More on my teaching philosophy and practice...

For more details about my teaching style read on...

My teaching / learning philosophy

During my 5 year Elementary teaching course I was exposed to many learning and child development theories. In parallel, on my own time, I studied unconventional ideas in education such as un-schooling, home-schooling, alternative schools, Waldorf & Montessori, youth-run programs, and the history of the mainstream western education system as we know it - and how it has hardly adapted to the times or modern understandings of children and learning since the industrial revolution! 

Therefore, I deeply believe in alternative education ideas such as interest / inquiry based learning, non-graded assessments such as observational / anecdotal evidence of learning, and teacher as co-learner or mentor. I believe in the power of peer-to-peer learning, and group learning circumstances. I believe that each child innately harbours the capacity to learn.

Nature and Place Based
 I believe that exposure to, and time in, nature is extremely valuable for holistic child development - physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually. Through meaningful and repeated time in a specific place in nature, children will create lasting and strong connections to place, and their understanding of that place will be paramount for their understanding of the world. This is place-based or bioregional education. Learning through the social / environmental lens of the area you live in - making your learning relevant to your life. Overall, my own teaching style falls almost identically in line with that of the Forest and Nature School Philosophy: http://childnature.ca/about-forest-and-nature-school/

Hands-on & Real World Skills

 I also believe in teaching children real, hands-on skills they will use throughout their life. It is commonly accepted in early childhood education that children gain a huge amount of their social and emotional intelligence needed to get through life. They learn the fundamentals of how their bodies work; how to navigate the world with large muscle groups, and creating, writing and exploring using fine-motor skills and building dexterity. As a way of teaching these skills, some teachers use direct lessons that target a skill at a time. But if you combine real challenges and skills such as climbing a tree or mixing cookie dough, is intrinsically motivating for children. Through practice in social and supported situations, children learn self-esteem, persistence, communication with others, and infinitely more social, emotional, and physical skills. 

Play-based learning

This pedagogy is rooted in the fact that children possess a drive to learn, and through play, they discover their strengths, weaknesses, interests and more. Internal motivation pushes them ahead in trying new things, in a solo or social play. Teachers can guide children's play in a gentle, playful manner towards deeper thinking about their actions and lead them to resources to support their playful learning. Play-based learning ties with child-directed and inquiry-based learning in that the child dictates the activities they are interested in and ready to explore, through play or invitation by a teacher to join in activities relevant the themes the child(ren) show interest in. 

Some of my favourite things to facilitate

Songs

I love to sing with children - it is a time to share our voices with one another in a beautiful and often silly way. There seems to be a song for every transition in the day, every quiet moment, every excitable group, and for every child. Singing improves oral language, such as pronunciation and rhythm.

Crafts

At Hand-in-Hand we would start our day with some kind of tactile activity, often a craft, that is related to whatever we've been curious about. I love to find new ways to weave current learnings into a hands-on exploration of that topic. It also gives something meaningful for the children to do when they first arrive to take their minds off of transition time and leaving their parents. 

Storytelling

In the forest, we bring books to read at snack time. Usually they tie in with the interests of the children, or what you as the educator you deem developmentally important. But there are also so many opportunities for oral stories when you are outside - while walking, sitting, or just relaxing in the moss. I love to share stories from my own childhood, and encourage kids to tell me their stories in return. 

Play 
Though I avoided directly giving children play ideas, if invited I will join play, and slowly back off to let the children's self-iniate. Sometimes I will join in play to mediate conflicts or bring light to something they may not have thought of - to add a little complexity to their thread.

And also:

• Field trips
• Inviting community members in to lead workshops or share knowledge
• Loose parts
• Water play
• Team-building activities
• Parents involvement days
• Community contributions / stewardship
• Newsletters / updates on the program's activities and seasonal/ themes of children's interest
• ...and much more

I believe strongly in communication with parents and guardians and am flexible with the form that  providing feedback, updates, and 

Things I need to work on

Time-management. I can be known to leave preparation for lessons and activities to the last minute. This can add stress on to my plate and change the layout of the day or planned timeline.