My Story

I sat watching the children. They were restless and destructive. I know the deconstruction schema is a ‘thing’ so that didn’t phase me.

We went for our weekly walk to the library. The children always gravitated towards the park. Why weren’t they as excited about ‘Story Time’ at the Library? I wasn’t allowed to take them to the park. It was too risky. Something just wasn’t making sense and I was so dissatisfied with my work. There had to be more. I really felt the need to break out of this safe mould I was in.

I did some research and realised nature based early childhood was where I wanted to go. It made sense and I was certain that it would make sense of the children too.

It took me 12 months of searching before I started to find a model that fit Family Day Care. It was scary but I knew this is where I needed to be both for the children and for myself too. It would take a change of practise and a change in what I was taught Early Childhood should be.

I had started to develop my nature based Pedagogy.

I believed that children should be free to climb trees if they felt capable.

Splash in the river if they wanted to.

There were so many untouched nature spots where we live.

It seemed a shame for the children not to be outside burning off energy and directing their own discovery.

And how better to have children care about the environment than them being emotionally invested?

During my research phase I heard the words risky/risky play, children’s work, child directed.

Risky play to me once I understood it wasn’t about danger but about trust in the children to know how to keep themselves safe. How show them how to be safe. It’s about the adults in their lives managing the danger and them managing the risk. Rarely have I seen or heard of a child that places themselves in a risky situation become injured seriously. Bumps, scapes and close calls are all extremely valuable learning experiences. Bumps and scrapes teach resilience. Close calls help us to understand consequence

‘Children’s work is play and play is children’s work is a phrase I hear often and they are one and the same.

The work/play a child does is so incredibly important for their development and is exciting to watch.

One day I was sitting by the river with a child who was so deeply into what he was doing. He was lugging massive branches from one part of the river to another. I mean these branches were probably 8 times his weight and easily 15 times his length. Some would say he was ‘just playing’’ It is more than just playing. It’s understanding how the brain, ideas, body and how they see themselves.

Can I make this happen?

How do I?

What happens if?

How does it work in relation to… and so many more powerful questions. It’s any wonder children are exhausted at the end of the day. They work so hard navigating their way through childhood!

Child directed has been a buzz word for as long as I can remember. With invitations to play so thoughtfully set out that Miss 2 had spoken about last week were knocked down in 2 seconds and not revisited again .

To me child directed is where you sit and listen and watch. I don’t mean supervise but really watch what the chikd/ren are doing. If you are really lucky you may even hear what they are talking about. I tend to follow up a serious interest as soon as possible if I can. I give them the tools to move on with their current fascination. Otherwise I’ll gather the resources and next time that line of development appears I’ll introduce it. Having said all that being out in nature more often than not offers the children the next path from their interest.

These aspects all are integral parts of nature play but not all parts. Nature play is a living, growing, evolving concept. Not even the children know where it may take them. This is the beauty of nature play. You never know what’s around the corner and nether did I as I stepped forward into nature play based Family Day Care.

I really hadn’t seen any Family Day Care based services when I first realised my path and I certainly had no one to ask. So as I always do I put it out into the world to see what came back. Within a few months I’d found out about a Scheme called Inspired Family Day Care (a tributary if I spired Early Childhood). They were new but from what I’d read about their philosophy it was the direction I wanted to take. I emailed them and followed up with a couple of phone calls. We talked for a long time. After years of feeling disillusioned I had found my new home. Within 6 months I was registered and had signed up.

Sunshine and Puddles Family Day Care was born on 14 July 2014

To day leaving what I’d known for 10 year was scary was an understatement. It was safe and predictable. And that kept the children safe. It took me time to find my feet and at first I felt like I was drowning. So many decisions to make. So much had to change in my thinking too. It’s not like all the answers are all laid out for you. It’s different for everyone. You have to find your own path. So for the first 6 months I started working on my service environment. Sold my softfall mats. Slowly got rid of my plastic resources (I still have a few but I could probably fit them in one box if I had to. I started gathering what I saw as authentic resources that were sustainable or of the very best quality. I wanted things that not only looked good but felt good and had many uses. Who know that these were open ended resources! It really wasn’t a big thing in country New South Wales then so I felt quite revolutionary. Later on I was also to discover loose parts! Well that was the real game changer! All the things I’d always been told were dangerous and risky for children to have access to. Not to mention tools. As I became more confident in offering these things the children became more confident in wanting to use them. It didn’t take long until there was nails in just about every surface available. As their confidence grew so did their need to discover more. It was about this time that a wonderful Nature Pedagog by the name of Niki Buchan came to Bega and took myself and the children down to the River one icy cold winter morning. Surely the children wouldn’t go in the water right which would mean I’d have to go in with them? It was freezing and I don’t mean cold. I actually remember there having been a frost that morning. But as you know children being children they were in the water in no time. Bright red noses and enthusiasm in tow they were in. And would you know it they had the best time. Exploring, climbing and experiencing. I was stunned. I’d never seen these children so engaged and happy. There was so much told about the waters movement, how big the sticks were and barely a mention about the cold water. Was almost like it was irrelevant! It was my epiphany. This was what I wanted for the children. This is what I wanted for me too. It felt right. It felt like we belonged here.

Our first full visit was a couple of months later when it was a bit warmer and the children had shown they were ready for an extended visit. I also had provisioned my back pack. And I was ready for the apocalypse I was so organised. The back pack was so incredibly heavy my back was sore for days afterwards. I can now travel to the river with my off road trolley or just the basics and we can still have an amazing time. I now take no ‘toys’ just some twine, a pocket knife anda few other bit n pieces. The children do the rest with their hands, minds and bodies. Their imagination and sometime ever a good dose of boredom sees some of the most intense play.

When the children are in the zone I stay well out of the way.its not my job to tell them what and how to do what they need to do. I can’t know what’s going on in their heads. I wouldn’t even hazard a guess. Each time an adult interferes in a child’s work/play session it changes it and probably not for the better. I try not to speak to the children. My job is to observe. If they choose to include me in their work then I’ll happily join in but I do try to make sure they are in charge of it. I’m happy to follow their direction. But mostly they are happy to periodically look and see where I am or come tell me something. I do listen attentively when they are talking to me, each other or themselves. I can gain an understanding of what’s happening at that moment in time. I consider myself honoured to witness the children doing what nature intended them to. Be in nature.