montessori Archives - Early Learning Childhood Education

28/02/201928/02/2019

Inspired pedagogy – educational theories to inform your centre philosophy

When you’re shaping your approach and the philosophy of your service, there are many areas to gain inspirations. From the practical, real-life experiences of Maria Montessori, to the hierarchy of needs theory of Abraham Maslow, you can research and explore so many early childhood theorists which might influence your centres philosophy.

Of course you want your service to provide the very best start in life for children, and there are many approaches you can use to foster incredible outcomes for children. At the same time, you can utilise the concepts from inspiring historical theorists to help you meet the requirements of the Early Years Learning Framework and achieve the highest possible National Quality Standard Rating.

The meaning of pedagogy for your centre

Your centre’s pedagogy is central to your service. ACECQA sums it up perfectly:

“The term pedagogy refers to the holistic nature of early childhood educators’ professional practice (especially those aspects that involve building and nurturing relationships), curriculum decision-making, teaching and learning. When educators establish respectful and caring relationships with children and families, they are able to work together to construct curriculum and learning experiences relevant to children in their local context. These experiences gradually expand children’s knowledge and understanding of the world.”
-ACECQA, Early Years Learning Framework for Australia

The Bonkers Beat philosophy is inspired by Maria Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Howard Gardner theory. Let’s look a little closer at each of these.

Maria Montessori Philosophy

Dr Maria Montessori was an inspirational educator who developed a unique and progressive method of educating children.

Broadly, the Montessori approach considers education as an ‘aid to life’, and has a lengthy track record of success – more so than any other educational approach. The Montessori goal is to inspire children to have a lifelong love of learning that follows their natural learning direction. It enables children to become confident, independent and responsible learners.

The focus is on self-realisation through independent activity, making use of their scientific powers of observation and reflection and the focus on the educator as the keeper of the environment.

Reggio Emilia Approach

The Reggio Emilia Approach was first developed in Italy in a very small city called Reggio Emilia.

This is an approach that values the child and views them as capable and curious – able to discover the world on their own as driven by their own interests. Playing, asking questions, investigating and exploring the world – these are at the heart of the Reggio Emilia approach. The adults are viewed as mentors and learning experiences which arise from a child’s natural curiosity are described as child-led.

Howard Gardner Theory

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory is based on the belief that there are eight ways people perceive the world.

The predominant message to take from the Multiple Intelligences Theory is that we must deliver a range of different types of learning experiences to ensure that all children are learning no matter which learning style is taking place.

Linking early childhood educational theory to the EYLF

One of the most important things to note about the Bonkers Beat inspirations outlined above is that you don’t have to subscribe to a theorists’ entire way of thinking. You can take inspiration from elements of an approach without adapting to the theorists’ pedagogy as a whole.

This link is a great resource to show how you can link theorists to different EYLF outcomes: https://www.butler-creative-childcare-resources.com.au/blogs/blog/linking-theorist-to-the-eylf-outcomes

Early Childhood Australia also has a document that covers how the great ECE theorists’ approaches work in practice. You can find it here:
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/shop/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SUND606_sample.pdf

Essentially, begin by considering the areas you need to enhance in your centre, and what is vital to your children’s outcomes and develop your pedagogy to fit this, along with working within the framework.

If you’d like to learn more about the Bonkers Beat approach as you explore pedagogies, visit www.earlychildhoodeducationalprograms.com.au/. You can even access a free trial to get a taste of the Bonkers Beat Music program HERE.

09/11/201610/11/2016

The Child’s Developing Brain

Children bring joy and laughter to our lives, there’s no doubt about it. They can also present the adults in their lives with many challenges as they grow and learn about the world around them and where they fit into it.

Whether you’re a parent of a young child or you work in early childhood, there are many strategies you can use to get the best out of children.

We’ve all heard that a child is like a sponge and when you spend time around young children you probably know just how true that is! (Even if they can be sponges with selective absorption at times!)

Research over decades has continued to make it really clear that the first five years of a child’s life are when the major wiring of the brain takes place. Meaning, those first five years can have a big impact on the next five, 15 or even 50 years.

With so much developing going on, the brain of a young child is a busy place and also a very special place. That’s why we need to take time and care to understand how children learn. This is something we will be paying close attention to at our upcoming free event for parents.

Understanding a Child’s Learning

As caretakers of young children – both parents and educators – we must educate ourselves on the developmental changes a child is experiencing at each different stage. Often what some adults may view as naughty or bratty behaviour will actually stem from a developmental stage.

