3 June 2021
As part of Earth Day celebrations, several of our Treetops kaiako attended a presentation by Dr Darius Singh and Nakeeta Singh on their new Early Childhood Centre, and what they have developed as Gaia Inspired Education philosophy.
Please see Gaia - Chrysalis Childcare's blog post explaining all about what they are planning for Early Childhood Education
We were inspired by Dr Singh's passion for supporting the next generation to connect with Te Ao, through experiences and practices that allow them to build deep understandings of our planet Earth. It was affirming to see that many of the suggestions Dr Singh made, we were already implementing at our Treetops Centres, and we got lots of new ideas to introduce to our tamariki. Some of the ways in which we already support tamariki to build relationships with our Earth (Gaia) were highlighted for us when we heard Dr Singh connecting philosophy and practice through his presentation.
At Treetops we offer tamariki opportunities to explore and form their own theories on what plants need to grow.
Our Pukekohe centre is our largest Treetops, and has a carefully designed outdoor environment to encourage exploration and curiosity.
We learn about the weather when we play outside in the rain!
We encourage tamariki to explore our outdoor environments and create provocations to support this
We offer many provocations to support curiosity to drive learning and allow developing theories about the world around tamariki to grow
Tamariki have a variety of natural play materials to explore
Tamariki at our Pukekohe centre are leading the way with their weekly forest programme, Patupaiarehe!
Our kaiako model safe outdoor practices for tamariki and, more importantly, join in the fun!