up today because space is limited. Monthly classes start January 10, 2014.

Homeschool Open Gym
Calling all homeschoolers in the Millbrook area! Join us for open gym each Tuesday. Staff will provide equipment, you provide the fun. Great way to get some midday wiggles out before school starts back again in the afternoon and an opportunity to meet other home school students in your neighborhood. Program is free and meets each Tuesday from 10:30am-12:30pm.

 

Nature Programs

Wee Walkers
Join us every Thursday from 10 – 11am to explore nature on this easy paced hike around the park for you and your toddler ages 1-5 years. There is no fee for this program. Please pre-register four days prior to the event. Register online with RecLink. Class meets at the Durant Nature park office located at the North entrance to the park off of Durant Road.

Survivor: Durant Nature Park Edition
How does nature survive the harsh winter? We’ll find out as we hike to find real examples of how plants and animals have adapted to living in the cold. After our hike, we’ll head back to get firsthand experience on how WE can survive the cold by warming up by a campfire and roasting a marshmallow or two. Join us for this program Saturday, January 11 from 2:00-3:30pm. Program is for ages 6-12 years and the fee is $5. Please pre-register four days prior to the event. Register online using RecLink with barcode #151755. Class meets at the park office located at the North entrance to the park off of Durant Road.

The Great Acorn Mystery
Sammy Squirrel remembers exactly where he left his acorns last fall— right under the tree with the pretty leaves, but when Sammy wakes up from a nap, he discovers the woods have changed! Where did all the leaves go? In this fun detective program, participants will need to follow the clues to help Sammy find his acorns before someone else does. Maybe we’ll learn how to identify a few of our winter trees along the way! Join us Tuesday, January 21 from 2:00-3:30pm. Program is for ages 6-12 years and the fee is $3. Please pre-register four days prior to the event. Register online with RecLink using barcode #152161. Class meets at the park office located at the North entrance to the park off of Durant Road.

Predators on the Prowl
When the sun goes down, whoooo do you think comes out to hunt? Join us as we take an evening walk in the woods to look and listen for winter predators. We’ll finish our hike by roasting marshmallows over a campfire and practicing our predator calls. Fee applies to all participants. Program held Friday, January 24, from 5:30-7pm for ages 5 and up, fee is $3. Please pre-register four days prior to the event. Register online with RecLink using barcode #151909. Class meets at the park office located at the North entrance to the park off of Durant Road.