Mindfulness and Purpose in Early Childhood Education

  When educators would like to celebrate spring without focusing on Easter PLANTING ACTIVITIES Spring is a great time to teach children about growth and nature. Teachers can organize planting activities where children plant seeds in pots or in a garden. They can learn about the lifecycle of plants and watch them grow throughout the season. SPRING-THEMED ARTS AND CRAFTS Encourage children to create spring-themed art projects such as painting flowers, making paper butterflies, or crafting birdhouses. This allows them to express their creativity while embracing the beauty of the season. OUTDOOR EXPLORATION Take the class on nature walks to observe changes in the environment during springtime. Children can search for signs of new life such as budding flowers, chirping birds, or emerging insects. This fosters a sense of curiosity and appreciation for the natural world. SPRING CLEANING Get children involved in spring cleaning activities within the classroom or school grounds....

  4 Intrinsic Differences Between A Conversation And Talking To Young Children THE DIFFERENCE between “talking to” and “talking at” the child. “Talking to” is being part of the conversation (the back and forth). 'Talking at” is dictating the conversation (very one sided) “Conversing with young children requires mutual engagement and active listening by both parties involved.” CONVERSATIONS need to be at the child's developmental stage.   TALKING is the physical ability to say words, phrases and construct sentences. Conversing requires the ability to talk with the cognitive ability and nuances of exchanging ideas. CONVERSATION is a state where two people exchange ideas, feelings and thoughts. It is the rise, ebb and flow between individuals.   It is an inclusive feeling for everyone involved. When we converse with young children we enter their world. We gain their attention and trust.   We experience their wonder, enthrallment and excitement of their wor...

Inquiry-based learning is all about asking questions.  Teachers do not lay out facts for the children so the learning process is smooth.  They spark children's interest and then encourage them to find their own answers.  The teacher lays the path for learning from behind, rather than leading children from the front. In an inquiry -based learning environment, the teacher has questions, intriguing ideas as the centre of all learning experiences.  The questions are the nucleus from where learning bursts open with the children finding their own answers.  Learning is a shared responsibility where a question is asked and the teacher must create an environment where the children learn to find the answer. Children are expected to use evidence-based reasoning and creative problem solving in order to find answers to questions. Children learn by doing, experimenting, questioning, reasoning, and observing.  They learn by learning and are taught how to learn....

Traditionally, classrooms in Ontario have followed the rote learning model, which is a technique based on repetition and memorization.  But recently, those classrooms are disappearing in favour of a more collaborative space, in which teachers are facilitators using a technique called inquiry-based teaching. “Inquiry-based teaching is an approach to instruction that begins with exploring curriculum content and providing a framework for the students to ask their own questions which builds interest and curiosity,” says Louise Robitaille , an elementary teacher in Midland.  Encouraging students to be active learners, posing their own questions and problems and following through on those, rather than passive learners simply receiving information is believed to create greater student engagement and, in turn, create greater student achievement.  Inquiry-based learning is not a new idea. It is a teaching method born in the 1960s out of a response to the more tr...