Early Childhood & Family Dance

Theories of child development, attachment, culturally-responsive teaching, neurocellular patterning, play, and social-emotional learning are woven into an approach that centers inclusion, equity, and agency in all early learning.

Showing all 7 results

  • Early Childhood Dance & Social Emotional Learning – September 16, 2023

    $190.00
    How does dance intersect with children’s sense of self, and their connection with others? Discover dance activities that support young children’s exploration of self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, interactions and relationships. Taught through a culturally responsive lens, this interactive workshop centers around cultivating belonging, inclusion and community through creative dance play.

    Saturday, September 16, 2023
    1-4pm Pacific

    via Zoom
    $190

    Free for OUSD, BUSD and MCOE teachers. Limited tuition assistance available for those whose employers do not provide PD funding. Email jperena@lunadanceinstitute.org for more information or for registration questions.
  • Love, Move, Play™: Dance in Early Childhood – Winter 2024

    $360.00

    Explore the essential nature of dance and movement for young children in this newly extended six-week course. Investigate early childhood development and neurocellular patterns in an embodied way, and explore how the elements of dance can be used to support young children’s need to move. Learn to extend spontaneous dance experiences, facilitate parent-child interactions using dance, integrate dance into emergent curriculum, activate circle time and create stand-alone dance lessons with student choice and voice at the center. Develop your skills of observation. Learn how to provide access to dance for all students. Step into this whole-self art form to increase joy in your classroom. This course is for all who work with young children. No prerequisite. Designed as a virtual course and taught via Zoom.

    Facilitated by Nancy Ng and Jochelle Pereña, with dance in Special Ed and Inclusion guest teachers Alisa Rasera and Jessica Kershner.

    Limited tuition assistance available for independent dance teaching artists or educators whose administrators do not cover PD. Please contact Jochelle jperena@lunadancecreativity.org for more information.

    20 January-9 March, 2024
    Saturdays
    9:30am-12pm Pacific
    via Zoom

    6 Saturdays:
    20 January
    27 January
    3 February
    24 February
    2 March
    9 March

     

  • Early Childhood Dance & Math – October 14, 2023

    $190.00

    How does a child’s kinesphere and relationship to self and others relate to Geometry and Measurement? What do Number Sense and Pre-Algebra look like through the embodied movement of the young child? This interactive workshop explores play-based dance activities that support sorting, classifying, adding together/taking away, patterning and spatial awareness through the lens of culturally relevant teaching practice.

    Saturday, October 14, 2023
    1-4pm Pacific

    via Zoom

     

    Free for OUSD, BUSD and MCOE teachers. Limited tuition assistance available for those whose employers do not provide PD funding. Email jperena@lunadanceinstitute.org for more information or for registration questions.

     

  • Early Childhood Dance & Literacy – December 9, 2023

    $190.00
    Children learn using multiple languages. Discover how dance intersects with language learning and literacy skills and stands as a language on its own. Learn how dance expands children’s relationship with literature, symbols, songs, rhythm and rhymes, and engages them as holistic learners. This interactive workshop introduces full-body dance activities that support vocabulary, phrasing, and narrative development.

    Saturday, December 9, 2023
    1-4pm Pacific

    via Zoom
    $190

    Free for OUSD, BUSD and MCOE teachers. Limited tuition assistance available for those whose employers do not provide PD funding. Email jperena@lunadanceinstitute.org for more information or for registration questions.
  • Early Childhood Dance & Science Parts 1 & 2 – April 20 & 27

    $190.00$350.00

    Dance and science are connected. These interactive workshops investigate play-based dance activities that engage children’s curiosity and sense of discovery and support young learners as they ask questions and figure things out. References will be made to the Preschool Learning Foundations in Science and Creative Curriculum concepts. Take either workshop or both for deeper learning.

    Part I: How do the skills of basic scientific inquiry – observing, comparing and contrasting, and experimenting – relate to dance? Discover and collaborate with colleagues to develop dance activities that explore life sciences (biology), body mechanics, animals and plants, lifecycles and metamorphosis. Learn strategies to extend children’s curiosity through creative movement that embraces their ideas. 

    Part II: Children investigate physical sciences (physics) and earth sciences through embodied play. Experience playful creative dance activities and lessons that explore the changing properties and motion of objects, earth materials, planets and weather that you can bring back and build upon in your teaching setting.  

    Part I: Saturday, April 20, 2024
    1-4pm Pacific
    via Zoom
    $190

    Part II: Saturday, April 27, 2024
    1-4pm Pacific
    via Zoom
    $190

    Take both workshops for $350

    OUSD, BUSD and MCOE early childhood teachers can register for free by emailing jperena@lunadancecreativity.org.

     

  • Practitioner Exchanges – monthly

    From: $15.00

    Practitioner Exchanges create time and space for peer educators to explore issues of practice. Get inspired! Try out new ideas or perspectives! Ask for help with your challenges, and collectively generate new ideas and solution. Each Exchange centers on a different topic. This year, Practitioner Exchanges are held online via Zoom, and will investigate different questions in regards to teaching dance from a distance. Practitioner Exchanges are facilitated by Summer Institute alumni. Come to ONE, come to ALL. No prerequisite.

    Practitioner Exchanges are included in the cost of workshops as follow-up discussions. When taken in conjunction with a half-day workshop, PD hours total 4.5-7. Explore descriptions here.

    Topics (more to be posted as new inquiry emerges)

    Restarting & Reimagining
    September 28, 2023

    Engaging Families & Family Dance
    October 30, 2023

    Dance Leadership
    November 16, 2023

    ECE Idea Exchange
    January 31, 2024

    Informances & Performances
    March 1, 2024

    Dance in Special Education & Inclusion
    March 13, 2024

    Restarting & Reimagining 2.0
    June 5, 2024

    4:30-6pm
    via Zoom

    $15-40 sliding scale each.
    OR pay $28 (the Professional Learning fee) and come to as many as you like for a year.
    Paid the $28? Email jperena@lunadancecreativity.org to let Jochelle know which ones you’ll attend.

    No one turned away for lack of funds – reach out to jperena@lunadancecreativity.org.

     

  • Family Dance Institute

    $450.00

    An in-depth exploration of relationship-building through the art of dance. Course content includes attachment theory, early development theory (0-5 year olds), brain research and neurological patterns, play theories, and working with parents. Teaching artists, early education teachers, therapists, dance educators, parents, and social justice workers learn to create engaging dance curriculum that fosters trust and connection. No prerequisite. More information here.