Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning What is nature pedagogy? Nature Pedagogy is a way of teaching that works with children in ways that embrace nature. This would include the elements you bring inside your classroom, as well as your outdoor environment and even the culture of respecting and working with and in nature that the community take further. Claire Warden the founder of the Floor Book approach, creator of Auchlone Nature Kindergarten in Scotland, and Nature Pedagogist puts it like this: “Nature Pedagogy is a way of working with children and creating sett ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning How many of us stop to take a moment to consider what it is about our strategies, our practice, our provocations, our environment or even our interactions with children that nurture and drive their engagement and curiosity? In today’s faced past world, where there’s always another thing to do, another place to be, another task to complete, how often do we stop and pause to consider not only our impact on children, but also the impact of the world we are interacting with, on us?   Considering our teaching strategies As you sit ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning The Importance of Curiosity in Education – How Educators Can Nurture Their Own Curiosity In episode 19 of Blooming Curious, we delved into a topic that lies at the heart of education: curiosity. From its fundamental role in human discovery to its impact on innovation and problem-solving, curiosity shapes our approach to learning and understanding the world around us. In this blog post, we’ll discuss strategies for nurturing curiosity in both educators and learners. The Power of Curiosity Curiosity is a driving force behind every dis ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning Benefits of Outdoor Learning In recent times children are spending increasing time indoors both for learning and leisure. Yet, it’s outdoors that children are happiest. They feel a sense of joy and freedom. Not only does the outdoors provide children with opportunities to be fitter and healthier, it also provides them with opportunities to develop confidence and resilience. We’re seeing an increase in childhood obesity levels, vitamin D deficiencies, increasing numbers of young children with short sightedness and an increasing numbe ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning The Essence of Curiosity Picture this: every one of us is born with an insatiable curiosity, a burning desire to explore, discover, and make sense of the world around us. It’s in our DNA. From the moment we enter this world, we’re like little detectives, using our senses to unravel the mysteries of our surroundings. Babies touch everything, taste everything, listen to every sound – it’s how they build their understanding of the world, piece by piece. In the early years, this drive to explore and play is what we call curiosity. It’s ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning Play is a fundamental aspect of childhood that holds profound implications for children’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. The Impact of play: Insights from Research Numerous studies and research findings, underscore the immense benefits of play in shaping children’s lives. One noteworthy investigation, led by psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown in 1966, shed light on the connection between play deprivation and certain violent behaviours. In his study, Dr. Brown found a common thread among individuals involved in ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning As part of the series where we dive into essential topics for educators, here we’re exploring the transformative power of observation in the educational setting. Whether you’re a seasoned educator or just starting out, understanding the power of observation can profoundly influence your teaching approach and students’ learning experiences. The Significance of Observation in Education As educators across Australia and the southern hemisphere embark on a new academic year, the initial weeks are dedicated to a foundational practice: o ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning The benefits of loose parts play are that it encourages creativity, collaboration, problem solving, language and vocabulary development and supports the overall learning and development of children. Another benefit of loose parts play is that it costs just about nothing, so there really are no budgetary constraints when it comes to providing children with this type of play and learning experience. Just about anything can be a loose part. Both natural and man-made objects count as loose parts. Empty boxes, string, pebbles, packaging ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning The outdoor environment has the potential to be an extraordinary learning space that sparks curiosity and wonder in our children. The possibilities outdoors are endless with the myriad elements nature generously provides us—water, sand, sticks, trees, rocks, pebbles, animals, nests, seed pods, leaves, plants, flowers, and the list goes on! The outdoor setting offers unique learning opportunities that can’t be replicated indoors. When it comes to providing children with opportunities to play and learn outdoors, I believe we have a r ..read more

Ed's Lessons Ed's Lessons - Teaching Kids to Love Learning As part of our Getting Started series on the podcast (which started with Episode 8), this post explores the art of creating an  inspiring learning space that not only fosters curiosity, but also nurtures holistic development in our early childhood students. Early childhood is a crucial phase, and the environment significantly shapes these formative years. Drawing inspiration from Reggio Emilia, where the environment is considered the third teacher, our aim, whether as educators or parents, is to establish a space that not only ..read more