Let Me Try It Myself

An active learning environment supports children’s understanding of their world and encourages negotiated social interactions as they play alongside and with others. While safe, developmentally appropriate and richly resourced environments foster independent exploration and learning through play. This exploration in turn engenders self-confidence and the willingness and ability to take responsibility for their own actions.

By providing a context for learning which promotes self-help skills, educators provide opportunities for children to develop a strong sense of identity as they engage independently with tasks and play; connect with and contribute to their world as they cooperate with others and negotiate roles; have a strong sense of wellbeing and become confident and involved learners as they transfer knowledge from one setting to another and become effective communicators as they use language and engage in play to imagine roles, scripts and ideas.

Let Me Be Myself

Children are able to develop a strong sense of identity when educators organise safe environments which children feel a sense of ownership of and connectedness with. Children learn to not only accept themselves but are more open to accepting and building relationships with others if they interact with a diverse range of resources which relate to themselves and the people and events in their lives.

By providing the time and space for children to explore their environments (both physical and human), they are more able to develop knowledgeable and confident self-identities; connect with and contribute to their world as they learn to respond respectfully to diversity; have a strong sense of wellbeing as they cooperate and work collaboratively with others; become confident and involved learners as they connect with others and share ideas and become effective communicators as they engage in social interactions.

Let’s Celebrate Diversity

Diversity refers to cultural differences (such as childrearing practices) and providing opportunities for children to recognise and value these many cultural differences in Australian Society is a crucial element of planning ‘meaningful learning experiences for children.’

Educators can engender a respect and acceptance for diversity in children by creating environments which spark interest and encourage the exploration of similarities and differences. Through these explorations, children can develop a strong sense of identity as they perhaps share aspects of their culture or learn about other cultures with their peers and their educators; connect with and contribute to their world as they have opportunities to develop an understanding of other cultures; and have a strong sense of wellbeing and become confident and involved learners as they feel accepted and learn to accept others and become effective communicators as they interact with others.

Let’s Play Fair

As children’s play develops into playing alongside and with others, they learn about fairness and how to include others in their play. Educators support this development by the provision of developmentally appropriate resources and activities which all children are able to access at their own level of ability.

Educators also promote this major aspect of children being connected with and contributing to their world when they discuss aspects of equal rights and fairness. These discussions and activities help children to develop a strong sense of identity as they learn how to interact respectfully with others; have a strong sense of wellbeing as they participate in activities which involve physical activity; become confident and involved learners as they reflect on incidents which occur during their play activities, and become effective communicators as they interact with others both verbally and non-verbally during their physical play experiences.

Eco Friendly

The desire to conserve the natural environment stems from a love of nature, and the best way to encourage children to love nature is to allow them to interact with the natural world from an early age.

As educators broaden children’s understanding of the world beyond their immediate setting, they help children work towards being active and socially responsible community participants by learning about the impact of human intervention on their world.

Let’s Feel Safe

A strong sense of wellbeing is produced by both physical and emotional aspects. When children are able to feel a sense of belonging, are able to trust others and are allowed to be themselves, they will be better equipped to realise their potential and are more likely to develop the resilience required to cope with the many everyday challenges they will face.

Resilient children who are capable of overcoming adversity and who handle themselves well in a variety of social and emotional situations are not only more able to respond appropriately to bullying situations but are also far less likely to engage in the act of bullying themselves. Promoting resilience in children should begin at birth, through support within the learning environment and at home.

Children’s strong sense of identity is promoted when they are self-motivated to succeed, even when they face difficulties, and also when they have been given opportunities to feel a sense of belonging in their environment – an environment where their opinions, feelings and ideas are listened to. How children connect with and contribute to their world; become confident and involved learners and how they evolve into effective communicators will be influenced by the type of social experiences (hopefully positive) they become involved in.

Let’s Become Fit & Healthy

A child’s strong sense of wellbeing stems from being healthy in body and mind. Educators promote this when they include physical activities and learning about how bodies work (including increasing children’s awareness of making healthy lifestyle choices) in their programming. The outcome brings about good physical health and also the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that accompanies this.

Children’s strong sense of identity is cultivated as they make informed choices about their behaviours which will result in a sense of wellbeing; how they connect with and contribute to their world is empowered, for example, when they develop an understanding of food sources; their capacity to become confident and involved learners is enhanced when they enthusiastically take part in play and leisure opportunities and their ability to be effective communicators is evident when they contribute their ideas and take part in discussions.

Let’s Build

Children as confident and involved learners can be witnessed as they manipulate, experiment with and construct. Educators can source this learning with appropriate and a diverse range of developmentally appropriate materials and also by facilitating the required skills development. This facilitation, known as intentional teaching, is the process of intentionally scaffolding children’s understanding at opportune moments. This process is not a direct intervention but more a way of building on a child’s level of understanding and encouraging and supporting their development.

It is experiences, such as construction activities, that effectively advances a child’s strong sense of identity as their self-confidence is boosted by successful achievements; their connection with and contribution to their wold is heightened and their strong sense of wellbeing and their ability to be effective communicators is assured in instances such as when they cooperate with others to produce a joint construction.

Let’s Explore

Open-ended experiences, which encourage the expression of wonder and interest, help children become confident and involved learners. As children become involved in meaningful investigations, they develop the optimal dispositions (such as curiosity and persistence) for learning. The children’s active involvement, and educators supporting and encouraging this involvement, also develops important skills such as problem solving and hypothesising. Children are then able to use their new knowledge and skills to make connections with other experiences and to develop strategies they can use in other investigations.

It is these active, hands-on type of experiences which fosters a child’s strong sense of identity and their connection with and contribution to their world as they develop their knowledge and confidence; their strong sense of wellbeing as they celebrate their successful investigations and become effective communicators as they engage in the explorations with others.

Let’s Make Patterns

An example of when children are effective communicators is when they use language, music and art to express ideas and feelings, usually by recognising relationships and connections between patterns. All forms of mark making and creative representations of their thoughts should be appreciated and recognised in order to build their self-confidence and esteem. While continual development should be encouraged by the provision of relevant and meaningful opportunities to practise and master skills.

Children’s strong sense of identity is strengthened when they can communicate effectively with others and are understood and respected; the way they connect with and contribute to their world is extended by the many experiences and media they engage with; their strong sense of wellbeing is guaranteed as they eagerly create, design and produce and they become confident and involved learners as they use representation to organise, record and communicate their thoughts.

Let’s Use Symbols

Using symbols is one way that children become effective communicators. As their first attempts at communicating, using their own forms of mark making, are replaced with more traditional and universally used symbols, they learn that symbols are a powerful means of communications. Educators aid this development when they engage children in experiences and discussions which involve symbols such as the alphabet, numbers, time, money, musical notation and when they engage them in gaining meaning from text.

Children’s strong sense of identity is bolstered when they are able to express their ideas and be understood; the way they connect with and contribute to their world is improved when they can understand and respond effectively to others; their strong sense of wellbeing is enabled when they are able to collaborate meaningfully and they become confident and involved learners as they experience the advantages and joys of shared comprehension.