Identifying Nature

Golden Trumpet

While exploring the play ground the children came across some mushrooms. They were concerned that they might be poisonous. I brought in my mushroom identification book and we looked up the two types we found. Not poisonous. 

Bleeding Mycena

A small snail

We also found a small snail, type unknow. I need to get a snail identification book.

 

The 3rd Teacher

• How are we using our classrooms, indoors and out, to create safe emotional spaces for children to explore their world by taking risk?
• Emotional risk as well as physical risk.
• What do children need in all spaces to feel that they have control and are being cared for?
• Is there a high energy space as well as quiet space?
• Are we really using the spaces we have to its potential?
• What can we add?
• What can we take away?
• How is the equipment supporting the whole child?
• How is the light affecting the children?
• Is it natural light or artificial?
• Is it too bright/dark?
• What kinds of sounds are being heard in the environment?
• Are they sounds that can be controlled?
• What is the volume?
• Is it too loud and masking other sounds?
• What energy are we bringing to the room with our voices?
• Are we distracting children's flow of exploration?
• Is our emotion causing unwanted stress?
• What is the air quality?
• Is it fresh air?
• How is temperature affecting the activities?
• Is it too hot or too cold?
• Are there scents or smells that are overpowering? 

These are just some of the questions I think about when I am pondering how the environment can support the well being of the children in my care.

Environments are integral to well-being and learning

The importance of the early care and learning environment – sometimes referred to as the “third teacher” – cannot be underestimated in shaping the experiences of children and adults. Children and adults live and learn in relationships with the people around them but are also profoundly affected by their relationships with spaces and materials. 

-British Columbia early years framework 2019, page 22.

Trauma Informed Care means:

 

Provide Safety: Be Consistent, Reliable, Predictable, Available, and Honest.

Make Connection: Be POWERFULLY Present, make connections with Child and their Family.

Empower Emotional Regulation: Coregulating with the child, don't expect them to be able to do it on their own.  

Connection was one of the threads that were woven throughout the PlayFirst Summit conversations that really spoke to me: "Without connection we can not help children move forward with their growth." Providing Trauma Informed Care creates a space where children have needs to be met, not behaviours that need to be corrected.

It was Dr. Mine Conkbayir talk that really inspired me.

Unpacking all the info

The Play First Summit is what I attended a few weeks back now. I am still watching videos and unpacking so much info. 

Here are a few posters of quotes from the summit:

Teacher Tom's Blog Post

This Very Real, Very Important Work The Children Need To Do

We have ants.

A group of children discovered a swarm of ants at the centre today. They were very interested in them. They became enthralled with how it felt to have them crawl on them. They helped each other to place ants on their bodies. They were also very excited to point out where the ants were already crawling on each other. 

Getting down really close to the ants so that they would crawl on them.

The child has the right to live in the present. “Children are not the people of tomorrow. They are people today.”

“I call for a Magna Charta Libertatis concerning the Rights of the Child.  Perhaps there are more, but I have found these to be the principle rights.”

The child has the right to love.“Love the child, not just your own” 

The child has the right to respect“Respect for the mysteries and the ups and downs of that difficult task of growing up.”

The child has the right to optimal conditions in which to grow and develop.

“We undertake to eliminate hunger, overcrowded conditions, neglect and exploitation.

Suffering bred of poverty spreads like lice - sadism, crime, and brutality are nurtured on it.”

The child has the right to live in the present.

“Children are not the people of tomorrow. They are people today.”

The child has the right to be himself or herself.

“A child is not a lottery ticket, marked to win first prize.”

The child has the right to make mistakes.

“There are no more fools among children than among adults.”

The child has the right to fail.

“We renounce the deceptive longing for perfect children.”

The child has the right to criticize“Children are not permitted to notice our faults and shortcomings. 

We appear before them in the adult garb of perfection.”

The child has the right to be taken seriously.

“You will never understand children if you belittle their qualities. 

Who asks the child for her opinion or consent?”

The child has the right to be appreciated for what he is.

“The market value of the very young is small.

Only in the sight of God is the apple blossom worth as much as the apple.”

The child has the right to protection

“We undertake to protect the child from all forms of violence and abuse.” 

The child has the right to respect for his secrets. 

“If a child trusts you with his secret, be grateful, for his confidence is the highest prize.”

The child has the right to “a lie, a deception, a theft.”

“He does not have the right to lie, deceive, or steal.”

The child has the right to respect for his belongings.

“No matter how insignificant or valueless – they are not just bits of rubbish!”

The child has the right to education

“One is struck by the fact that everywhere military spending is greater than that for education.”

The child has the right to a future on this planet.

“We plunder mountains, cut down trees and destroy animals”

The child has the right to forgiveness.

“More often than not we are their harsh judges, rather than their counsellors and consolers.” 

The child has the right to protest an injustice“We must end absolute authority.  Always listen and try and see things through the eyes of the child.” 

The child has the right to happiness“Let children drink in the joy of the morning.   Show them love, kindness and understanding - set an example.”

The child has the right to respect for his grief.

“Even though it be for the loss of a pebble.”

The child has the right to a Children’s Court where he can judge and be judged by his peers

“We are the sole judges of children’s actions, movements, thoughts and plans.  I know that a Children’s Court is essential.  I hope that in fifty years there will not be a single school, or  institution without one.”

The child has the right to be defended in the juvenile justice court system.

“The delinquent child is still a child, who has not given up yet, but does not know who he is.   A punitive sentence could adversely influence his future sense of himself and his behaviour.   Because it is society that has failed him and made him behave this way.”

The child has the right to commune with God.

‘Do allow children to  find him in quiet contemplation -  in their souls’ 

The child has the right to die prematurely“A mother’s deep love for her child must give him the right to a premature death.  Not every bush grows into a tree.”

(The King of Children by Betty Lifton)

What is the outcome of risk? JOY!

I am quite passionate about giving children a space to take risk. I am loving this Anji Play True Play philosophy.  

What I am focusing for 2020

True Play Statement

True Play is deep and uninterrupted engagement in the activity of one’s own choice.

True Play is most frequently characterized by observable experiences of risk, joy and deep engagement. This is the deepest manifestation of learning, growth and development.

True Play flourishes in places of love where the materials, environments and decision-making attend to the needs and differences of the individual and the group.

When given space to reflect, those who experience True Play and those who take part in deep and engaged observation of True Play will create ecologies that prioritize the understanding of learning and development in their respective communities.

Educators and policy-makers committed to True Play protect the child’s right to experiences of True Play, and make True Play a priority in their decision-making about education.

Anji, China 15 May 2019

Anji Play

Some things the young people got up to in 2019

Exploring physical risks:

found alternate ways to enter the sand box

played "What happens if I do this?" 

created challenges for friends

Creating things to use and wear:

Megatron and Bumble Bee

cat

badge

Creating things that can be remade:

alien

dragonfly's

Explored water:

bridges to homes

Creating flow

riding in the rain

moving puddle and creating suds