Curiosity and ECE Practice

A speech to some of our future employees :)

Richmond / Delta Continuing Ed ECE Grad - June 26, 2012

Good evening Trustees, fellow Instructors, Program Administrators, Families and our honoured guests – the ECE class of 2012.

I am delighted to be here to share this momentous evening with you.  A moment in your life that you have worked hard for, made sacrifices to accomplish and are rightly anxious to celebrate.

As someone who has walked parts of this journey with some of you, I rejoice in the ways you have embraced your learning, have asked hard questions, have thought deeply about philosophy, best practices, curriculum ideas, guiding and caring……. The ways you have learned to dance and sing and tell stories and set up learning invitations for children, how to work with families, how to observe and record, how to be safe and serve good snacks.

When we think back through all the courses, all the individual classes your dedicated instructors developed and delivered to you, it forms an impressive list of topics.  Add to that the hours you have spent with mentors in the field doing practica and all the things you learned in those placements….another set of impressive checklists of topics covered.

As your teachers and mentors we may stand back and feel a sense of accomplishment ourselves.  That we were able to impart sufficient knowledge to you such that you stand here tonight to proudly graduate from the ECE program.

BUT

BUT it is nothing more than a long list of pre-requisites and assignments and observations and workbooks and evaluations ….. a whole lot of head knowledge that will perhaps start you on your journey as an ECE.

Very soon you may come to a dead end, an unsatisfying and dull place, a place of rules and rigidity, a place of boredom and frustration……

UNLESS

Unless you take from this program a deep and profound curiosity.

A curiosity about yourself. About what it will take for you to be that extraordinary version of yourself that changes lives. Changes your own life by your deeply reflective thinking about your work, your relationships, your vision and your values.

A curiosity about your work.  About what it takes to be an educator who delights in the daily gifts offered up to you by the children and families and colleagues you work with.  A curiosity that sees around barriers, that seeks to see strengths before dwelling on weaknesses, that seeks creative collaboration and reflective dialogues to grow your work.  A curiosity that leaves you hungry to go deeper and be more present and raise the bar for best practice.

A curiosity about families.  About their hopes and dreams for their children.  About the treasures they bring to you in their different cultures, traditions and celebrations.  A curiosity about how to nurture their children together in a supportive partnership of respect and communication.  A curiosity that allows you to wonder with them about the joys and the challenges they face and we face together.

A curiosity about children, about a child.  A deep curiosity about what a child is thinking and feeling, about their theories, their questions, their strengths.  To be curious with them about the world, their world.  It’s a big and complicated world and for you to be their trusted adult and guide to authentically wonder about the world with them is a gift, a joy, a sense of profound safety and a way to grow and learn.

The course work is necessary.  It had to be done.  There is “stuff” to know and remember and do.  But if in that work you have not learned to be deeply curious or, worse still, you have buried or lost your curiosity in course work and assignments….. I urge you in the days and weeks ahead to find it, to rekindle that fire in your heart that pointed you in the direction of this course.  Reconnect your head with your heart and then connect them both to the work of your hands and feet.

This is important work you have chosen, work that changes lives, work that could and should change yours.

Do this work with all of yourself and remain forever curious……and that will make you an extraordinary educator and the world will be blessed because you came to this place and did this work.

Congratulations ECE Class of 2012.

Gold Standard

LondonBridge Child Care Service

We just blew your fees

There was much excitement this afternoon at BGR when the bark blower truck arrived to replenish the wood chips on our playground....... $1300 worth of wood chips as it turns out!!

The children were an attentive audience and asked interesting and insightful questions and comments....
"Where do all these wood chips come from?"
"How many do you think there are?"
"How long will it take to blow them in?"
"Those guys must be very strong to hold that pipe"

The teachers used the time to chat about all these things and to ask the children how we might take care of our playground now.......they certainly showed they know where the wood chips should stay..... we will see how long that lasts!

