One of the true joys of human nature is that everyone is unique. Whilst every child has a leaning towards certain temperamental traits, this is also something that’s shaped during the crucial early years.

For both educators and caregivers, understanding what drives children – their interests, their best way of learning, how they deal with challenges etc - is key to adapting different approaches to best support their personality. Getting this right helps lay the vital foundations, as laid out by the Early Years Learning Framework, upon which the child can flourish into the wonderful adult that they have the potential to become.

Understanding Temperament

While this is a rather in-depth subject and it’s important not to expect any child to fit into a neat little personality box, considering the following behaviour traits is important to working out effective early learning approaches that might best suit.

For instance, is the child:

• Bold or shy: How do they cope with new situations? Do they jump in with little encouragement or do they need more support to become comfortable?
• Adaptable: Do they happily cope with change or is deviating from the usual routine a challenge?
• Extremely active: Are they constantly on the go or are they more inclined towards the quiet life?
• Predictable: Such as wanting food at roughly the same time each day, having regular bowel habits, sleeping and napping at regular times, etc. Or is there little pattern to their behaviours?
• Easily startled: Do out-of-the-ordinary things upset the child? Bright lights, loud noises, different experiences etc… Do such things bother them or are they blissfully unaware?
• Highly reactive: When stimulated, is the child’s reaction big or is it more muted and low-key?
• Easily distracted: Do they change track with the slightest of encouragement or are they more likely to concentrate on what they’re doing once started?
• Persistent: Do they carry on with something even if it’s challenging? Or do they get easily frustrated and give up?
• Moody: Are their moods generally positive and stable or do they have a more serious, introspective nature?

All of these characteristics give huge clues as to how to best support a child’s early learning efforts. Once this is understood, then educators and caregivers can adopt proven methods that stimulate their unique learning style.

Tailored Learning for Different Temperaments

Learning styles can be generally categorised in three ways:

1. High-energy
2. Low-energy
3. Slow burner

High-energy learning includes fast-paced games, lots of physical activity and those that take place outside. Low-energy environments include reading corners, sensory areas and perhaps more individual tasks. Slow burners are those that introduce new things gradually, perhaps slotting in an additional element to a fun activity once the child has become comfortable with the initial task.

While the three learning styles aren’t mutually exclusive, they can be used to adapt techniques that best suit how the child interacts with the world.

For instance, children with high activity levels might learn best through a combination of energetic play and stimulating, hands-on learning. Those who have lower energy levels might still enjoy bursts of higher activity tempered with more low-key options and a place to retreat for time-out when they need it. Those who are more cautious often benefit from watching before actively joining in. Children who get easily overwhelmed might find it easier with a staged learning approach that breaks tasks into smaller steps.

These are just some examples of how small adaptations can be incorporated into the learning journey. A key element for the adult is to observe and assess. As a child grows in confidence, so their learning styles might also change. Seeing a child evolve and develop a newfound confidence in their abilities is delightful to behold. This might mean that, for instance, a child who has previously benefited from slow burn or low-energy activities might feel ready to dip a toe into some of the higher-octane activities of their peers.

However, the opportunity to dial back should always be left open to them—it’s the child who decides on how and when to experience different learning environments.

At Evoke Early Learning, we embrace the Reggio Emilia approach – one that’s wonderfully adaptable to all personality traits. We celebrate each child’s individuality, working with them at a pace that they feel comfortable with and enjoy—and that’s right across the board, from nursery, through toddler and kindergarten.

But don’t just take our word for it – come and see us in action. Book a tour today and discover why we really do offer the best home-from-home for the most precious members of your family.

The diverse community in which we live is one of the most delightful elements of Australian life. Cultural awareness and diversity are vital social skills – and there are so many ways that parents, caregivers and early childhood educators can integrate this into activities and the educational curriculum to promote this from a young age.

