One of my favourite comments I have read on the EYLF is in relation to "being" and it said:
"Being recognises the significance of the here and now in children's lives. It is about the present and them knowing themselves, building and maintaining relationships with others, engaging lifes joys and complexities and meeting the challenges of everyday life.
The early childhood years are not soley preparation for the future but also about the present"
I think educators are not letting go of the old way of doing things and seem to be doing all the old things as well as the EYLF...making more work for themselves.
It,s all about getting down to the childrens level and co-constructing learning, we as educators need to also experience being able to enjoy the present and to be playful...how can you do that when doing 4 hours of paper work a day??
Where I work we have set areas that have the same things out every day eg. construction area has wooden blocks, train set, wooden people, cars, a variety of blocks in containers set up on a shelf so the children can self select what they will play with.
There is no need to plan for and evaluate EVERY area every day , only where there has been extention of learning and co-construction and intentional teaching, this is usually only a few things a day above and beyond the areas set up the same way every day.
Yet reading these forums people are still doing daily plans of the whole room and all activities done by the children, doing time wasting endless paper work when they could be spending this time "being " with the children.
Is this is what the EYLF is really all about?
In my opinion from what I have read about it , it is not. I do less than half the paperwork I used to before the EYLF,I am spending my time interacting with the children and guiding their play. I am really enjoying working this way, it is a breath of fresh air in my opinion.
