AWE AND WONDER IN THE EARLY YEARS
ABOUT THIS COURSE
Do you want the inspiration to create moments that make children sigh with happiness?
Are you looking for inspiration and best practice from different countries?
Do you yearn to hear more of the excited chatter of happy children immersed in learning?
Would a host of practical ideas empower you to inspire your children and parents, and leave Google behind?
This exciting and inspirational course will give you a cornucopia of practical ideas that you will be able to use the very next day to spark the joy and pleasure of learning in your students. You will discover how the learning environment can be the third teacher, how to harness children’s natural curiosity and imagination and, perhaps most importantly, how to build resilience in your pupils. Whilst each nationality has a slightly different approach to Early Years; this course seeks to draw on the philosophy of Reggio, Montessori, Steiner, Te Whariki, and High Scope, and find a commonality to inspire your practice in your setting.
Covering both practical and sensible advice to help you to create an enriched provision for your children, it will help you to review your current practice and plan simple actions which will make a real difference to creating the independent learners of the future.
COURSE OUTCOMES
- Discover ways to promote independence: what can a child achieve on their own, and where can your help guidance take them?
- Learn the characteristics of effective learning: promote learning rather than confirm knowledge
- Develop language skills for both bilingual and monolingual pupils through structured conversations with your children to enhance both their speaking and learning skills
- Learning how to interact (not interfere) and how to build trust
- Leave the day with a range of creative ideas and exciting projects you can use with your classes (and that you can share with your colleagues – and, importantly, your parents)
COURSE OUTLINES
SESSION 1: TAKING A RISK AND TRYING IT
- A practical session with multiple hands-on activities which allow practitioners to explore different resources and technologies
- Learning how to weave multiple learning opportunities across various learning stations
- Working with colleagues to maximise learning opportunities
- Comparing the impact of context-free and objective-led learning
SESSION 2: LESSONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
- A brief walk through the philosophies of Reggio, Montessori, Steiner, Te Whariki, and High Scope to help use research to inform your provision
- Identifying the commonalities between core philosophy and your provision
- Exploring the role of the learning environment as the third teacher
- Reflecting on your own setting – does it truly reflect your philosophy?
SESSION 3: THE RECIPE FOR AWE AND WONDER
- Embedding the ethos of risk-taking into you and the children
- Neuroplasticity at work – growing a healthy brain
- What does awe sound like – and can you hear it? The role of feedback to encourage the wow moments
- The proximal zone of development – making it work for you
SESSION 4: THE ROLE OF THE ADULT
- Building the benefits of the Education Endowment Fund research into Communication and Language in the Early Years
- Non-verbal communication, what is its role in the development of oracy?
- The subtle art of asking the right questions
- Shared and sustained thinking – understanding the process and tips for making it work
SESSION 5: FINDING OUR INNER CHILD
- Experiencing curiosity and enjoying learning – real-world strategies explored
- Resilience and communication at work, not just buzz words
- Shared and sustained thinking in action – principles into practice!
- Planning in the moment – how does it feel and what does it mean?
SESSION 6: BUILDING ON WHAT YOU HAVE-OBSERVATION: WHAT, WHEN, WHY AND HOW
- Observations: Unpicking the reason why it’s central to learning, and not an administrative chore
- Taking hold of how many observations you make, the pros and cons of observations
- Picking through the myriad types of observations one could possibly make
- Bringing it all back to the individual child … what observations should be all about
ABOUT DRAGONFLY TRAINING
Dragonfly Training are a trusted ECIS Partner who have trained over 250,000 teachers at more than 3,000 schools in over 50 countries.
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