Children naturally mix with everyone and anyone – and learning the traditions and backgrounds of other cultures is a fascinating learning journey. The following looks at eight ways that not only embrace the wonderful differences between us, but are a whole lot of fun too…

1. The power of dance and music: All children love music. From the moment a toddler first begins to sway or nod to some great sounds, the lure of the beat tempts both the conscious and subconscious mind. The diversity of World Music – from African drums to Brazilian samba – and everything in between, is an incredible landscape to explore with young children.
2. Crafty crafting: Learning traditional crafts is something that children love getting hands-on with. Indonesian batik is a great example – and don’t forget our wonderful homegrown Aboriginal art and crafts. The colours, patterns and sheer diversity of shapes and objects to decorate make a wonderful basis for the imagination to flow. Other great crafts to enjoy with little ones include the Japanese flower arranging art of Ikebana, Kenyan Maasai beadwork or the Mexican craft of brightly painting fantastical wooden creatures, known as Alebrijes.
3. Explore the world on a globe or map: Games like, Guess the Country (or capital city) bring an awareness of the planet we live on. You can interject it with other natural phenomenon, such as what animals live where, pictures of famous landmarks or watching fun videos about festivals and traditions from around the globe.
4. Get cooking: Children adore helping in the kitchen. Double up the fun by introducing different cuisines – and of course, letting little ones help with all the important aspects, such as measuring, mixing and, naturally, the piece de resistance… Tasting!
5. Getting in the festive mood: There’s always a celebration going on somewhere in the world – and what better way to build cultural awareness than to bring it into the home or classroom? Dress up in traditional costumes, make and serve meals, listen to songs and music… Even better, find a local celebration and take the children along to enjoy.
6. Learn a few words: You’ll be surprised how quickly little ones can pick up simple elements of another language. Learning to say hello in other native tongues, for example, is hugely fun – and they can use it when they meet anyone with such a heritage.
7. Discover traditional games from different countries: Most Australian children will be familiar with Skippyroo Kangaroo, but adding in other traditional games from across the globe is a great way to build cultural diversity. Examples include Ounch Neech (a type of tag from Pakistan), Corre, Corre la Guaraca (a catch-me-if-you-can game from Chile) and Ten Ten (a clapping game from Nigeria).
8. International story time: Storytelling can be both passive and active – and when you add in traditional children’s tales from around the world it adds a wonderful extra discovery element. Encourage little ones to act out the characters, dress up or add their own imaginative flair to embellish the story.

Evoke Early Learning Centres take full advantage of the wonderful world we live in, with activities that celebrate the incredible diversity around us. Our philosophy is firmly rooted in inclusivity and the values of all – and we know just how much our children love how our educators promote the exploration of different cultures, traditions and languages.

We’d love for you to see us in action. Book a tour today and come and meet us face-to-face.

Discover more about our values and contact our team for a chat today.

Emotional resilience is a key life skill. It’s the ability to cope with life’s inevitable ups and downs in a healthy, pragmatic way. Educators, parents and caregivers play a crucial role in helping children develop this – and many simple methods can be integrated into everyday life, both at home and through a great early learning curriculum.

The Importance of Emotional Resilience

Emotional resilience is all about how a person handles stress and adversity. It’s not about avoiding such trauma, it’s about developing the mechanisms to cope, which, in turn, promotes long-term psychological and emotional health.

There are many things that adults can do to help children navigate and regulate their emotions. One of the most important is to lead by example. Children learn a huge amount simply by watching those around them. Practicing healthy emotional behaviour is a powerful method of teaching the skill.

For example, talking through your feelings in a child-friendly fashion, such as: “I’ve had a bit of a difficult day but it’s OK. I’m going to relax, think about it, concentrate on the positives and work out a way forward”. Positive actions like this demonstrate the crucial steps of emotional resilience which are:

• The recognition and acceptance of a challenge.
• That it’s alright to feel this way.
• The steps you take to deal with it – AKA, problem-solving strategies.

5 Strategies to Help Children Foster Health Emotional Resilience

 

As with any skill set, learning to manage emotions is a journey. Caregivers can recognise development in many ways. This includes a child growing in confidence – especially when navigating new situations. They also begin to understand the complexities of social interactions, showing empathy and becoming aware of other people’s emotions. As emotional resilience grows, so does the child’s ability to handle disappointing situations without becoming too disheartened.

Adults can help nurture the learning process in many ways.

