A few weeks ago, I was working with E.K. (5 years old) on learning some letter sounds and I became concerned about ‘how long’ he was taking to learn his letters. The stressors of teaching and having our Year Two (SK) children get ready for reading took over for a moment, and I began to […]
“Like a Mime in a Box”: Supporting Newcomer and English Language Learner Children in the Early Years
Happy September! In Canada, September is the official start of the school year, and for many teachers like myself, it is another chance to experiment with new teaching and learning ideas. As we begin a new school year, I am inspired to write about a topic that is near and dear to my heart – the […]
Teach Grow Love Travels to Manitoba!
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Manitoba Child Care Association (MCCA) conference, A Few of Our Favourite Things in Winnipeg. MCCA is Canada’s largest child care association, and conference drew many early childhood educators from across the country; I made so many new friends, and it was such a wonderful […]
Teach Grow Love Turns Two: What I’ve Learned Along the Way
What an incredible journey it’s been! Two years ago I started my blog, and this year I decided I would take a step back to celebrate everything. Celebrate the big wins, the little wins, and most importantly, the everyday things. Blogging about early years education has been a great experience! My blog has become my online […]
What makes Te Whāriki So Special?
I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for over a year now, and each time, I put it on the back burner and somehow make the decision to write about something a little more ‘relevant’ to everyday teaching. As I sat down to finally hit ‘publish’ on this blog post, it occurred to me that […]
Weaving A Cross Cultural Tapestry: Collaborative Art With Children and Their Families
Last month I had the pleasure of presenting a visual art installation at the Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education (RECE) in Toronto. Conference proposals are usually submitted many months before the actual conference, so I had been dreaming up this installation for a long time! Lately, I have been thinking a lot about community, diversity and early […]
Play Based Learning – What’s the big deal?
Last week I had a really interesting discussion with two teacher friends about ‘play’, and in specific, the different kinds of play found at any given time in a kindergarten classroom. While at first glance, all play may look or sound the same (children engaged in meaningful and authentic activities, laughter, smiles, shared dialogue between […]
Only one you: Three lessons I learned From My Kindergarten Mentor
A few weeks ago, I experienced the sudden loss of my kindergarten mentor and best friend, Eyal Levine. I met Eyal almost a decade ago while teaching at my first school. From the moment we met, our connection was instantaneous – we bonded over Star Trek, and once used the Smart Board in our library […]
Making Learning Visible: Co-creating our Winter Documentation Panel
“It’s January, don’t you think it’s time to change the bulletin board?” pointed out a colleague. I looked at our Fall Explorations documentation panel and agreed that it was time to add some of our learning about the changing seasons to keep it current. Over the course of that week, I began searching for a […]
Pokemon Go and Mario: Rethinking the role of popular culture in early learning
Pokemon cards are all the rage at the moment in our kindergarten class. They are often the topic of conversation outside at recess, indoors during free exploration (play) and show and tell. Earlier this week, L.G., a shy and quiet student expressed his interest in creating his very own set of Pokemon cards. Understanding this […]
