Benefits of child-led learning
Play is often free of adult intervention and a degree of learning happens quite naturally. Adults who have an understanding of the individual child can also play an important role, guiding and building upon the child’s current skills and knowledge within the process of their play.
Teaching at Childerwood Nursery is not formal. It is centered around the child in response to their interests and developmental stage.
Through careful observation and intervention, we can capture the ‘teachable moment’, we internally refer to this as a ‘Spark’, and make a difference to the child’s progression by engaging with them when they are most motivated and involved. This moment may be during play, but could also occur through conversational interactions, or an adult led activity.
Teaching and planning in the moment is not new. It is exactly what responsive parents are doing with their children every day. Every time our practitioners are looking at and listening to our children they are assessing and planning how best to respond to the child and teach them, to meet the child’s next steps in the moment.