1. Demonstrate and teach coping mechanisms: A major part of learning emotional resilience is finding a suitable way to work through overwhelming situations. Simple breathing techniques, visualising a favourite calm place or (for slightly older children) counting to 10 when experiencing big emotions are easy ways to insert a break into a challenging moment. Whatever method you introduce to your child, it should be practiced when all is calm. That way, you can remind them of an already familiar strategy when it’s needed.
2. Practice and encourage open communication: Talking about emotions – whether you’re a child or an adult – needs to be done in a safe space. Let your child know that they can always speak to you about their feelings. It’s important to validate what they say, whatever this might be. This is a powerful method of teaching that it’s ok to voice what they feel, rather than (consciously or subconsciously) suppressing their emotions. Asking open-ended questions promotes self-understanding and encourages a child to work out exactly what they’re feeling – something that can be very complex as the brain continues to form during the early formative years.
3. Allow your child to take (healthy) risks: Dealing with failure is a vital element of self-development. Every learning journey is peppered with disappointments. But it’s learning to push on that’s key. Encourage your child to take such risks through elements like trying new things, balance challenges (e.g., How long can you stand on one foot?), learning to ride a bike… You get the idea. While there will inevitably be setbacks and resulting frustration, support and encourage them to keep trying. That way, a child begins to discover that challenges are not something to shy away from and that they have the ability to overcome them.
4. Encourage the art of problem-solving: As caregivers, it can be hard not to immediately dive in if a child experiences difficulties. But rather than fixing it for them, it’s important to help them to think about how they might do it themselves. For example, if they’ve had a spat with another child, gently probe about how they might do something differently next time. Or, if that tower of bricks keeps falling, ask them what they could change to have a different outcome.
5. Encourage positive self-talk: it’s natural for a child to think they’re not good at something when they fail. But these thoughts can be either negative or positive – and it’s the adult role to help reframe this into the latter. When a child says that they’re no good at something or that they can’t do it, help flip this negative self-talk into a positive by saying something along the lines of, “Yes, but this is new to you and you’re going to get better”. Our internal dialogue is very powerful and positive mind frames are built from a young age.

The Emilio Reggio approach is a childcare philosophy strongly built around a fun learning process that helps children build emotional resilience. At Evoke Early Learning, our wonderful early childhood educators are committed to helping your child get the very best start in life - and are a natural extension of the great work done by parents and caregivers.

Come and see us in action by booking a tour at either our Albert Park or Clayton centres.

Messy play brings a multitude of benefits – and, of course, children love it! Getting down and dirty isn’t just about creating chaos (although the aftermath can take a bit of clearing up), it crucially plays an integral part in many areas of childhood development. That’s why highly successful early learning curriculums, such as the Reggio Emilia approach, integrate this important method into everyday childcare life.

What is Messy Play?

 Messy play is so much more than disorder. It’s about getting hands-on with a wide variety of textures and materials – and, in doing so, stimulating the senses. You might also hear it referred to as sensory or adventure play.

Examples of messy play include:

• Playing with sand.
• Squishing clay.
• Making mud pies.
• Sticking glitter and shiny shapes.
• Finger painting.
• Sorting stones into piles.
• Planting seeds.
• Pouring water.

 

Why Messy Play is So Important to Childhood Development

In early childhood, the brain is constantly developing and creating new neural connections. The more this is stimulated, the better. Touch is such an important sense - and using the hands and fingers to feel and manipulate different and materials helps promote this. But the benefits go much, much further than just stimulating this single sense.

Messy play contributes to so many areas of development, including:

• Improving fine motor skills: Using the hands and fingers (and feet and toes, if you like) helps develop dexterity and hand-eye coordination. It also promotes vital muscle development.
• Tactile understanding: Learning the differences between materials and what to expect before they’re touched. Cool stones, light-as-air foam, rough material, the squish of mud – messy play plays a huge role in discovering the delightful contrast or similarities of how things feel.
• Smell and taste: Children explore new experiences through all their senses – including putting them in their mouth. Using food items, such as jelly or pasta, to play with and taste fosters important connections between the senses.
• Social development: Experiencing messy play with others is a great way to promote social interactions. Talking about shared experiences, surprise discoveries, pushing each other to try something new… These are all powerful methods of how children learn the art of communication.
• Promoting curiosity and learning: Every new exposure leads to further discovery. The joyful realisation that clay changes shape as it squishes through your fingers or the amazement of seeing that a stone sinks in water, but paper floats, encourage further exploration and questioning. It helps build a foundation of curiosity and a love of learning that will be carried forward as the child grows.
• Building confidence: Messy play helps children learn new skills – and this is driven by what interests them. As they explore sensory play, the confidence to try new things and investigate pathways increases. In turn, this lays the building blocks on which determination and responsibility can grow.

