Would you live where you work?
If you consider the child who spends anywhere from 8-10 or more hours a day in a centre, five days a week, then it becomes obvious that they are not simply filling in a few hours each day in an ECE centre. They are living there.
With this in mind, how then do we plan the environment?
Our solution is twofold. The first is to make it as homelike as possible. Throw out the fancy catalogues geared at institutions such as school and early childhood centres when purchasing furniture and shop where you would for your home. Some of the things that we have done include purchasing knitted and crocheted blankets from second hand shops (much nicer to wrap babies in); using real cups and plates (most adults would prefer to drink out of a glass rather than a plastic cup – so why not our children?); making the centre beautiful with flowers, candles and soft furnishings; and making it more like a home and less like an institution.
Music too is important. Children’s songs have their place, but do we really need to listen to Barney or The Wiggles for eight hours every day? We tire of it – and I think children do too. Introduce different styles of music. We have noticed that when classical music is played as background music our children are calmer and more settled. Teachers too. We have had children who only fall asleep to Beethoven!
The second is to make the most of the outdoor environment. Think back to your childhood. In all likelihood you spent it outdoors, barefooted, playing in mud, amongst trees, picking flowers and pretty weeds, studying the clouds, making what you could out of what was available, and only going inside for meals. Recreate this for your children. Provide decent wet weather gear so that children can be outside in all weather and remain clean and dry.
Yes, we need to consider health and safety, but surely there are ways and means of providing an environment that allows children to freely explore while also minimising the risks?
A recent New Zealand study has shown that today’s parents are possibly the last generation to have experienced “free-range play” unless something happens soon within our centres and society. Let’s make that change.
He has made everything beautiful in its time”. Ecclesiastes 2:14
“… I am fearfully and wonderfully made …” Psalm 139:14
Do we trust that the Creator knew what He was doing when He created infants - when animals are mobile virtually from the moment of
birth but human babies are not? Do we need to “teach” children to move or are they so intricately and wonderfully made that these skills will develop in their own time?
Pikler believed that babies and toddlers who are allowed to move according to their own developmental timetable display increased balance, coordination and physical skills. Thus babies and toddlers are not put into positions they cannot get into by themselves. They are allowed to move naturally, at will, and freely, and to learn and move according to the unfolding of their own timetable (known as "Free Movement"). So you will not see walkers or highchairs, infants being placed on their stomachs for “tummy time”, or babies being propped up into a sitting position. If they cannot get into a position without adult assistance then they are not yet ready to be in that
position.
Respect the child’s own developmental timetable.
Teachers also respect the child’s ability to resolve their own conflict. Obviously if a child is about to be hit over the head with a metal bucket, the teacher intervenes, but generally teachers wait and allow children time to solve their own interpersonal problems. And they can! At times a teacher might guide, for example, “Are you able to find another toy the same for A?” or “C was playing with that. Do you think she might like it back?” Teachers removing a toy from a child who has taken it off another and returning it to the first child does not build the necessary skills for resolving conflict.
Teachers slow down and observe more. This is one skill new teachers or students on practicum often find most difficult. It can feel as if we’re “doing nothing” but this is not the case. Often a teacher is waiting for a sign from the child that they are being invited into the child’s world to wonder and explore. The natural environment is the perfect place for this to happen, but it can happen anywhere. This slowing down goes hand-in-hand with providing a calm and peaceful curriculum.
Any discussion of Natural Curriculum would not be complete without mentioning the natural environment. Use it. Enjoy it. Make the most of mud and bugs and wind in the hair and rain on the face and sun on bare skin. Turn over every stick and rock and rotting log and search for worms and creepy crawlies. Observe the clouds, and leaves moving in the breeze, and raindrops on glass. Explore. Get dirty. Have fun.
In an earlier post I mentioned that to keep things simple we could define Pikler as Peaceful Curriculum, Respectful Curriculum and Natural Curriculum. This post will examine Peaceful Curriculum.
Psalm 34:14 says “Do good; seek peace and pursue it”. Another verse we could apply is from James 3:17-18: Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Piker believed that adults need to create a safe, quiet and peaceful environment where infants and toddlers can move and play in
their own way. To provide such an environment, teachers are not to appear rushed, must keep their voices at a low level, and plan ahead to ensure that things don’t turn to custard all while putting the needs of the child first! It takes a lot of team work, a lot of planning, and a lot of communication.
Teachers need to provide time for undisturbed play – play that is not interrupted by the routines of the day. Children need time
to explore at their own pace – to examine and taste an object; to play without teachers’ input – which, however well intentioned, can interrupt the learning process.
Teachers need to slow down and observe more. Take. Your. Time.
The role of the natural environment should not be overlooked. There is something about creation that calms the soul – for adults
as well as children. This can be a tricky one as health and safety and also convenience have meant that our outdoor environments are becoming more sterile and less natural but children need sand and water and mud and dirt and bugs and insects.
A Peaceful Curriculum does not mean that children cannot make a noise. Rather, teachers' movements are unhurried, their voices
soft, and their overall manner and way of responding one of calm and peace. Nor are teachers the "peacemakers" in the sense that they solve children's conflicts. Children are capable agents of their own conflict resolution if given time and support.
The keys for providing a Peaceful Curriculum? Relationship (and more specifically dedicated or primary caregiving), a daily
rhythm that focuses on children’s needs (i.e. throw out the rosters and clock), a home-like environment, respect, and a team approach.
