Art enjoys a highly significant space in early childhood learning programmes for the way it promotes a variety of learnings. Both as a process and product, art helps improve creativity, cognition, social skills and emotional expression in children. If you are involved in the planning or implementation of art-based play and learning in young children, here is a bit more on the different stages of child art development.
A Montessori method is an educational approach characterised by learner choice, an enriching environment and educators who facilitate the learner’s natural bent for learning. It was devised during the 1900s by Dr Maria Montessori, a physician, anthropologist and pedagogue over a professional career that spanned over fifty years. Here are some characteristics of an activity that makes it Montessori.
Time was when preschool literacy was understood as young children’s ability to read and write in simple ways – like knowing and reading the alphabet and perhaps writing a few However according to recent early education pedagogy, literacy is understood in much broader terms that include children learning to express themselves and communicate through a range of forms and symbols. In keeping with this, the EYLF has defined literacy as the “capacity, confidence and disposition to use language in all its forms. Here are some significant takeaways from the definition.
Play comes naturally and effortlessly to young children. It is self-driven, active and intrinsically enjoyable. Along with helping children pass through appropriate developmental stages and negotiate their way through the immediate environment, the play also enables the externalization of feelings and mastery over emotions. In this way, play becomes the source and medium of therapeutic powers which facilitate or mediate change in the child. According to research, therapeutic powers of play can be understood in four broad categories.
It is all set to launch consent education mandatory in Australian schools from next year after years of public pressure. It has been reported that consent education will balance the gendered stereotypes, coercion, and power and will also focus on respectful education.
School readiness has traditionally understood children’s numeracy skills as their ability to count, order and measure before they go on to perform calculations. However, numeracy encompasses a much wider notion than numbers – it can be understood as the suite of knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that students need in order to use mathematics in a wide range of situations. For the early education context, the EYLF defines numeracy as, “the capacity, confidence and disposition to use mathematics in daily life”. Based on this definition, here are some significant takeaways.
Educator, Dionne Batrice Grills, 36, was found not guilty of manslaughter in Supreme Court. The most awaited verdict has come out over the manslaughter of a little boy, aged 3, who was left on a bus and due to this, heatstroke snatched his life untimely. The incident took place 2 years before in 2020. Dionne Batrice Grills, who was in charge of the safety of the child on the bus was found not guilty. The driver who is incidentally the former centre director pleaded guilty.
Physical development includes not just the increase in length, height and weight of the child but also the size of organs as well as the development of various reflexes, motor skills, sensations and perceptions. Here is a brief overview of ways in which physical development in the first five years can be linked to EYLF.
Children’s early experiences consist of interactions with parents, other family members, Educators and teachers as well as their environment. Due to the rapid nature of brain development in early childhood, the quality of early experiences deeply impacts their emerging selfhood and how they respond to the world around them for the rest of their life. This can be broadly thought to constitute the core of their social and emotional development and here is how it is linked to the EYLF.
If your service is to ensure the best outcomes for children in your care, it is imperative that your educators and other staff work together as a team. One of the most enjoyable ways to foster team motivation is with games. Here are a few fun-filled team-building exercises to try at your next team-building session.
The First Sounds Match Up is a great phonics activity for children to sound out the letter and match the picture to the correct letter sound. This is a great way for children to begin learning letter sounds and for children to begin learning phonics.
It has been reported that Inner West councillors planned to support the free early education of the children whose parents are seeking and awaiting to get asylum for them.
Inquiry-based learning is an experiential educational approach in which learners are encouraged to explore, question and arrive at their own conclusions. Asking questions is an important aspect of an inquiry-based approach but toddlers and very young children may not have the language to frame and ask such questions. Here are then a few tips on planning inquiry-based experiences for toddlers.