 

Integrating messy play into everyday life is great for both the child and the caregiver. All it takes is a little bit of preparation, such as wearing appropriate clothes and having the materials at hand, for a successful outcome.

At Evoke Early Learning, messy play is an integral element of our toddler and kindergarten programmes. Enrolling your child is a simple process – one that generally commences with booking a tour and seeing our great team in action.

Explore our childcare philosophy and contact us today for more information.

Most of us have cherished memories of favourite childhood stories. It’s common for children to want to hear their best-loved ones told over and over – and the reasons for this go far deeper than simply enjoying a good tale.

Storytelling has been used since the dawn of time to both entertain and instil deeper, important values and messages. This makes it a powerful tool, and one that can help build social skills, empathy and even problem-solving abilities during the crucial formative years.

The Wonder of Words

Sharing story time with children is wonderful for everyone involved. Adults and children alike enter a world with endless possibilities. It’s a key way to bring familiarity to easy words, such as names of animals, simple verbs and everyday items.

But words are so much more than this. They have the power to bring awareness to a whole range of human emotions, evoke imagination, foster empathy and help children explore the complexity of a wide range of social skills.

More than a Language

Great stories don’t just use words, they transport the listener, reader or orator into a whole different world. You only need to watch children become transfixed as they follow such adventures, and it’s this potency that offers so much educational potential. As children listen to and form connections with the characters in the story, they then serve as role models that promote many different life skills.

Some examples include:

• Communication: Even without realising it, as children hear how their favourite (and not so favourite) characters communicate with others in the story, they benefit from these interactions. Listening to how they deal with challenges, get help from others, live and learn from both failure and success imparts strong messages. This knowledge translates to beginning to build real-world skills, such as conflict resolution and emotional expression, that story time can help children understand.
• Empathy: When a child becomes engrossed in a story, they don’t just hear the words – they live them. They can identify with the characters, experiencing their emotions and feelings almost as if it were real. In a way, they are, as the child feels the interactions within their imagination. Research shows that story time can activate the same neural connections as real-life experiences, which is vital for the development of young brains.
• Perspective: Most children’s stories revolve around strong characters and relationships. These teach wonderful lessons about friendships, navigating difficulties and, very importantly, seeing things from a variety of perspectives.

Using stories to grow social skills is a potent educational tool that can easily be integrated into everyday life. From bedtime stories to interactive apps or sitting on a grandparent’s knee and listening to their life experiences, stories come in many different guises.

Upscale the fun and learning aspect by:

• Including interactions, such as animal noises, songs, acting parts, wearing costumes, using instruments and props… The choices are endless.
• Sharing family stories – they don’t all have to be fiction. Indeed, sharing family experiences is hugely beneficial, fostering a sense of belonging and is a great way to strengthen multi-generational connections.
• Integrate technology into the mix. Mindful use can both enhance a story and help children navigate their first steps towards learning important tech skills.

At Evoke Early Learning, storytelling takes centre stage at pivotal points throughout the day. Stories fit into so many areas of early childhood education. From the classic book read to using an art project to showcase a tale, or maybe using storytelling songs for dance and creative movement, never a day goes by without taking full advantage of a fictional world.

This applies to our nursery, toddler and kindergarten programmes, where the joy of stories are intertwined into our entire childcare philosophy.

Discover more about our enrolment process and come and see our talented early childhood educators in action.

Problem solving is a true life skill – one that depends on the foundations created during the formative early years. Building strategies into preschool learning experiences that promote this is a key element of educational approaches, such as the Reggio Emilia philosophy.