This government resource outlines some of the skills children will learn from 0-12 months, 1-3 years, 3-5 years and 5-8 years of age. It can be a useful guide to add to our knowledge bank and really can help us with seeing the world through a child’s eyes.

Approaches to Early Childhood Education

Many parents have an idea of what sort of program or approach to early childhood education they prefer… We believe a holistic approach is always the best approach when it comes to early childhood and we aim to incorporate elements of three of the most prominent early learning approaches.

At our free parent Information Night on Wednesday 16 November (open to any parents who would like to attend) we will be covering these three main approaches: Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory. You can read more about these at the end of this blog.

The impact on children from the empowering nature of these approaches can be quite amazing, which is why they are at the heart of our own approach.

Strategies for Tackling Challenging Behaviour

When we equip ourselves with knowledge and understanding then we have the power to think critically about a child’s behaviour.

Going back to our holistic approach, the types of strategies we employ to work through challenges with children and their behaviour involve a focus on the overall wellbeing of the child.

Our methods will often be trying some new and tackling the behaviour in a natural, gentle way focusing on neurochemicals, engagement and effective release of energy.

If you’re a parent of a child or children under 6 and you’re ready to make a plan to work through challenging behaviour and bring out the very best in your child, please feel free to join us at our hands-on, practical and informative free event from 7.30pm-9pm on Wednesday 16 November 2016 at 49 Laura Street, Aspendale, Victoria 3195. Please register for catering purposes via this link: http://bit.ly/2eGtPnK

A Quick Guide

Getting to Know Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Multiple Intelligences Theory:

Montessori is an approach that aims to support the development of the whole child. Broadly, the Montessori approach considers education as an “aid to life”, and has a lengthy track record of success – more so than any other educational approach. The Montessori goal is to inspire children to have a lifelong love of learning that follows their natural learning direction. It enables children to become confident, independent and responsible learners.

Reggio Emilia is an approach that values the child and views them as capable and curious – able to discover the world on their own as driven by their own interests. Playing, asking questions, investigating and exploring the world – these are at the heart of the Reggio Emilia approach. The adults are viewed as mentors and guides and learning experiences are born of a child’s natural curiosity, described as child-led.

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory is based on the belief that there are seven ways people perceive the world. The predominant message to take from the Multiple Intelligences Theory is that we must deliver a range of different types of learning experiences to ensure that all children are learning no matter which learning style theirs happens to be.

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23/03/201524/03/2015

3 Reasons Montessori Makes Sense

As many of you are aware, the creator of the Bonkers Beat programs, Galina Zenin, is an industry leader in early childhood education. She recently arrived back from the USA after presenting at the 2015 CAEYC Conference. Over the weekend of March 21 & 22, Galina was back into presenting, visiting Adelaide to speak at the Montessori ECEC Conference in Glenelg.

Many Montessori principles are incorporated within the Bonkers Beat program. With the Montessori ECEC Conference in mind, let’s explore three reasons that we believe Montessori makes sense as an educational approach in early childhood education.

INDEPENDENCE

Montessori is well-known for facilitating independence in children, not by leaving them to go it alone, but for providing children with practical learning experiences and the opportunity to learn to care for themselves, as well as the world around them. The Montessori approach differs from the traditional approach that usually involves the caretakers managing the care of the child and the environment. Montessori’s self-teaching principles give children the independence and self-motivation that comes from building confidence within.

You can read more research articles about Montessori at montessoriaustralia.org.au.

MEANINGFUL

Another aspect of Montessori that we love is that kids get to learn ‘why’. This addresses why children lose information, which is perhaps because it’s not meaningful to them. Montessori aims to show children a problem and solution – actively demonstrating cause and effect across various areas of learning. It is not surprising then that children who have learned from a Montessori perspective tend to be more responsible for their actions!

LEARNING BECOMES FUN

When children feel like they have a choice in how they learn, they are more responsive and more responsible for their own outcomes. They learn through their own actions and experiences and there’s nothing more special than seeing a child work something out for themselves – that sense of achievement can be spotted on a child’s face from a mile away!

Keep an eye on our Facebook page where we often share information about activities with a Montessori approach.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we incorporate Montessori into our programs, head to NQSRating.com.au. Galina has two exclusive events coming up, in Melbourne on April 23 and then in Sydney on May 4.