The VERY Beginning

How our journey began...

I am an instructional consultant who works closely with Kindergarten educators.  The more I learn, the more I see connections between the pedagogy of Kindergarten with the ministry's pedagogy right through to Grade 12.  Samantha Dales is a Grade 5/6 teacher who wants to provide her students with a different type of learning- one which honours student choice and exploration of their own ideas.  Together, we believe that there is a way to do this.

Setting the Context: 

In Kindergarten, we talk about our image of the child as being curious and competent, capable of complex thinking and rich in potential.  We also focus on the learning environment as providing an invitation to students for learning as well as the materials we provide as provocations to elicit thinking. Inquiry and play-based learning are focuses because children naturally learn through play and by exploring their wonderings. 

Central themes include: consideration of environment and the intentional placement of materials, teacher choice, student choice, co-learning, direct/explicit instruction, exploration and inquiry.

How this relates past K...

Much of this early years pedagogy mirrors messaging we receive past Kindergarten. In recent years, conversations around the environment as third teacher, inquiry-based learning, student voice and agency and pedagogical documentation have been consistent threads in our professional learning.   

The challenge...

How do we scale this learning forward, past Kindergarten, and into the years beyond?  

This blog will share our story.