CHILD'SPACE®ITALY

CALENDAR

2024/2026

2024

"A baby comes to the world.
How does gravity and reflexes affect her/his movement."
June 14 > 16 | Orly Gat, Doreen Bassiner, Chava Shelhav online

"The beginning of movement in space.
Lifting the head and unintentional rolling."
July 5 > 7 | Orly Gat, Ortal Goldshmid online

"Intended and differentiated movement: rolling."
October 11 > 13 | Barbara Leverone online

December 2 > 8 | Orly Gat Milano

2025

February 7 > 9 | Ortal Goldshmid online

July 3 > 13 | Doreen Bassiner, Anat Aviv Yeffet Palermo

October 17 > 19 | Barbara Leverone online

November 30 > December 8 | Orly Gat Milano

2026

February 25 > March 1 | Orly Gat Palermo

Training Program will teach you what you need to work effectively with babies (even with special needs) and their parents.

Training is an essential resource for:

• learning about infant development

• learning to observe infant behavior

• enriching their preparation to better interact with babies both in early childhood and in school age

• learning tools to support parents and support them in their difficult role

THE TRAINING

The program consists of 50 training days divided over two years.

The program covers developmental stages from birth through independent walking and includes:

• essential theory

• explorations of the movement in the different stages of development

• exercises to develop the quality of touch

• improve technical skills for introducing babies to movements that they need to learn

• acquisition of notions to create an adequate space for the motor exploration of infants and children

• "what-how-when": use of games, songs and nursery rhymes to facilitate the development of babies and children in various stages and situations

TOPICS OF THE TRAINING

• lifting the head from a prone position

• turning over and rolling

• crawling and sitting

• standing and walking

• homolateral and contralateral movement

• development of balance

• body mapping

• gross and fine motor control

• coordination and orientation

• speech and language

• interpersonal communication and social skills

• cognitive and emotional skills

• infant and child creative play

• sleeping

• feeding

PROGRAM

During the training program, the Child'Space® student retraces all the stages of motor development of the baby, from lifting the head to the acquisition of free walking, through DME and Hands-on lessons.

DME: Developed by Dr. Chava Shelhav and based on the Feldenkrais® Method, the DME lessons give participants a direct experience of the child's stages of growth. This experiential learning through doing and feeling is a foundation of the Child’Space® method. By exploring different variations of fundamental movement patterns, the student will understand the challenges infants face as they learn to roll, crawl, stand and start walking. The time of the lesson also includes the opportunity to look at each other during the movements. It is possible to develop observation skills, fill in the gaps, present in the motor language of each, and discover ways to deal with them as adults and with babies. Many students, through these lessons, experience improvements in their posture and gain ease of movement.

Hands-on: Practice (hands-on) is the essential component of the Child'Space® training program. Students will work in groups every day in order to develop a quality of touch that is adequate and suitable for communicating developmental movement patterns with babies and caregivers.

PROGRAM AIMS

The aim of the course is to provide each student with the skills for create a pleasant social environment in which to improve the motor, cognitive, emotional and social skills of infants and children through two ways of working with babies and caregivers:

Individual sessions: Hands-on Experience

in which the Child’Space practitioner works with an infant and his / her parents / caregivers.

Group sessions: Developmental Movement Explorations (DME)

in which a group of babies and their caregivers meet with parents and caregivers who learn to support their child using the tools and knowledge of Child'Space® using touch, movement and singing.

Demonstrations

The educational staff, with the supervision of Chava Shelhav, will give indications, through videos or dolls, on the work to be done with babies and parents. They will also analyze the structure of these sessions with the class focusing on the techniques used.

Supervision

During the training program each student will have the opportunity to receive qualified supervision while conducting work sessions with infants and parents.

Lectures

An integral part of the program and complementing the experiential work are supplementary lessons conducted by experts in fetal development, neural development, child psychology, nutrition, etc…

Practicum Spervision

From the first segments, practicum sessions will take place in order to apply practically what the students have learnt and getting a feedback from the training staff.

Thesis

During the training course, the students, divided into working groups, will explore a theme of motor development with the aim of preparing a presentation.

Home and Online study

Educational materials and a suggested plan for home study during the program will include:

• audio movement lessons

• video demonstrations with children and parents

• communication with students and teaching staff

• reading books, handouts

WHO CAN BENEFIT?

Run by Child’Space® Trainers, the program is intended for everyone. It is especially recommended for educators, physiotherapists, Feldenkrais® Practitioners, parents, caregivers, psychologists, speech therapists, social workers, occupational therapists, etc...

