Blog Archives

How we group children

22/3/2022

Written by Clare Caro

Authentic Learning Environments put the relationship first

What do we mean by that? We all know that relationships with caregivers are essential to healthy development. And, no nurture means no survival.

So should we be careful with group sizes and the adult-child ratios? What if there is no adult available for a child, to meet their needs, and provide a Secure Attachment?

Children who have their needs met, develop differently to children who have to work to get their needs met. Or to put it another way, as Dr Gordon Neufeld explains, "Children Must Never Work For Our Love, They Must Rest In It."

In nature, we can sort mammals into two kinds; precocial and altricial. Precocial mammals are born in numbers of one and two to mothers with the mammary glands to match. Young precocial mammals require frequent care and are constantly close to their primary caregiver for food, protection, development, and nurturing.

Altricial mammals are born in litters to mothers with mammary glands to match. They do not require the one-to-one care precocial mammals do and can be left for long periods of time. For example, the altricial mother rabbit can leave her new litter for up to 24 hours in their first week.

Young mammals thrive when the environment meets their biology.

Humans are precocial mammals and require one-to-one relationships. Humans are not altricial and do not thrive in litters.

Imagine education settings designed for precocial mammals - where the relationship is put first for every individual to thrive.

Authentic Learning Environment - taking education outside 'the box'

Above: Group model for Altricial Mammals.
(Photo: Creative Commons)

The tale of the classroom ghost

22/3/2022

Written by Clare Caro

There is a great movement happening; educators and settings are begin to remove the classroom walls and take learning-about-the-outside-world outside! This move enables experiential learning, learning in context, learning with real objects and real-life. However, while children and teachers are stepping out of the classroom, for many the classroom is still following them.

This is the "classroom ghost", the ghost that interrupts with 'teachable moments' and 'scaffolding to further a learner'. We spot it where we see clipboards, books and activity sheets to 'reinforce learning', worksheets to fill their time, directed activities to tick boxes. Crowd control creeps in to get everyone's attention, and children's choices and human rights fade away.

With classroom ideology being such a strong influence in our culture and very much alive in the mainstream education model, at first, we may find this classroom ghost hard to see. Many of us have classroom ideology embedded through firsthand experience from our formative years. Others of us have been trained to install and maintain classroom ideology, as a way to teach a one-size-fits-all cirruculum and manage large crowds. Making this ghost hard to shake.

It takes a while to see the difference between taking books with you into nature and 'taking books and the ghost with you into nature'. Or taking a group of children to work and play outdoors and 'taking a group of children to work and play outdoors with the ghost'.

When we step away from treating children like empty vessels, step away from mass rote learning to a captive audience, then we also need to step away from the ghost of classroom ideology. First, we have to see it. Do you see the ghost of classroom ideology?

Authentic Learning Environment - taking education outside 'the box'

Play Time?

22/3/2022

Written by Clare Caro

Play-time?

After years of creating spaces for play to unfold, slowly, something has come to light; when a child feels safe, the play is peaceful and fun. It can be exciting and thrilling yet never crosses the line into stress or states of distress.

So there I was the other day, walking along the street. When I could hear playtime at a local school nearby, I could hear yelling and screaming, a huge commotion of sound. I remembered back, the feeling of being 'let out', being able to move and have a voice. I remembered the yelling over others to be heard, the stress released and the relief of being out in the open for a short period of time.

As I listened to the difference between squeals and screams, to voices fighting to be heard, I realised this kind of "play-time" was not peaceful, or flow-state, or forging connections to the Pre Frontal Cortex. This play-time was a pure expression of stress release.

We can see and hear with a trained eye and ear to differentiate between flow-state play and stress-release play.

Teaching eco literacy through children's craft activities

21/3/2022

Sustainable Children's Craft Activities
Written by Clare Caro

"Crafternoons" came about as a way of offering crafts for children that don't end up in the bin! We wanted to give children something meaningful to make and for their creations to be use-full with a real-life purpose.

On top of that, we noticed that many children's craft activities were using materials harmful to the environment, such as glitter, foam board, synthetic fabrics and many forms of plastic. The list could go on.