5 Great Examples of Promoting Problem Solving Skills During Early Childhood

Activities that encourage exploration of a challenge are great ways to introduce problem solving at a young age. Encouraging critical thinking can be done in many ways, including asking open-ended questions, using stories that showcase characters working through challenges and fostering a landscape where the child is encouraged to vocalise their thoughts and feelings.

It’s also important to integrate plenty of problem-solving opportunities into everyday life, play and interactions.

Some easy examples include:

1. Sorting objects and putting them into piles: Critical thinking begins in the simplest of tasks. You could sort through a mix of buttons, for example, where your child could group them by size or colour. Simple problems, such as. ‘Does the big yellow button go in the yellow pile or the large pile?’, helps form the basis of independent thinking.
2. Make an obstacle course: Age-appropriate physical challenges are both fun and thought-provoking. Should they climb over the barrier or crawl under it? How should they turn their body to squeeze through that gap? You can also let your child help build the course, therefore having to analyse what might be an obstacle that’s too hard or something that’s way too easy.
3. Den building: This classically fun activity can be as simple or as complex as you like. All it takes is a few cushions and/or cardboard boxes for your child to get creative and start to fashion their idea of an enclosure. Or you could do it outside – perhaps in a wooded area – where your child could collect natural materials and together you could create something more permanent.
4. Baking magic: All kids love to help in the kitchen. Let them take responsibility for some simple tasks, such as counting out how many chocolate buttons go in the cake mix or sifting the flour. You could go through the ingredients you have available and let your child think about what they could make. Even if it goes wrong, which many child-led baking tasks have a habit of doing – it opens a discussion about understanding what happened and how to rectify it for a future attempt.
5. Using natural objects for art projects: Plan a creative project with your child, letting them know that the main materials will be ones they can find outside. Once they’ve decided, accompany your child on a nature walk to collect items you come across. This is a great open-ended task that will be dependent on the objects they find and how they think they might use them to create their masterpiece. Of course, the eventual piece of art might be something completely different from what was originally planned, which is all part of the fun.

The main takeaway about teaching children problem-solving skills is that there are many, many different ways to encourage this. It’s important to support the child as they work their way through challenges, but also vital to give them the time to come to their own conclusions and – crucially – the chance to make mistakes. It’s only from making errors that they can consider how to do things differently next time to avoid the same thing happening.

At Evoke Early Learning, our early years programmes are committed to helping children build a solid foundation for crucial life skills. The teams at both our Albert Park and Clayton centres embrace the Reggio Emilia approach, allowing children to learn the basics of key life skills through the joy of self-guided play. Discover more about us and book a tour to see us in action.

The principles of the Reggio Emilia approach within early childcare education are well-documented. But what can you do to extend the reach into the family environment?

The short answer to that is, ‘plenty’, and it’s not difficult to do. From weaving fun activities into your child’s day to adding tactile materials into their play options, it doesn’t take much to integrate the philosophy into everyday home life.

Reggio at Home: 6 Small Steps to Success

You’ve probably heard some common terminology used when discussing the Reggio Emilia approach, such as:

“The hundred languages of children”.

“The environment as the third teacher”.

These are probably the best-known and are what you can build your home Reggio environment upon. The former refers to using multiple communication methods. While speech is one, there are many other ways that children converse and connect with the world and its inhabitants. Singing, chanting, sketching, making patterns, painting, movement…  The list goes on.

In addition, the environment itself has the potential for infinite exploratory opportunities and learning. Taking both of these important Reggio elements into account, we can easily embellish the home environment to promote this.

