Five Toddlers and Some Leaves

People often express wonder that I can keep five children stimulated and entertained all day long. I think they're imagining me planning and conducting a steady round of reading, dancing, painting, singing, running, games, crafts, songs, activities...

It's nothing like that, really, primarily because I don't think my role is to be at the centre. I'm not the daycare cruise director, planning every second of the day, directing every action and thoughts. I'm at the centre insofar as I'm the stable, nurturing, reliable grown-up; that role puts me at the emotional centre of their days with me. But the cruise director centre? Nope. I don't direct, I facilitate. Beyond a very basic frame of the day (food times, outing, craft/indoor activity, sleep times) the impetus for what to do next rarely comes from me. I watch the children, I provide them time, space, and opportunity to entertain themselves... and they do.

Here, I have provided them a wide-open field full of leaves, sticks, twigs, grass, and one big tree. We explored, played, romped, touched, smelled, looked, (and yes, tasted)... We did this sitting down...

We did this charging around...

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Dries checks out the bendiness of a twig. Addie is exploring the sound leaves make when you shuffle through them. Or stomp on them.

Dominic and Nora are discovering the weight, feel, and sound of leaves, while Ella, inspired by Addie's shuffling, tries that out.

Nora has a seed -- we've talked about seeds this month, and she now can recognize them as seeds, while Addie crushes some dry leaves in her palms.

And me? I watch, mostly. I make sure they're safe. We'll talk about what they're doing a bit, because I like to give them vocabulary for their explorations. But only a bit, because I don't want to be the focus and conduit for everything they do. It would be exhausting for me, and it would take the onus of exploration, and much of its pleasure, from them. It is a firm conviction of mine that education is not something somebody does to you, it's something you do for yourself.

Another bonus? Kids raised like this? "I'm bored"  is not in their repertoire!