Richmond Review BEST of Richmond 2012

Best Daycare
1. Core Education & Fine Arts Jr. Kindergarten,  160-10811 No. 4 Rd., www.cefa.ca
2. With Our Own Two Hands, 3871 Moncton St., www.withourowntwohands.ca
3. Bowling Green Road Children’s Centre,  110-6100 Bowling Green Rd., www.richmondchildcare.org/locations/

Nice - thanks for voting!

The Right Way to Teach Math

Re-posted from Exchange Everyday.......
May 21, 2012

In his article, "Math in Early Childhood," which forms the basis for the Exchange Out of the Box Training Kit by the same name, Francis Wardle talks about the right way and the wrong way to teach math to preschoolers...

"Studies show that children who play with unit blocks in early childhood do better in algebra in middle school.  But it’s important to note that the outcome of playing in the block area is not demonstrated until middle school!  Math standards during the early years will automatically focus on low level, rote skills: memorization, repetition, and adult views of math knowledge.  What makes this most destructive is that young children are operating within Piaget’s preoperational stage, which means they cannot think logically.  Thus, bureaucrats creating standards and assessment often include things that children this age simply cannot even do....

"Math knowledge and dispositions are not created in a vacuum.  Math is about manipulating things: objects, shapes, concepts, and relationships; reproducing and documenting the world; and constructing, building, and estimating.  The Reggio Emilia philosophy and the Project Approach understand this clearly.  Thus, we must provide a myriad of opportunities for young children to have direct, concrete experiences in the real world.  What is the value of discussing the speed of light if you don’t understand light?  Seeing snow accumulate day after day is a real way to understanding increase in quantity.  Carrying a large boulder teaches about mass; swinging on a rope about force, angles, and speed.  Field trips, extensive classroom projects, exploration in nature, extensive use of the playground, observing the weather, etc., must all be central to our math curricula."

Screen Time - Exchange Everyday Article

Young Children and Screen Time
May 16, 2012

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
-Carl Sandburg

A wide variety of organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the White House Let's Move Initiative, have developed position papers on the extent to which children should be exposed to and engaged in watching television and computer screens .  Long time friend of Exchange, John Surr, has written and excellent summary of these reports recommendations, "Too Many Channels? Sifting through the Recommendations on Screen Media and Technology."  Surr concludes:

"It is clear that today’s young children are being raised in a media-saturated environment, dramatically more so than in their parents’ generation.  Although many parents and early childhood educators grew up after President Reagan de-regulated television in 1984, they need to be aware of the effects of that saturation for today’s young children, even though scientists are still learning about the full scope of those effects.

"It is also clear that young children’s intense involvement in screen media has adverse effects on their growth and health.  We in early care and education have a responsibility, in the best interests of the child, to wean them from excessive dependence on screen media, especially while they are with us and in our care.  We also need to be able and willing to work with parents to help them to make informed media choices for their families.

"All of the authorities cited in this article are agreed that children under two should be exposed to screen media as little as possible, and that child care is a place for their relationships and concrete explorations of the world around them, not for the children or caregivers’ screen media experiences.  Passive screen media in child care should be very limited, based partly on the likelihood of the children’s excessive exposure at home and the danger that a sedentary media habit can lead to obesity, sleep problems, and other health difficulties.  Although some authorities are more enchanted with interactive screen media than others, there is a widespread feeling that there should be limits on total daily media exposure, and much stronger limits on exposure while in child care, for children between 2 and 5 years of age.

"Violence, sex, and commercials on screen media available to young children should be discouraged, according to the health authorities.  Others recommend that children need time away from media to develop more fully their own imagination and capacity to play.

"We in child care have a responsibility to reach out to parents and community leaders, to convince them to make their lives more child-friendly and less media-saturated.  We all need to go outside and play."

West Cambie Children's Centre - SNEAK PEEK

West Cambie Children's Centre is nearing completion for the second time......if you are wondering what happened the first time click here and here.

We actually have a target date for opening (and NO we are not saying what it is yet - we need to be a bit closer before we can do that).

But here are a few photos....... we think it's going to be amazing!  You need to be on the Bowling Green Waitlist to have priority for West Cambie.....click here to register