Creating expansion through learning.
Hello and welcome! This is a space dedicated to early childhood education and lifelong learning.
Theory, Pedagogy, and Curriculum
The field of early education is broad and evolves in accordance with many factors including cultural influences, technological innovations, and emerging science that informs new research based practices. Early education programs can vary widely based on the design of the programs which are formulated by three main foundations of knowledge and practice: theory, pedagogy, and…
Tension of the opposites
In the wise words of psychologist and psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, one of life’s challenges is to develop the ability to hold the “tension of the opposites.” We are often pulled into binary thinking – good and bad, right and wrong, true and false. Having an internal compass to guide yourself toward your north star of…
The art of the pause
Today’s technology, driven by social media, has created a culture of instant gratification and short-term attention hacking leading to addiction. And just as addiction does, it begins to shape other aspects of our lives. In particular, instant gratification and increasingly short-term attention spans shape the ways in which we learn by limiting our ability to…
Embracing rhythm
As I welcome autumn, I’m thinking about the rhythms of life through seasons and cycles, and how this is mirrored in early learning and development. In Waldorf early education, establishing a rhythm to each day is an essential grounding for the child. In the article, Waldorf Education: The Importance of Rhythm in Early Childhood author…
Building a relationship with nature
When I worked as a caregiver in a child care and preschool setting in a high population dense city, we were fortunate to have a contained outdoor space. I use the word contained because even though there was a busy street just on the other side of the gate, the space felt distinctive and like…
Words of affirmation to encourage learning
This is a photo of my partner from his childhood. It seemed fitting for this posting as he is wearing a Superman shirt and looks confident that he just wrote his name in sidewalk chalk.
Listening, being, and creating
The need to understand the child’s perspective is essential to supporting the child’s learning and development. First, we will explore why the child’s perspective is important and next discuss how to understand the child’s perspective through emergent listening, being with the child in the present moment, and discovering creativity. Importance of the child’s perspective Supporting…
Love and imagination in early learning
Establishing a connection between love and imagination in early learning was the basis of my master’s thesis. In this post, I will share a summarized version of my thesis focused on my research findings. Before describing my research, I’d like to share a quote about the importance of imagination from education theorist Lev Vygotsky: “It…
Quotes about play
The importance of play has long been known, yet it can be easy to lose sight of this when we discuss children’s education in terms of assessment and readiness. Allowing children the space and time to explore their inner worlds through play expands imagination and unlocks creativity. Play can be a channel to experience joy,…
My philosophy of education
Education is an essential human need and right. The purpose of education is to further our collective human development toward a loving, equitable, peaceful, and engaged existence. How can education transform our human experience in the present and the future? My philosophy of education explores this question and proposes that education: Education must honor the…
Positive Psychology and the PERMA Model
Positive psychology is a relatively new discipline within psychology. For decades psychology has been used to advance theories uncovering and explaining hidden or below surface elements of our human behaviors. Psychology has predominantly been used to identify and diagnose troubling tendencies, investigating the dark corners of our minds. In the late 90s, Dr. Martin Seligman…
Anji Play: Return the right of play to the child
I recently discovered Anji Play through a classmate. I had first heard Anji Play referenced as highlighting the importance of risk in play. After researching more about Anji Play, watching some Youtube videos that show play in action, and listening to a speech by Ms. Cheng, the lead educator that has brought Anji Play to…
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Learning to Create. 