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  • Podcast
    The Episode All About Urban vs Rural Upbringings

    Oct 02, 2024 • 39 min read

    In this episode of the Little Minds Big Ideas podcast with the Early Years Network, hosts Emily and Ben discuss the differences between rural and urban upbringings. They explore various aspects such as education, community, healthcare, independence, and more, while sharing their personal experiences.

  • Podcast
    Dear Diary: How the outside world perceives early years

    Sept 30, 2024 • 20 min read

    In this episode of 'Diary of an Early Years Educator,' Emily reflects on her week and discusses an important issue prompted by a recent education conference she attended. Emily shares her thoughts on professionalism in early years education, the importance of uniforms, and the unfortunate perception gap between early years educators and other education professionals.

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Class

Early Years Education Foundations

  • Creating Environments
  • Emily Macfarlane
  • 40 Mins
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Skill Level

Unqualified Professionals

Duration

40 Mins

Resources

1 Files

Streaming Content

5 Videos

Description

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.

Skills you'll learn

Lesson Content

1. What is an Enabling Environment?

13:42

In 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

03:37

Within 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

06:27

This 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

05:40

Cultivating 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

01:22

Hopefully 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.

Meet your teacher

Having worked in early years since the age of 16 early childhood learning means everything to me, which is why I'm so passionate about ensuring a platform dedicated to our communities learning exists. I've experienced first hand the lack of genuine and affordable learning opportunities that exist within early years and trying to provide my teams with high quality and flexible training on a non-existent budget is an impossible task. Its our mission to change this.

'Something all childminder's should invest in...'

Working alone can sometimes mean that my motivation and inspiration can run low. But since finding The Early Years Network I no longer feel like I am developing my practice on my own. The personable and really informative videos allows me to create variety throughout the day through really detailed learning and development for myself.

Naomi Garrett

Childminder

Class FAQ'S

Are all the Network Classes included in my monthly price?

Regardless if you are a standard user or a corporate user, your membership grants you access to our entire collection of Network Classes so you can begin your educational journey with us today without any limitations.

Are there quizzes on the platform?

The Early Years Network is all about meaningful learning that will transform the way you interact with and educate young children, not attempting to fill your head with information for the sake of a quick superficial quiz.

Are videos available in different languages?

Unfortunately for the time being videos are only available in English, but maybe one day...

Can I access The Early Years Network if I don't have an early years qualification?

YES! Content on The Early Years Network has been created for people interested in early years regardless of age, experience or academic background. We have something for everyone whether you are a childminder, parent/carer or an early years professional.

Can I download the videos?

No, all videos are only accessible to stream online and require an internet connection in order to access the platform and watch the content.

Can I only access The Early Years Network on a computer?

Absolutely not, The Early Years Network has been optimised to be used on any device from your mobile phone to your tablet! Our flexible approach to learning embraces any and all types of device so you can learn anytime, anywhere!

Is The Early Network an accredited institution?

Whilst The Early Years Network is not an accredited body we do offer skill-based learning helping people transform knowledge and theory into meaningful change and improvement to their practice, environments and curriculum. Our Network Courses are created and hosted by leading experts within their academic fields, and upon completion of each course learners will be provided with a certificate to evidence their achievement.

Is there a minimum subscription time?

Of course not! You're free to cancel your membership whenever you like.

What is The Early Years Network?

We are a learning and development platform dedicated to the magical world of early years! We cover a wide range of topics, from child brain development to the importance of safeguarding and child wellbeing, through high-quality and immersive video content.

What subjects are covered on The Early Years Network?

We cover everything Early Years from ‘Cognitive Development Theories’, to the science behind play and even how to build the best rocket ship out of cardboard (you won't want to miss that video!). If you can think of a topic in early years we've probably got a video on it!

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