Albert Einstein Said it best, "play is the highest form of research". The curriculum planning and spontaneous activities we do on a daily basis at Little Lambs encourages children to grow. We read, sing, explore, play, create, imagine, climb, run, jump, laugh, cry, console and cheer. 

BUT… what does all of that really have to do with child development? In this post I am using a specific play based learning activity (nature walk) to explain what and how children learn. The domains of development are all encompassing and of course this learning activity did not check every single learning box. However It did check quite a few. This post is intended to support child care providers to integrate ELECT concepts into their daily journaling/reflections. I am also writing this post to show families how much children are actually benefitting from our play based learning philosophy. 

Thank you for stopping by Little Lambs Blog page. As always I hope you find the knowledge I share useful in your every day life. I'd love to hear what activities you've been up to. Leave us a comment or share on our facebook page. 

If home child care is a career you've pondered OR if you're a private child care provider wanting more for your business I want to help you! Little Lambs is seeking to establish Licensed child care programs in Madoc, Stockdale, Wooler, Frankford and Trenton. These locations are highly under serviced. Families are waitlisted constantly. Little Lambs has many attractive benefits for new and established providers. To learn more send a message or call Kristina at 613-827-1441 (Residents of Hastings County only). 

please note: Not everyone is cut out to be a child care provider. We are only seeking providers who truly love children, have a boat load of patience, can maintain accurate records, plan developmentally appropriate activities and provide nutritious foods. We also require adequate play space (indoors and outside), a clean and inviting home, and a willingness to continue learning and growing their professional skills. 

 A common item I am seeing on parent surveys is that they do not believe their children are being stimulated to grow in all areas of development (some surveys are marking 2 & 3 out of a possible 4). I think this is more a misconception of "how children learn" than "if they are learning". 
Here is an example of an activity I did this week which engaged children in all areas: social, emotional, physical and language. 
activity: a walk around our neighbourhood. The children were encouraged to look for things that interested them. They then took turns becoming a photographer and took pictures of these interests. 
PHYSICAL: walking, running, skipping, stopping, jumping (kids don't actually "walk" while on a walk)
SOCIAL: taking turns, being the "leader", participating in an activity together
LANGUAGE: we explored the neighbourhood. While exploring and looking at our interests we talked about them.
EMOTIONAL: some had a harder time taking turns and sharing. We needed to connect their feelings to the situation and come up with a solution. Self control, coping skills, focus and patience. 
we will further develop these skills as we continue our neighbourhood study next week. The images taken by our "photographers" will be printed and I will add descriptions/"quotes" from the children's words. from there who knows where the children will take this learning journey.