This combination of bin-destined 'makes' and toxic-materials raises concern, at a time when we need to be teaching eco-literacy and raising eco-consciousness.

These sustainable children's craft sessions are designed to meet this need, working with three key components: Nature-Friendly Materials, Meaningful Purpose and Open-Age-Appropriate. Creating craft sessions that stick to eco-literacy principles, raise eco-conscious and are sustainable.

Nature-Friendly Materials
We consciously choose materials that are biodegradable and non-toxic for children to work with at our sessions. We know that people form sensory relationships with materials they work and play with in childhood; it is time to stop normalising the relationship with materials that are harmful to the environment.

Unsure about which materials are safe? Consider this; if we can put it in the compost knowing it will safely decompose to enrich the soil, then it's safe.

Watch out for plastics and anything with synthetic fibres; these often breakdown over time and are the source of micro-plastics that pollute our water and soil systems.

If we are 'recycling' materials by using them in children's craft activities, ask, "What is the next part in the cycle?". Many crafts that 'recycle' plastics and synthetic fibres end up in the bin. The bin is the ‘end of a cycle’ not ‘part of a cycle'.

If we use food products in our craft, are they used wisely? We see too many children's-crafts using good food that ends up in the bin.

When choosing materials and tools, we also consider where our resources are coming from (buy local if possible), what kind of packaging products come in, and whether we are using long-lasting and repairable tools. These considerations take us closer toward 'circular economy thinking', where we look at our actions holistically and work sustainability.

Meaningful Purpose
All Crafternoon craft 'makes' are made to be used and have a higher purpose than 'just making something'.

We noticed that the word 'craft' has two different meanings in our culture, meanings that differ regarding purpose. Craft for adults, is where the creations are used and have purpose, in buildings and homes, items that are treasured, restored and passed down as heirlooms.

Then there is the craft for children, where the purpose is often to fill their time and provide something to take home as a product-for-proof.

Giving children's craft activity a real-life purpose holds a deep underpinning message. When crafts are worthy of use and valuable enough to keep, it shows value and worthiness in the maker's time, effort, creativity, and hard work. To put it another way, what message of their value and worthiness are we sending, when we give children use-less makes that will later end up in the bin?

To find meaning and purpose in the craft sessions we hold, we look to seasonal celebrations, items for everyday use, and things we can use personally, as a family, or give to loved ones. Children have made festive wreaths for front doors in December, lanterns for Martinmas processions, and multi-use items such as rhubarb string, oak gall ink, and calendula balm. All the 'makes' have a purpose, and all use materials that aid a nature connection and are not harmful to the environment.

Open-Age-Appropriate
By open-age-appropriate, we mean providing activities that work for both younger and older children and all levels of ability. This open and mixed age-group approach celebrates everyone's unique style, pace, expression and fosters an inclusive atmosphere.

We make room for process-learning and creativity with the materials, time and instruction we provide at sessions. Children can try out new things, come up with something unique, and get into a 'flow-state'. Process-learning and creativity encourage a 'growth mindset' by removing judgemental aspects such as comparisons, assessment and competition. Inclusivity, creativity and growth mindset are all important attributes for future eco-aware citizens.

Providing for all levels of ability means, offering activities that engage early and more experienced hand development, and giving children the opportunity to develop their hand working skills.

The three-dimensional handwork done in childhood happens to be vital for child development, specifically with the development of cognitive problem-solving skills. To the extent that when NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory looks for a research and development problem solver, they specifically seek applicants who worked with their hands in childhood. Because we see the value in handwork, we are careful when offering crafters a 'helping hand' so as not to rob children of this important developmental handwork.

Why not give it a try? Sustainable craft sessions are fun and exciting, empowering the children and also work for groups of adults too. By designing activities that tick all three boxes (Nature-Friendly Materials, Meaningful Purpose and Open-Age-Appropriate), we promote values that nurture individuals, communities, and the environment.

Crafternoon sustainable children's craft sessions were initially designed for the Rutland Home Education Group in 2019. We currently run Crafternoons through Root-and-Branch Out CIC, with sessions for both home educated and school children. [2022]

How we group children

The tale of the classroom ghost

Play Time?

Teaching eco literacy through children's craft activities

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