Child-led learning approach -

I began 2016 with children leading the learning. With

this style of learning, a child is allowed to determine what to 

learn and when to learn it. He or she may even be allowed to 

choose his or her materials for learning, such as books, 

education supplements,play or 'making' resources, or the 

natural world at large.

I follow a child’s interests and preferences in selecting subjects

to learn and methods for learning. In such learning 

environments, children are not forced or coerced into learning. 

Instead, we work to follow the lead of children, 

providing support, resources, and instruction, in keeping with 

their interests and as we observe them and respond.

• Child-led learning is often experiential

• Child-led learning encourages children to pursue their talents

• Child-led learning lets kids experiment with different forms of expression.

Children need time for curiosity, investigation, discovery, and meaningful hands-on learning. They need time to practice skills, experiment with techniques, possibly fail, reassess their process, and try again. Yes, young children really are that sophisticated in their thinking if given the time and opportunity! As a committed and experienced teacher, I ensure that the children are taught in an exciting and stimulating way that engages their interests, promotes creativity and encourages them to think and learn independently.

The children experience a range of teaching and learning environments: whole class teaching and small group work, adult led and child initiated activities, both inside and outside the classroom, including natural thinking lessons. Our aim is to nurture the children’s desire to learn, experiment and gain confidence and independence. The day is structured to enable the children to learn through play, with careful observations of each child’s interest and skills.

Our curriculum consists of the seven areas of learning; the three prime areas, which are Communication and Language, Physical development and Personal, Social and Emotional development and the specific areas, which are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. Within the curriculum the children also have weekly Spanish, music, forest school and yoga lessons taught by specialist teachers. Visitors are invited in to support the children’s knowledge in a variety of cultural based topics, which aims to enhance their learning.  
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This morning I spoke to the children about what they would like to do when they 'grow up'.... It all began to unfold as one of them replied ' I want to be in the woods and become a fire man who makes fires for the camping'...
There was excitement as the small group of children decided it was time to become 'campers and fire men'. 

Straight into play, the  group of campers decided it was time to make a camp fire. They gathered round in a huddle. L, the leader of the camp,  began rubbing the kindling wood together and blew into his hands. (I had just placed some leftover kindling from my home in a basket and left it there to see how soon they had noticed something new in the resource shelf!) They had noticed!

This is what I observed them saying:

H- 'it's lighted now. The camp is ready so lets find more wood...and stuff to cook'
L- 'the fire is hot and hotter...'
M- 'yeah, let's cook the bbq...and the stuff to go on top' ( adds bottle tops and pebbles and cotton wool)
L- 'let's pretend to wake Jack (the cat) up, it's walky time..'
N- 'I think we need to add more bbq' ..she adds more sticks. 'It's getting even hotter in here.'
J- 'I'm being the cat.. Miaow miaow'...and pretends to lap up the milk
N- 'this is fun camp..we need to add more stuff to make it more hotter... oh no...there's the police...lets hide!!.'

They all ran and hid under the table. 

Soon the play extended to all corners of the room. The children kept adding resources such as fabrics, pebbles, paper and cotton wool. 

I sat back and watched it unfold into a spontaneous adventure. One of them said to me' Can we play again tomorrow. This is so fun!'

The children were role playing and  acting out various experiences they may have had or something that  interests  them.  They were experimenting with decision making on how to behave and whilst practicing their social skills.  Children were learning from experience: from what happens around them, from what they have seen, heard, smelled, tasted and touched.   They absorbed those experiences and made sense of their world, they were engaged in imaginary play. 

What a fabulously fun and exiting morning!

As I left mid afternoon for home, a colleague said,' Have you finished work?' I replied...'no...I have finished play!!' and smiled as I left the building.