Early Learning Café Resources
Articles
by Susan Ramsay
Thoughtful blog posts written in response to personal experiences and reflections about engaging with, and learning from, young children. Each post is written to inspire educators, parents and adults who live or work with young children.
Reflecting on Canada Day with Children and Taylor Swift
As educators, we hold a powerful role. We can bring children into conversations and experiences that nurture belonging and curiosity. We can help grow their capacity to understand, respect, and care about each other’s differences, cultures, and lived realities — to walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins. Explore these ideas with me as you read this article.
A Mile in Your Moccasins
As educators, we hold a powerful role. We can bring children into conversations and experiences that nurture belonging and curiosity. We can help grow their capacity to understand, respect, and care about each other’s differences, cultures, and lived realities — to walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins. Explore these ideas with me as you read this article.
Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all
World Bee Day is observed on 20 May each year to draw attention to the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy. Check out this brief article which that draws Early Learning wisdom from the behaviour of the miraculous honey bee.
Democracy at Play
Four-year-old Meadow understands democracy in a way many adults don’t. I saw it come alive one sunny day as Meadow and her kindergarten classmates gathered outside the school. Sidewalk chalk or bubble wands in hand, they were celebrating the past few weeks of learning—a plan they had discussed and voted on together.
Being Kin with Nature: A Reflection for Educators for Earth Day and Every Day
Seeking relationship with nature is not new. Nor is it exclusive to those who inspire environmental activism within our societies. From birth, children are mesmerized by the forces of nature and they remind us that the natural world is filled with mysteries, beauty, wonder and awe. How am I tuning into children’s wonderings and evolving relationships with the natural world?
Why Elon Musk Is Wrong About Empathy: Lessons from Reggio Emilia
In the Reggio-inspired classroom, empathy is more than an emotion. It’s a pedagogical stance. It’s visible in how we listen to children, how we organize our environments, and how we make decisions with—not for—the children in our care.
Knowing and Sharing Our Gifts – Where Teaching Begins
As teachers we anticipate that young children will relate to the experiences, courage, determination, and achievements of Black adults – that children of all cultural backgrounds will respect, admire and learn from them. But exactly how do we ‘uplift future generations’ with these ideals when we work with toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten children? How do we engage the voices of children about these big ideas when they can only make sense of their world by building on the experiences they are living?
Listening for Children’s Voices Beyond Black History Month
As teachers we anticipate that young children will relate to the experiences, courage, determination, and achievements of Black adults – that children of all cultural backgrounds will respect, admire and learn from them. But exactly how do we ‘uplift future generations’ with these ideals when we work with toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten children? How do we engage the voices of children about these big ideas when they can only make sense of their world by building on the experiences they are living?
Bella’s Big Question
“What do you like to do with your life?”
I had been in the classroom for less than ten minutes when Bella intercepted my movements and observations of the class, her large brown eyes searching mine for the answer to the question she had just asked. Read our story here.
The Power of Story
Learning how to parent and teach are journeys that have no final destination. Yet the intentions and awareness we bring to our living and working with young children has incredible influence. The power of story is found in words and silences; in speaking and listening with care and intent; in learning with and from our children. I learned this from my first-born child, Justin. Read our story here.
Children Learning in a Rapidly Changing World
Children learn through relationships – relationships to us, to others and to the environments in which they live. Our disposition to be curious learners alongside our children is what will help them thrive. As our world rapidly changes, standing beside children, rather than over them, is what enables us to face changes with them. Click to read the full article.
The Value of Listening to Children
I experience being part of a world in turmoil – in which national and world leaders, as well as corporations, choose telling over listening, power over respect, and fear over curiosity and insight. As educators and parents, I believe, we are positioned to become part of the change our children and world needs. An it begins with genuinely listening to children.
The Song of Inclusion
Children want to express their understanding of the world. They want to feel the synergy of being part of a community that truly listens, and that recognizes and values their unique meaning-making.
Our jingle bells may have been tucked away for the season but, regardless of season or context, I will continue to ask myself: Am I seeing, understanding, and trying hard enough to sing the most important song children will ever hear – the song of inclusion?
A Touching Way for Babies to Learn and Grow
The importance of physical touch for newborns With the births of my first two granddaughters, I witnessed how the medical professional in Canada and in Sweden encourage skin-to-skin contact between baby and parent immediately after birth and daily throughout the first...
Waking up to Earth’s Mysteries and Delights
Yesterday we awakened to transformation. Overnight, our familiar outdoor world turned from brown to white, blanketed with pristine snow. It changed us. My granddaughter’s experience of preschool was transformed to curiosity and wonder.
Outdoor Learning and Play – A Conversation with Juliet Robertson
I am so grateful that Juliet Robertson was able to join me for this conversation about outdoor learning and play. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed being with her in our virtual VideoCast room at Early Learning Café.
Hurray for Outdoor Classroom Day! November 7 2024
Outdoor Classroom Day, celebrated on November 7 in many countries around the world, is a day that celebrates playing and learning outdoors. Ecological identity – our connection to place through land, sky and sea and multitude of creatures and configurations of stars and sunsets – shapes who we are. Continue reading to explore these thoughts further.
Building Relationships Through Art: An Early Learning lesson from Sweden’s 6,000-Year-Old Petroglyphs
What if the experience of making art wasn’t just about an individual’s creation of a product, but instead was an experience of being part of a community? That’s what the carvers of the petroglyphs in Sweden did thousands of years ago. Maybe they have something to teach us.