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
Filed under Emergent Curriculum …
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
Updating Outdated Practices in Early Childhood Education
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. The 21st century began on January 1st, 2001. Today’s children deserve learning experiences grounded in practices that are in keeping with a new era of play and learning. Now is the time to critically reflect on the practices that linger on from the previous century. I am a child of … Continue reading
To Theme or Not to Theme: That is the Question
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. When I first started work on my doctorate, about twenty years ago, I was determined to remain true to my early childhood education roots and to focus my research on issues that connected to my context of early learning. I wanted my research to reach early childhood educators to build … Continue reading
Zooms before Zooms: Professional Learning in the Early Years
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. It was almost a year ago, May 2020, when I facilitated my first webinar for early childhood educators on Zoom. At that time, it was hard to imagine that almost a year later we would still be faced with the challenges of COVID, and I would have subsequently delivered over … Continue reading
A Seasonal Pedagogy: Documenting Stories within Stories
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Stories spiral in and out of my mind when I visit the pond near my house. These stories are woven together by threads of relationships. There are stories within stories that relate to my professional and personal growth in my final season. The pond is the backdrop to a documented … Continue reading
Small Worlds in Early Learning: Now is the Time!
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I think I have always been fascinated by small world play. As a child and as an adult. I have fond memories of creating miniature worlds especially outdoors. I used rocks, mud, grass, straw and sticks to form a world that I could play inside of. I was in control. … Continue reading
Sunrises and Sunsets: Making Meaningful Memories in the Early Years
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. As the sun sets on the year 2020, none of us has escaped the challenges that it has brought. As the sun rises on the year 2021, it is time again for me to think about what lies ahead. I was hopeful in January as I felt that the year … Continue reading
Continuous Professional Learning for Early Childhood Educators: Creating Environments as a “Third Teacher”
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. and Laura Salau, RECE. To early childhood educators around the world, but especially to those in our province, Ontario, Canada, this blog post is designed to support your continuous professional learning. It is the fourth post in a series focused on the pedagogical approaches from How Does Learning Happen? (2014). These approaches … Continue reading
Continuous Professional Learning for Early Childhood Educators: Learning through Exploration, Play and Inquiry
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE This is the third blog written during self-isolation imposed by the spread of COVID-19, intended to support early childhood educators committed to continuous professional learning. It is the second in a series focused on the pedagogical approaches from Ontario’s pedagogy for the early years: How Does Learning Happen? (2014). The … Continue reading