Child’Space

Chava Shelhav Method

a developmental monitoring training program
Following the success of the Child'Space training
program in Europe, Israel, and the United States,
Dr. Chava Shelhav is back by popular demand to
offer a second training program in the Chicago area.

Why is Developmental Monitoring Important?

Contemporary research indicates that cognitive and
psychological development begins before birth, and is
influenced profoundly by early experiences.The ways
infants perceive, organize and process information directly
affect the development of their movement skills and the
ways they relate to their environment.
Through 40 years of experience working with adults,
children and babies, Dr. Shelhav has concluded that many
difficulties in later years have their origin in this early period.
Early intervention and stimulation of children's primary

Child'Space method
emphasizes the importance of
stimulating all the biological systems
in the critical developmental period of
the newborn up to independent
walking. Involving the parents in the
process is at the heart of the
method and an essential
component of its success.
developmental pathways can help prevent or alleviate later
manifestations of impaired development. Monitoring and
supporting infants and their parents on this critical journey
influences infants' physical, social, emotional and cultural
adjustments throughout their life span.
Who Can Benefit From Child’Space Training?
This program offers a variety of learning opportunities, skills,
and information resources for professionals working with
children, or expanding their practice to include children, and
anyone interested in a new career direction.
The program is suitable for Feldenkrais® Practitioners,
Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Caregivers,
Early Intervention Specialists, Speech Therapists, Child
Therapists,Teachers, Social Workers and Psychologists.
The training can be of value to anyone interested in gaining
an understanding of developmental processes on both
experiential and theoretical levels.
Feldenkrais® is a service mark of
FELDENKRAIS GUILD® of North America
The Training Program
The 50 days program is held over a two-year period
(300 hours,) and prepares participants for a role as
"development educators" working with parents to
support the developmental stages of their infants
from birth until they achieve independent walking.
The Child'Space offers two models for working
with babies and their caregivers:
• Individual lessons where the Child'Space
educator works with one infant and his
primary caregivers
• Group sessions, where several babies and
their caregivers participate together.
You will learn to work with:
• Healthy babies
• Babies experiencing developmental delays
• Babies with special needs
You will also learn how to communicate with
parents, teach them to observe, appreciate
and support their babies through each
developmental stage.
Observing Chava work with a mother and baby, I was struck
that in a short time she changed so much in that mother, her
child and in her confidence to bond with her child.
Fred Ettner, M.D., Chicago, 32 years in practice
Teacher of Family Medicine at Evanston Hospital
Curriculum
Developmental explorations
Developed by Dr. Shelhav and unique to
Child'Space, these daily movement lessons give
participants a direct experience of infants'
developmental stages, allowing future educators
to hone their observational skills and to better
understand the challenges facing babies.
Hands-on experience
Hands-on experience is an essential component
of the training program. Students will work
with each other daily toward developing a
suitable quality of touch for communicating
developmental movement patterns.
Supervision
Each training segment, students will be supervised
in conducting sessions with babies and parents.
Lectures
Lectures by experts in the fields of fetal develop-
ment, neural development, child psychology,
nutrition and other related topics are an integral
part of the curriculum.
Internet based
Internet based discussion, audio and videotapes
of movement lessons and demonstrations with
children and parents. Home study deepens your
learning on your own schedule.
About Dr. Chava Shelhav
Israeli-born Chava Shelhav was one of the first
students of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais – the founder of
the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education. She
is widely recognized for her exceptional skills with
clients, and as a trainer.
She holds a Master’s degree from Boston
University (1985) and a Ph.D. from the University
of Heidelberg in the Departments of Sociology and
Life Sciences (1998).
Her Master's thesis, "Working with Brain Damaged
Children Using the Feldenkrais Method," and her
Ph.D. thesis, "Movement as a Learning Model", reflect
her interest in children's learning.
Dr. Shelhav has been Educational Director for
Feldenkrais professional training programs world-
wide. She has represented her work at internation-
al conferences and collaborated at Professor Esther
Thelan’s Center for Infant Motor Development.
In my 25-year career as a pediatric physical therapist, I
have studied many treatment techniques in an effort to
better help the children I work with. In my opinion, the
best overall technique for working with babies is Child'Space.
Carol R. Bettendorf, PT, MS, PCS (Chicago)
Birth to Three & Beyond Pediatric Therapies, LLC
Child’Space Certification Program
November 12 to 21, 2010,
July 20 to 28, 2011,
November 11 to 20, 2011,
June 15 to 24, 2012, and
November 8 to18, 2012
Program price is $1,750 per segment.
For more information please visit our
website www.feldenkrais-shelhav.com
To apply, please send your resume, a statement of your
vision for what you will do with the training, and personal
interests with a check for $100 to Susan Alberts,
200 Dempster Street,Evanston , Illinois, 60202, USA.
Contact Susan with any questions at salb200@comcast.net
or phone 847-328-8817