By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. A year ago I wrote a blog post about the volunteer work I was doing with the York Region Nature Collaborative and I liken it to a dream. Last week at the Rhythm of Learning in Nature #Rhythm2015 dreams were realized, slightly altered, but nonetheless meaningful. I am so grateful for those 20+ … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been reading a lot about tinkering lately. Tinkering is about hands-on experiences, learning from failures, and unstructured time to explore and invent. And through the processes of exploration and invention lies the potential for innovation. When this image appeared on my newsfeed recently, I thought back to the theorist that most influenced my practice as an … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have written before about coming to terms to terms and I find myself still grappling with all the buzzwords popping up in my news feeds on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. As another semester approaches and once again I find myself supporting early childhood education degree students in their field practicum I am … Continue reading
By Diane Kashin and Cindy Green. Cindy and I go way back to the early nineties. As colleagues who became friends and later critical friends, we share a similar passion for anything related to early childhood education curriculum. We also, over the years, have felt strongly about supporting our community by sitting on committees, volunteering on … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I have been involved in the early childhood education community in York Region, Ontario for almost three decades. Throughout this time it has been my privledge to support professional learning and training at both the pre and in-service level. I have had the opportunity to build professional relationships with many others … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. What is the point of entry for teachers who want to transform their practice, moving away from a theme-based approach to emergent curriculum, which builds on children’s authentic interests. After spending five days in the forest we have come to the realization that the outdoor environment is not just the … Continue reading
We began the 5-day session by joining in a circle in the open concept eating, gathering room at Tawingo College, a beautiful 150-acre campus that also has an Outdoor Kindergarten. We were invited to introduce ourselves by stating our name, followed by an animal and then a sound associated with this animal. Shortly after this … Continue reading
About a year ago, Louise and I, along with Rosalba from the Acorn School and numerous other educators began a journey of professional learning that focused on the principles of the Reggio Emilia Approach as well as drawing inspiration from the philosophy of Frances and David Hawkins. We began the journey when we conceptualized the … Continue reading
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. Many years ago I declared myself Reggio inspired. Now along with others, and in collaboration with Acorn School, under the pedagogical leadership of Rosalba Bortolotti, we are declaring a dual allegiance and making it known that we are now Hawkins inspired as well. Since 2013, when a contract was signed … Continue reading
We are getting excited as we get closer to greeting our friend Suzanne Axelsson on her arrival to Canada from Sweden! Suzanne is the author of the blog Interaction Imagination, and shared her biography with us below: Suzanne Axelsson lives and works as a preschool teacher in Stockholm, Sweden. She has a masters in ECE, … Continue reading
Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research 