By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. and Rosalba Bortolotti, RECE. It has been a hundred years since the birth of Loris Malaguzzi who inspired the Reggio Emilia Approach™. Malaguzzi, from Reggio Emilia, Italy died in 1994. He was a teacher, philosopher, poet and theorist. This year, 2020, marks what would have been Malaguzzi’s 100th birthday. We … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE When I went into self-isolation, I was worried about what I would do to keep myself motivated and busy. I wondered whether I could keep blogging in this time of COVID-19. I wrote one post, Early Childhood Education: Making Sense of Our Life’s Course but didn’t know what to write … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE As I sit in isolation on my couch, trying to make sense of our current circumstances, I wanted to reach out to early childhood educators, to provide some free professional learning. I feel like it is the least I can do for other early childhood educators. I am a proud to … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE Exactly two years ago, I was in Reggio Emilia, Italy attending a study tour, enjoying the deep thinking, dialogue, food, drink and ambience with cherished friends. Exactly one year ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. With my last treatment coinciding with the end of 2019, I was very hopeful … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE and Cindy Green, BSc, RECE. Block play is centuries old. Blocks were part of a historical movement that focused on building a child-centred culture that began in the late 1700s (Dietze & Kashin, 2019). There was John Locke (1632-1704), the English philosopher who recommended the use of alphabet blocks for … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. In my last blog post, I wrote about the pedagogical approaches described in How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years (2014). I believe, that of all the approaches, reflective practice and collaborative inquiry, has the most capacity to impact the others. This post will provide some … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. When I was a teenager, my career goal was to be a high school history teacher. At a time of declining enrolment, the goal could not be achieved and instead I chose a different path after university. I found office jobs which I hated and wasn’t that good at, … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. I feel like I lived a year in a month. In my last blog post, I revealed that I spent last year battling breast cancer and have stepped into 2020 as a survivor. I left for a holiday with my husband 10 days after my last radiation treatment. We … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed. D, RECE. This past year has been a difficult one for me. Early in 2019, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Between surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, my year was about healing and recovery. Normally, I would have been traveling and presenting workshops to the early learning community. I missed this … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE and Cindy Green, BSc, RECE. If we were to choose one quote that defines our view of professional learning and early childhood education, it would acknowledge our senior status and involve play. We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing ~ George Bernard … Continue reading
