Gaby Flavin is an early childhood teacher and an animal advocate. With Easter around the corner she penned a set of articles around one of the most commonly considered ECE ‘pets’ – rabbits. Beware, it’s a cautionary tale based on Gaby’s 15 year love affair with fluffy bunnies, her even longer experience working in early […]
“She started drawing in the wet sand, placing her found items in just the right way. As she began, I walked away. This was not my experience, it was hers and it’s not my right to interpret what she is doing.” New Amplify guest writer Linda Tandy is a nature based educator with Inspired Family […]
If animals can be a child’s fourth educator, have you thought about a two legged beastie becoming a bestie for children at your service? We’re looking at hens this week, one of the closest living relations of dinosaurs and yet also one of humanity’s longest running domestic animal companions. Amplify editor Bec Lloyd checks out […]
The source of some of Amplify’s most popular articles on excursions, Su Garret of Explore and Develop Annandale, returns with a story about taking the children on bird watching excursions from their inner Sydney service all the way to Central Australia, without even needing a permission slip! Read Su’s story now to find out how […]
Amplify has often explored ways of thinking about outdoor education, with stories like this one on excursions, this one on nature and anxiety, and this one on children’s attitudes, among our most-read. We’ve also carried many reflections and provocations that point out the elephant in the room: trendy approaches that could do with deeper consideration, […]
Outdoor education is a priority for many early learning services. The rich experiences can make remarkable differences in the way children learn even after they are back under a ceiling. This week we hear from a service that asked the children how to embed sustainability education into its program. CELA writer Margaret Paton spoke to […]
‘Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær!’ (Norwegian saying: There is no bad weather only bad clothes) Baby, it’s cold outside, so we’re playing indoors until spring is sprung, right? Why would you risk colds and flus, grizzly children, wet clothing, and perhaps anxious educators and unhappy parents? We might love those images […]
Philanthropy: the desire to promote the welfare of others Inspired by social justice and educator research projects centred on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the education team at Wellbank Children’s Centre explored the question: How can we better advocate the philanthropic participation of children within the wider community? Elesha Nounnis, […]
Pets can be the fourth educator in early childhood settings, as Victoria Avenue Children’s Centre shows with its Tiny Tails program. Scroll to the end for more helpful links. By Margaret Paton, CELA Writer Can animals be the ‘fourth educator’ in early childhood settings? That’s the case Monash University educator Jane Bone made in her research […]
May Murray’s story In recent times, outdoor classrooms have been in vogue. They are seen as innovative and creative: they connect children to nature and allow educators to extend their pedagogy and look “outside the box” of intentional and play based learning. Research by advocates of outdoor learning espouse the benefits of risky play, exposure […]