1. Create a room or area designed to inspire curiosity: Reggio Emilia spaces utilise natural energy flow, light and a clutter-free landscape that allows children to focus on what catches their attention. The use of colour is important and is easily achieved. Add a bright rug or throw, hang a few interesting pictures and make full use of natural materials and their varying surfaces. Make this area as child friendly as possible, so they have the freedom to move at will, as well as placing their items in places that are easily accessible.
2. Add items that encourage curiosity and exploration: Toys and objects should be as interesting as possible. You’ll notice a distinct lack of manmade materials in the Emilia Reggio classroom – and for good reason. They don’t inspire curiosity or have the allure of Mother Nature’s beauty. Beautifully crafted wooden toys, for example, aren’t simply playthings, they’re a world of tactile wonder for little fingers to discover. The natural world offers pinecones, leaves, smooth pebbles and tree bark, all ripe for a child’s next artistic creation.Even the use of metal for practical elements, such as chairs, is far more interesting than the bland look and feel of plastic.
3. Encourage creative projects: If your child expresses an interest in, let’s say, dinosaurs, add features into their space that provide the opportunity to build this curiosity. From books, soft toys, painting and drawing utensils, materials to build their own ‘Jurassic world’… It’s easy to achieve and needn’t cost the earth. It’s amazing what a child’s imagination can create with some cardboard tubes, glitter, some old scraps of material and a bit of encouragement.
4. Document and display achievements: Early learning facilities showcase children’s achievements. Replicating this at home is key, allowing your child to see their project grow, see their picture taking pride of place on the wall, or the anticipation of the cake they helped you bake displayed temptingly in the centre of the dinner table until the time to eat it arrives. Make a note of important thoughts and conversations – you can even put these on paper and stick them on the wall too. Such actions validate your child’s ideas and thoughts, as well as bringing them back to ponder some more if they choose.
5. Let your child take on responsibilities: This could include helping prepare family meals, helping to gather cutlery and assisting with easy household chores, like making their bed or putting their shoes away.
6. Join in! Children love parental and caregiver participation. It can transform a fun activity into an amazing one – and you’ll be surprised at the benefits you’ll get as well. One important Reggio Emilia concept is that the child self-guides their learning. So, rather than trying to instruct how and what your little one does, observe what they love doing and ask yourself how you could create a slightly more challenging version to deepen their learning and understanding. Sit back and watch, let them figure stuff out for themselves – and shower them with praise and encouragement as they go, even if they don’t get it right the first time (or even the second or third time…)

These are just some of the easy ways you can meld the wonderful Reggio Emilia approach into home life. At Evoke Early Learning, our childhood educators are always delighted to provide further tips on ways to integrate Reggio at home for nursery, toddler and kindergarten ages. We love it when parents and caregivers get involved – it’s key within the Evoke and Reggio Emilia philosophy.

Want to find out more? Contact our team today for more information.

The great outdoors doesn’t get its name for nothing. Being surrounded by the glory of Mother Nature is proven to have an incredibly positive effect on both physical and mental health. While this is true for all ages, the benefits of children spending sufficient time outside can’t be overstated.

Many educational facilities are now recognizing the benefits. This is particularly relevant during the early, formative years. Proven progressive approaches, such as Reggio Emilio, have implemented this into the educational landscape for decades.

6 Benefits of Outdoor Classrooms

The term, outdoor classroom’ often refers to a tailormade outdoor area within an educational facility. However, it can also mean a classroom session that takes place anywhere outside, such as an outing to a park or other natural environment.

Wherever the classroom may be, being out in the elements brings multiple benefits.

1. They offer the scope for unstructured play: A wild (but safe) environment offers a landscape in which children can follow their instincts. Without the constraints of organised play or four walls – as well as no pre-established rules to follow – children are free to make up their own fun, design games and follow their instincts. Such scenarios promote problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity – all important skills that transfer into everyday life.
2. They stimulate curiosity: Look at that ant… Watch the shapes of the clouds… Make a den… see those baby birds… The wonders of nature are all around, grabbing attention and leading to wonderful conversations, further exploration and creating the building blocks of future hobbies and driving further exploration and learning.
3. Environmental awareness: We’re never too young to learn how to share our wonderful planet with the rest of nature. Outdoor classrooms promote this – spending time outside is a crucial way to help children develop a love and respect for the world around them.
4. Helps increase immune function: A child’s immune system has to come into contact with germs and bacteria to become stronger. Being outside promotes this, with fresh air and natural exposure to germs an important progression that gradually allows this important internal mechanism to evolve to successfully fight future infections.
5. Enhances sensory skills: Nature provides so many tactile opportunities. From the feel of wind in their hair to the grass under their feet, not to mention hearing birds chirping, the warmth of the sun, the crunch of autumn leaves… All this and more stimulates the senses, promoting movement and an increased awareness of the world around them. Even the act of reaching for that blade of grass or learning to make a daisy chain is valuable, honing fine motor skills and dexterity.
6. Promote physical health: Spending as little as 30 minutes outside each day enhances sleep – and sleep is vital, especially during the formative years. Playing outside also encourages physical activity and reduces the chance of obesity. Outdoor games also help regulate stress hormones, blood sugar levels and give children the chance to ‘blow off steam’. You only need to look at the natural joy of children puffing and panting after a great game of tag or other physical exertion to see how true this is.

