(she/her) Cynthia “Cyd” Ponce has worked with children of all ages for over a decade. She currently serves the Tucson Waldorf School as educational support teacher. A naturally charismatic leader and nurturer, her pedagogy focuses on using developmental movement and sensory integration to identify and address physiological hindrances to learning. Warm and evidence-based in her practices, Cyd uses play and connection to bring ease and efficiency to the process of learning.
Cyd’s work with children began in her teens and twenties, when she began nannying and then working as an Applied Behavior Analysis practitioner for neurodivergent youth. From there, she went on to various caregiving roles, including providing in-home care for children with developmental disabilities.
The foundation of Cyd’s pedagogy is the interrelation of body and mind. Her search for an educational approach for her child that aligned with her values as a parent and a caregiver brought her to Waldorf education, and at the same time she initiated a process of growth and intention in her relationship to her own physiology. This lifestyle reframe brought her significant quality of life rewards, and she became passionate about facilitating similar experiences for the kids she works with, leading them toward improved quality of learning and life.
Hired by TWS after bringing her child to the Quail’s Nest parent-child program, Cyd was brought on as an early childhood education assistant, then as a nursery assistant teacher and a long-term 1:1 aide to a grade school child. Caring and keenly observant, Cyd is received by children as a friend and advocate. Her work with the Waldorf educational modality has offered her a wide range of experience and the opportunity to hone her pedagogy and praxis, which she has supplemented with advanced study at the Association for Healing Education.
Raised in New Jersey and Arizona, Cyd is a proud mom and enjoys spending time with her daughter, Liv.