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Posted by
Kathy Brodie on June 19, 2015.
I love dens. Always have – as a child I would spend hours in the garden with my brother and sister, collecting large branches, reeds, planks of wood – anything to make a den with.
I think the joy was being able to create something from nothing. (I also suspect that I had an enclosure schema going on. Even now I like to sit in the corner of a café, tidy things into boxes and prefer grids to mind maps).
Of course, once you have an enclosed areas such as a den, you can invite others in – or shut them out. The element of self-choice can be very important to children. Sometimes even well meant adult intervention can be disruptive or even destructive to children’s play.
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Posted byKathy Brodie on June 11, 2015.
Observing children is one of the great joys of being an Early Years practitioner.
For example, watching those first steps, hearing how the children are picking up vocabulary (and making up their own syntax) and putting all this together to make sense of their development is usually an exhilarating part of your job.
However, sometimes completing observations can become a chore and not enjoyable at all. This can be due to the way practitioners have been introduced to the observation, assessment and planning cycle and it can result in them doing a lot of unnecessary work.
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Featured
Posted byKathy Brodie on June 11, 2015.
In previous blogs, I have discussed two very useful techniques to support Sustained Shared Thinking – active listening and positive questioning.
Having discussed some of the skills needed to achieve successful Sustained Shared Thinking, I thought it would be beneficial to step back a little to view the whole of the Key Person role, with respect to Sustained Shared Thinking.
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Posted byKathy Brodie on June 4, 2015.
Sustained Shared Thinking is the extended conversations between children and adults, or children and their peers. This will be encouraged by using Active Listening (see the blog here) coupled with Positive Questioning.
Sometimes there is a great temptation to quiz children to find out what they know, how they are feeling and what they are thinking. However, just as with adults, this can be very off putting, and actually cause your child to stop sharing their thoughts.
So, how can we encourage Sustained Shared Thinking, without intimidating or scaring the children away?
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Posted byKathy Brodie on May 29, 2015.
An essential part of Sustained Shared Thinking is active listening.
This important technique can be the difference between a brief conversation and an extremely valuable episode of Sustained Shared Thinking.
Active listening with children is more than just hearing their words. It is a skill that needs to be practiced.
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Posted byKathy Brodie on May 7, 2015.
I was out with my husband, having coffee, and when we got to the till, there was a little sign. It said “which do you prefer? Girl or boy?” and an arrow from each pointing to two tip jars. For some reason, this really niggled me. Tips according to your gender? Really?
When we sat down with our drinks, I mentioned this to my husband, who said it was a marketing approach. Apparently people will give more often if posed a forced question, presumably because you have to engage with the idea of giving a tip if you think about the question.
However, this simply doesn’t work for me. I will tip according to the level of service I receive, from male or female. If the waiting staff tip a large glass of white wine all over me and into my handbag (and I wasn’t even drinking that night!) but then doesn’t offer even a free coffee as compensation, then there will be no tip.
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Posted byKathy Brodie on April 23, 2015.
On Wednesday I had the enormous pleasure of visiting a fascinating company nestled in the skirts of Liverpool’s Catholic cathedral.
I had met Mark in London before Christmas and he had been telling me about his office, which has a circus theme. Intrigued, I asked more “Well, we have a big top, a giraffe and hold our meetings in front of the ball pit…would you like to come and have a look?” Would I?!
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Posted byKathy Brodie on April 16, 2015.
The world of the newborn: An accelerated learning machine 
Part 1 of the Development Milestone Series
‘There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.’
William Wordsworth
Wordsworth’s wonderful perception of a child’s mind, captured in his ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality From Recollections of Early Childhood’ – published in 1793 – correlates remarkably well with the findings of recent studies.
Though he and his sister Dorothy were, for a time, responsible for the care of a toddler, the poet’s observation and depiction of newborn experience is still exceptional for the period.
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Posted byKathy Brodie on April 2, 2015.
Christopher has a very wide range of interests, from sleep expert to twin expert, with a special interest in the care and development of babies.
Unsurprisingly, we talk a lot in the podcast about child development, the fascination of twins and, most importantly for me, the professionalism that is essential for quality care. One thing that Christopher mentioned was that he could sympathise with working mums, because the situation of men in childcare mirrors many of women’s challenges for getting equal recognition in the general workforce.
This is a really fascinating podcast, which I hope will help both men and women to reflect on their own practice.
Enjoy!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Useful references
Christopher’s Twitter is: @ChrisAlderton1
Men in Childcare London: https://www.facebook.com/MeninchildcareLDN
Men in Childcare Ireland: https://twitter.com/menchildcareirl
If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a review on iTunes too – it helps to promote the podcast and get it to reach a wider audience.
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Posted byKathy Brodie on March 26, 2015.
I am delighted to introduce Sharon, who is an energetic and dedicated advocate for children’s physical activity in all forms. She is great fun to be with, as you might guess from the title of her article here.
She has some great advice on involving children AND their families, as well as some tried and tested techniques. So do enjoy the article, and then get moving!
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Kathy Brodie on June 19, 2015.
Observing children is one of the great joys of being an Early Years practitioner.
Christopher has a very wide range of interests, from sleep expert to twin expert, with a special interest in the care and development of babies.