The value of outdoor classrooms is well-recognised. It’s also something that Evoke Early Learning Centres has integrated into our facilities. Our children are encouraged to explore these child-safe areas, each of which are purpose-built to promote exploration, group play, and a develop a great connection with nature.

Our Albert Park and Clayton Centres have wonderful outdoor areas that are in constant use. Our children love the freedom such a space offers. Why not come and see our facilities – we’d love to show you.

Book a tour today and see our leading childcare facilities for yourself.

Inspired by the world-renowned Reggio Emilia method, our childcare philosophy is dedicated to supporting the great work that parents and caregivers provide at home.

Many people are curious about how this translates to our nursery, toddler and kindergarten care. One of the easiest ways to describe this is to walk through what a typical day might look like.

Most children arrive in the morning, so naturally we begin the day with breakfast. This is a great interactive session, allowing children to socialise with classmates and educators. It also presents a wonderful landscape for some of the key concepts of this successful method, such as the environment as the teacher, promoting curiosity and allowing the children to follow their own curiosities. It also introduces some key life skills into the mix, including choosing what to eat, opening cartons, selecting cutlery and clearing up (with help as needed, of course).

Nutrition is a vital element of Evoke Early Learning life. We work closely with a nutritionist to ensure all meals provide the essential components to promote healthy growth. We also grow and serve much of our own produce – something that all our children can get involved with. The satisfaction of enjoying something you’ve had a hand in creating is just one of the many ways we integrate healthy eating messages into everyday Evoke life.

While the day follows a structure, this isn’t rigid or set in stone. Should your child need something different from what others are doing – perhaps they need a bit of time out or a nap – then there are dedicated quiet spaces that they’re free to visit at any time.

Our early childhood educators are there to guide, not enforce, and this is evident throughout the day. This makes Monday different from Tuesday, as well as Wednesday, Thursday, Friday… No two days are the same, although each encompasses key Reggio Emilia elements, such as:

• Spending time with their peers: Communicating, playing and collaborating on group projects and mutually enjoyable activities.
• Plenty of discussions: The direction this takes is led by the children, their questions and curiosities.
• Hands-on play: From painting to the sand pit, tending the veggie garden to going on a bug safari, tactile and active involvement plays a huge part in a Reggio Emilia day.
• Taking advantage of Mother Nature: Each Evoke location features a safe outdoor environment where children can play, relax and get all the benefits that being outside brings.
• Creative play: This might involve an isolated session or work on a larger project that all the children contribute to over days, weeks or even months. Our classrooms are filled with the products of our children’s incredible minds, which makes for a colourful, bright and happy environment that stimulates further ideas and creativity.
• Rest and relaxation: Appropriate naps and quiet times are built into the day. This might involve a group story session, learning stress-reduction techniques – perhaps meditation or yoga – listening to music... Again, no two days follow exactly the same pattern.

Each day follows a healthy mix of group collaboration and solo working opportunities. The environment is tailor-made to encourage children to discover the art of expression in whatever way they choose. Dancing, singing, colouring and drawing, making models, inventing games… The list is endless and only limited by the children’s curiosity.

It’s also important to know that, while Early Educators spend plenty of time sculpting curriculums and schedules, these are more of a guideline than a strict timetable. Emergent discovery and learning opportunities are the hallmark of the Reggio Emilia day, with delightful possibilities opening up as the children follow their natural instincts and interests.

As such, there’s no such thing as a typical Evoke Early Learning day. But what is constant is the care and dedication towards child-led learning and the proven advantages of creating a life-long love of learning.

