KIDCREWADVENTURES
EARLY CHILDHOOD
COMMUNITY
Cultivating a place for childhood is not a pollyanish view of children or a romanticized idea of childhood. Instead, it is a place where children are celebrated for the innate genius they bring into our environment, and purposefully including space for their humanity in our world.
Ghouldy Muhammad
When I switched over from a teacher-led, adult centered mindset , I Think the first thing that I noticed was the freedom and inclusivity of a child centered atmosphere. You know, so much of adult centered philosophy is rooted in rules, regulations, and standards that center the person in authority. And from those roots grow a culture, invasive like a weed, that shrouds the children who are supposed to be learning underneath it all.
In my work, I often use the term oppression to describe such cultures as they are filled with well-meaning teachers who may or may not be aware that their actions are breeding grounds for implicit bias.
As I grew in my philosophy and honed in on who I was as an educator and what my pedagogy was, it became clear that I not only wanted to give a voice to the children I serve, but I wanted to make space for their creativity, amplify their imagination and joy and I wanted to honor the sliver of time that they have to be completely autonomous. This is how liberated learning was set in motion.
Liberated learning in early childhood looks like a child being valued as an equal. It looks like agency over mind and body and it looks like knowing what safety, belonging, and respect look , sound, and feel like so that they know the difference when they enter a room where none of the above are being served. Liberated learning is centering the child and finding value in their individuality.
Liberated learning also lends itself to inclusivity as the culture respects the fact that each family comes with a diverse past, background, and may even carry trauma-either newly acquired or generational-and is intentional about cultivating a space where ALL children are physically and emotionally safe to show up with those individual differences and know that they too belong here.
Kidcrew Adventures Early Childhood Program fosters self-directed, play and nature intensive learning in an Indoor + Outdoor environment. Through our child-centered approach, our crew is empowered to explore, take risks, fail, and try again. Exploration and curiosity lead the charge, not teachers, schedules, or adult-centered crafts +activities. Come find out more about our adventures in childhood.
A barrier to risky play is the fear that it is unsafe, and it can be if the children are not guided through the process: given an introduction and time to explore the tools, guided through safety measures when working with them and provided (and reminded) of the expectations when they are in use.
But the most important part of the process is establishing confidence in the child's ability to do hard things, and we do this by trusting the child to meet the expectations even when they are high.
We don't have a daily schedule. It isn't a requirement because children are masters of the 'now time' and aren't concerned with what they are doing 3 hours down the line. What children do require is a routine. This gives them a sense of security, and when it's built upon their interests. It also gives them a sense of agency over what is done with their very valuable now time and crew buy-in that follows is a natural result.
Just because childhood is short doesn't mean we are obligated to rush through it. We can be deliberate about our pace, following the pace of the child. We can be intentional with our presence in order to find the richness and magic hiding in plain sight. And we can be thoughtful in carving out time for creativity, tinkering, and the other innovations that boredom brings. Slow is the pace of a reflective practice.
We run fast, climb high, jump, roll, splash, and challenge. In short, we do dangerous things carefully! Enrolled crew members acquire the only education an early learner requires: one gained through experience, taking risks, and learning who they are in the process.
A lot of attention is given to "stranger danger" in the early years. It may be a valid desire, given that it is a matter of safety, but the problem is it's often rooted in our own fears. In truth, there are far more humans in this world looking to assist rather than harm, and the crew gets to recognize them by becoming familiar with the helpers in our Village.
Children learn to trust themselves by knowing their own abilities and limitations. They grasp this understanding by engaging in rich, full-body sensory experiences.
As a play advocate, I lend my voice during podcasts, panels, workshops and other speaking engagements in the pursuit of amplifying the voices of smallest among us. I bring over
Children learn to trust themselves by knowing their own abilities and limitations. They grasp this understanding by engaging in rich, full-body sensory experiences.
As a play advocate, I lend my voice during podcasts, panels, workshops and other speaking engagements in the pursuit of amplifying the voices of smallest among us. I bring over two decades of early education to educators and providers who are ready to break up with outdated systems that center testing standards and compulsory instruction that encloses our students in order to shift our focus to centering the child and their authentic learning experience.
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