Woden Valley ELC Nature Pedagogy Leader, Gabby Millgate presents a snapshot of the environments, as well as the connection and contribution of the children in Term 2 (Autumn/Winter) at Woden Valley Early Learning Centre.
In this video, you will see our environments and the natural elements made available to the children, those include:
- Jerusalem artichoke tubers to dig up and line up to count
- edible greens
- crackable eggs
- climbable trees
- seed planting
- chicken taming
Autumn is a time when we clear the summer garden beds and prepare for spring with bulbs and pansies. It is also time to grow cauliflowers and broccolis. Berries, fragrant herbs and flowers can be used in artistic endeavours. It's also time to start preparing for fires and to assess the children's capacity to listen to instructions and stay safe during fire experiences.
Embedding Ngoonawal wisdom and language meaningfully into the children's experiences is part of the foundation for intentional teaching around “...our responsibilities for a sustainable future and promoting children’s understanding about their responsibility to care for the environment...” [EYLF; pg. 18]
As 2020 was the first year of COVID-19 lockdowns; being outside become idle to everyone's sense of well-being. Due to COVID-19 and many events being cancelled; our service got to participate in Floriade Reimagined. In this video you will see all children connect and contribute to this community event by collecting compost, digging dirt, building garden beds, planting seedlings and bulbs, and adding mulch. It was the epitome of connecting and contributing to our world.
The final part of the video is to share ways to make literacy accessible to children in the format of nature pedagogy cards, with words and pictures from the children's environments. You'll also see how a child, who is not very verbally communicative, uses these cards to create stories with his educators and peers.
In this video, you will see children’s emerging and essential relationship with nature. We hope you will be inspired when you see how capable children are at connecting and contributing to their world.
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