Both our Albert Park and Clayton centres embrace the Reggio Emilia method and we’d love for you to see us in action. Discover more about us and book a tour today.

We are all wonderfully different. Each of us learns and develops in our own sweet way – and this is something that should be celebrated and nurtured. Diverse learning encompasses a huge range of individualities. There are plenty of terms used for different neurodiverse conditions, such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia.

No matter what the name, the important thing about diverse learning is that the brain works and processes information in a way outside of what might be considered typical. The underlying concepts of the Reggio Emilia approach – in that the child directs their learning pathway – make it ideal for everyone.

Neurodiverse or otherwise, everyone triggers their best learning potential when they follow what naturally stimulates their curiosity.

Genuine Inclusion in the Early Learning Landscape

The development of truly inclusive programmes for those with diverse learning needs presents challenges. However, the Reggio Emilia philosophy is proving to be the one that breaks the mould. This is thanks to the four of the core ingredients of this method:

1. That it encourages collaborative relationships.
2. That it utilises constructive environments.
3. That it follows project-based curriculums.
4. That it documents the learning process in multiple ways.

Collaborative relationships

The Reggio Emilia method recognises every child as a powerful, capable and resourceful human being. Educators are co-learners and collaborators – other children are their peers. Parents and family also feature highly. If necessary, this can also include special educators who further help guide any particular learning requirements.

Encouraging great collaboration between all parties is especially important for those with diverse learning needs and plays a big part in how the individual approaches relationship dynamics, both today and in the future.

Constructive environments

Curiosity-inspiring environments, full of natural materials and offering a wealth of different tactile experiences provide children – all children – with multiple methods of discovery and expression. Words are only one way we communicate. There are so many ways to ‘speak’ to the world, including music, dance, drawing, making models, grouping stones into sizes, even touching and tracing shapes on different surfaces… Learning in such an environment is dynamic and all-encompassing, allowing children to embrace and understand their preferred methods of discovery.

Project-based curriculums

Longer-term projects, where children might work in small groups, provide a diverse landscape of tasks. These require many different talents – allowing endless opportunities for learners of all types. Everyone gets involved, from choosing what they’d like to do through to actioning their intentions. The smallest of interactions often leads to whole group involvement – and can provide delightful leadership opportunities in the most unexpected of places.

Multiple documentation methods

Reggio Emilia believes in the ‘100 languages of children’, and this is particularly relevant for those with diverse learning needs. This recognises achievements in many different ways, each of which can be documented to show progression. Recognition is a key element in every child’s learning journey.

This can be monitored in many ways, such as craft creations, drawings, making suggestions for a project... Educators can take pictures of transient wins – such as using building blocks – or perhaps transcribe a scenario where the child participated in a conversation. These are just a couple of examples – there are infinite methods to document the progress of every child in the classroom.

Because the Reggio Emilia strategy doesn’t follow strict timetables and schedules, early educators have the flexibility to adapt day-to-day life to different abilities and learning styles. Collaboration, problem-solving and team building are gently encouraged, with children learning how to naturally follow their interests, develop their strengths and support their peers.

Such an environment can be hugely positive for diverse learners. In addition, having free access to quiet areas, which are always included in a Reggio Emilia classroom, provides all children with the opportunity to take some quiet time out whenever they choose.

The key to supporting children with diverse learning requirements is to nurture their needs whilst ensuring collaborative, appropriate interactions with their peers, teachers, special educators, parents and anyone else in their circle.

In the Emilia Reggio classroom, this might be seen as:

• Working together in small-group scenarios.
• Encouraging parents and caregivers to be involved and participate in education plans.
• Modifying classrooms to reflect current projects and imitate real-world environments.
• Promoting independence and autonomy for everyone.
• Identifying and promoting individual learning methods, integrating them not just for a single child, but into the whole learning model.
• Celebrating diversity and allowing full participation for every member of the class. In turn, this helps everyone become comfortable with individuality.

The best way to understand how diverse learning requirements are catered for in the Emilio Reggio classroom is to contact our team and then come and see us in action. This can easily be done by booking a tour. You can also check out our news page, which is regularly updated with information on a wide range of early education-related subjects.