The Importance of Playfulness in Children and their Teachers

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D., RECE. Do you like being silly? For me, one of the greatest joys in life is being silly with children. It is also a common trait that I have with many of my professional friends. Being silly is being playful. Reflecting on the playfulness of children while thinking about our own … Continue reading →

Early Childhood Educators: Are We Listening to Each Other?

Early Childhood Educators: Are We Listening to Each Other? #ECE #ReggioPLC Continue reading →

Communities of Practice and Circles of Support for Early Childhood Education

Reflecting on Communities of Practice (CoP) and Circles of Support (CoS) for Early Childhood Education #ECE Continue reading →

Stick and Stone Inspires Reflection: Using Children’s Literature for Professional Learning

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. One of the greatest joys of my life has been sharing my favourite children’s books with my grandchildren. Inspired many years ago, by the amazing duo of Margie Carter and Deb Curtis, I have been using children’s literature as prompts for reflection with early childhood education students and teachers. In … Continue reading →

Knuffle Bunny Inspires Reflection: Using Children’s Literature for Professional Learning

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Like, my grandchildren, I love Knuffle Bunny, a floppy stuffed rabbit, featured in a series of books by Mo Willems. I first became aware of, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale when I was teaching a history and philosophy course to early childhood education students. The idea of using children’s books … Continue reading →

Where is Me? Reflecting on Self-Identity in Early Childhood Education

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE As we begin a new year, my heart goes out to fellow early childhood educators who are continuing to struggle with caring for children and themselves during trying times. I am not surprised with the strength and resilience shown by educators and children. I have never underestimated the capacity of … Continue reading →

Webbing Wonders: Mind Mapping in Early Childhood Education

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Connecting to early childhood educators is at the core of my practice. Making connections is central to my being an early childhood educator. Pre-COVID, I would be making time to visit child care programs to learn from those who are working directly with children. I really miss being where the … Continue reading →

The Beginning of Beautiful Friendships: Circles of Support for Early Childhood Education

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I am proponent of emergent curriculum. Emergent curriculum emerges from the interests of children. I have a continuing desire to help others move forward to embrace this empowering pedagogy. The question of what I teach (emergent curriculum) has been framed by how I teach it. When I began this journey, … Continue reading →

Elevating Early Childhood Educators by Going Beyond Questions to Reflective Inquiry

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE For my entire career in the early learning sector, I have been focused on how to support others to update outdated practices with the goal to improve day to day interactions with children and their families. Early on I approached this professional goal with bluntness and judgement. Now I recognize … Continue reading →

Questions, Questions, Questions! Why Asking Them is Important for Early Childhood Educators

By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE.  Questions can be a wonderful way of supporting children’s thinking, theories, and emerging interests. On the other hand, they can be used to test children’s memory and can end up stifling their language development. Open-ended questions are developmentally more appropriate than closed-ended and testing questions. Open-ended questions are questions that … Continue reading →