STAFF

Chava Shelhav
Educational Director
Senior Trainer

Dr. Chava Shelhav is a Senior Trainer of the Feldenkrais Method; was born in Israel, and lives in Tel-Aviv.  Dr. Shelhav was a member of the first group of students trained personally by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, worked with him for many years and acted as his assistant in programs worldwide.  She is one of a handful people who are responsible for the promotion of the method to the international status it holds nowadays. Chava Shelhav introduced this method to a variety of institutions in Israel and Germany, among them hospitals, Child-development Centers, Kindergartens and schools. She received her PhD at Heidelberg University in Germany. Her thesis led to her book (in German) “Movement as a model of learning”, was published by Modernes Lernen (VML) in 1999. Her MA degree she received at Boston University based on her work with children with Cerebral Palsy and her master’s thesis, “Working with Brain Damaged Children Using the Feldenkrais Method,” that was published in 1989.  Her method of teaching utilizes aspects of the body-mind relationship, and emphasizes the influence of early development on the individual and on social personality. Dr. Shelhav achieved distinction through her work with infants and children, especially disabled ones. During the last 40 years she trained thousands of students, and witnessed the growing need and interest of working with babies and special needs babies and developed “Child’Space – The Chava Shelhav method”—a unique Method of Developmental coaching that applies the Feldenkrais theory while working with babies and their caregivers. Thus developed the Child’Space Shelhav Method, and since 2002 she has been training practitioners and therapists in the Child’Space method in Israel, USA, Japan, Netherland, Russia, Austria and Argentina. Dr. Shelhav has been the Educational Director for Feldenkrais professional training programs in Israel, UK, USA and Germany as well as guest trainer for numerous programs internationally. She has been the head of the Center for the Feldenkrais Method in Germany, Feldenkraiszcentrum, for the last 30 years.

Orly Gat
Educational Director
Senior Trainer

Senior Trainer of the Shelhav Method and a close student to Dr Chava Shelhav for more than a decade. A Feldenkrais Practitioner, originally trained as an occupational therapist with a profound experience of more than 20 years working with children and adults, she has a broad knowledge of development and special needs in this connection. She is one of the co-authors of the book "Child Space". A mother of three (23, 20,14), she lives in Israel and teaches in Israel, Europe, Argentina and Japan.

Ortal Goldshmid
Senior Trainer

Ortal Goldshmid is a Child’Space Trainer, trained by Dr. Chava Shelhav’s at 2004, a Feldenkrais Practitioner, and holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Tel Aviv university. Ortal is the head director of the Child’Space Israeli training program. She is a Trainer in the Child’Space trainings in Israel, Argentina and Vienna. Ortal has over 15 years of clinical experience in early childhood development at private and public family health care centers in Israel, working with babies with various neurological, motor and sensory challenges.

Barbara Leverone
Senior Trainer

Barbara Leverone is a Senior Trainer in the Child’Space Method and has been a Feldenkrais Practitioner since 1994.  Her career as a professional dancer, choreographer and theater movement teacher eventually led to a private practice in the Feldenkrais Method for over twenty years.  She began her Child’Space training in 2007 with Dr. Chava Shelav to pursue an interest in working with babies and children.  Her graduate degree in Mental Health Counseling and training and supervision in Infant Mental Health merged seamlessly with the Child’Space Method.  She has been a Child’Space trainer for over ten years in Chicago, New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina as well as in Buenos Aires, Vienna and Japan. 

Doreen Susan Bassiner
Trainer

Doreen Susan Bassiner started her studies of the Feldenkrais Method more than 20 years ago and teaches it since 2009. In 2011 she met Chava Shelhav and specialized in the work with babies and and children with special needs. Her continuous research to create the best learning conditions for children with disabilities leads her to furthermore complete the studies in the Jeremy Krauss Approach. Doreen is member of the Child’Space training staff since 2013 and has taught in the trainings in Amsterdam and Vienna. She is also a personal trainer and has deep knowledge of the work of Bones for Life, reeducation of the pelvic floor, craniosacral therapy and strategies to reduce anxiety and sleep better.

Anat Aviv Yeffet
Assistant Trainer

Anat Aviv Yeffet is a Child’Space Assistant Trainer, trained by Dr. Chava Shelhav in 2004, a Feldenkrais Practitioner (1999) and a Pediatric Craniosacral Therapist (2006). Anat has developed a special program of developmental movement lessons for kindergarten children based on the Feldenkrais and the Child’Space Methods. She has over 20 years of clinical experience working with adults, babies and children dealing with various neurological, motor and sensory challenges. Anat lives in Israel in a kibbutz by the Mediterranean sea, she is married, a mother of 3 daughters and a grandmother of 5 grandchildren.