The environment we provide children are the catalyst for learning and healthy brain development as it's the child's environment that provides their brains with the stimulus they need to learn emotional intelligence, socials and cognitive skills and overall brain development. Whether you're new to the field or currently pursuing qualifications, this lesson serves as an ideal introduction to understanding what an enabling environment entails and how to create one for the children in your care. Drawing inspiration from the renowned Reggio Emilia approach in Italy, Emily highlights the importance of fostering environments that support healthy brain development, positive relationships, and holistic learning experiences tailored to each child's interests. Rather than simply organizing spaces based on traditional learning areas, Emily explores how to design zones that promote engagement across all areas of development, using examples like construction zones to illustrate the versatility of such approaches. Additionally, the class emphasizes the significance of cultivating respect for the environment to sustain its quality and encourage curiosity and exploration. By the end of the lesson, participants will be inspired to reflect on their own environments and consider how to tailor them to the unique needs and interests of the children they serve.
1. What is an Enabling Environment?
13:42In this lesson Emily breaks down what enabling environments are and explores the different components that go into constructing an enabling environment. If you're new to early years or currently undertaking your qualifications this lesson is a perfect starting point to understanding what an Enabling Environment is and how we can create them for the children in our care.
2. The Environment as a 3rd Teacher
03:37Within this lesson Emily takes a trip to Italy to introduce you to the theory of Reggio Emilia as a perfect example of building an Enabling Environment. There is so many different ways and theories on how to create an enabling environment, but the principles of how unique children develop healthy brains, form positive relationships and gain new knowledge and emotional intelligence always remain as the key foundation.
3. Areas & Zones Within Enabling Environments
06:27This doesn't mean creating zones based upon the 7 Areas of Learning! Instead Emily explores how we can create areas and zones within your setting to drive holistic learning based upon the interests of your children. A construction zone can promote all 7 areas of learning with ease based upon the resources on offer, communication and language used and ways you choose to interact and model play. In this lesson you'll explore a number of different example zones and areas and how we can use them to drive children's learning.
4. Respecting Our Environments
05:40Cultivating respect for your environment is a major step in creating an enabling environment as sustaining the quality and condition of your equipment and resources relies upon staff and child respect for it. In this lesson Emily explores some of the thing you can do to ensure your environment remains in good condition and an environment ready for curiosity and exploration.
5. Outro: Creating a Magical Enabling Environment
01:22Hopefully this class has inspired you to reflect upon your own environment and consider wether they're truly an enabling environment for the children under your care. Remember all children are unique individuals with their own development needs, interests, methods of communication and learning styles. Your environments should be a reflection of your children not a carbon copy of something you've seen elsewhere.
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