Storykate: an early childhood teacher and trainer, armed with ukulele and the gift to generate endless curriculum ideas.
Hello, fellow educators!👋🏻 I'm Kate, an experienced early childhood teacher and tertiary education instructor passionate about enriching early learning. With extensive experience across various roles—from nanny and storyteller to educational leader and early childhood trainer—I bring a wealth of knowledge and innovative teaching strategies to the table. At Storykate, I'm dedicated to sharing engaging educational practices through stories, puppet shows, action songs, ukulele, mind maps and circle games. Whether you're teaching young children or training future educators, you'll find invaluable resources here. I offer a treasure trove of free resources, creative ideas, and digital products designed to enhance your teaching methods and pedagogy. I helped hundreds of students and educators achieve their professional goals. 👇Why Subscribe? Subscribe to get your hands on exclusive content that blends storytelling, puppetry, and music with effective teaching techniques. These resources are perfect for keeping your programs lively and educational, especially during circle time. 🐞Join me at Storykate to explore new ways to jazz up your teaching style and connect with a community of like-minded early childhood educators. Let’s make learning fun and meaningful together!
Storykate Stories: June
Hey Educators!Term 2 is nearly done. If you are reading this curled up with a hot drink, wearing three layers, I see you. June in Australia has a particular kind of exhaustion to it. The novelty of the new year has worn off. The children are tired. You are tired. This is exactly when I want to check in. You do not need to overhaul your program before Term 3 starts. You need three or four things that work, and you need to know why they work. That is what I am here for.
Kate's story from practice
Yesterday, something happened during our outdoor play. Our children were very curious about creepy crawlers, bugs, slugs, beetles, worms, earwigs, and millipedes, centipedes. And at some point, handling has become a concern for me. I work under a posthumanism lens, and I was wondering, how do you talk to children about handling living creatures if we follow EYLF and the posthumanism lens? Also, if we encourage children to be custodians of country and the earth, how do we introduce animals other than humans to children without them getting too excited to take them home or squish them or play with them as if they are toys? So, that's something that I was wondering. What are your thoughts?
Theorist of the month: Affrica TaylorIf you are thinking about children and the living world, this is the name you need.
Affrica Taylor is an Australian researcher whose work sits at the intersection of posthumanism, early childhood education, and what she calls "common worlds." Her key idea is this: children do not simply interact with nature. They share worlds with other species. They are entangled with them.
Her book Reconfiguring the Natures of Childhood (2013) challenges the Romantic idea that children and nature have a naturally pure, innocent relationship. Taylor argues that children's relationships with animals and plants are complex, sometimes rough, sometimes ethical, sometimes not. And that is exactly where the learning is.
For the worm question I raised above, Taylor's framework asks: what are we assuming about the worm? What does the child bring to this encounter? What does the worm bring? What kind of relationship is actually possible between them?
This connects directly to EYLF 2.0 Outcome 2, specifically the learning component around children demonstrating care, empathy and respect for living things. And to the EYLF's acknowledgement of Country and the more-than-human world.
I had not come across Taylor's work until two years ago. If you have been using posthumanist ideas in your practice and want a theorist who speaks directly to the Australian ECE context, she is a brilliant place to start.
Observation of the month: analysis of the child's Sample Drawing
Resource of the month
Get my new relief pack here https://payhip.com/b/58nvT A small intention for this monthA small intention for Term 3. Before you write a single new program plan, ask yourself one question: What did the children love this term? Start there. Build from joy outward. Everything else follows. P.S. Are you doing relief work in Term 3? Hit reply and tell me. I will send you one extra tip from the guide that I could not fit in the PDF. Explore More on Storykate What would you like me to make articles and videos about? What resources would you like me to create? Send me a message via DM or FB, and I will try my best to make it. |
Storykate: an early childhood teacher and trainer, armed with ukulele and the gift to generate endless curriculum ideas.
Hello, fellow educators!👋🏻 I'm Kate, an experienced early childhood teacher and tertiary education instructor passionate about enriching early learning. With extensive experience across various roles—from nanny and storyteller to educational leader and early childhood trainer—I bring a wealth of knowledge and innovative teaching strategies to the table. At Storykate, I'm dedicated to sharing engaging educational practices through stories, puppet shows, action songs, ukulele, mind maps and circle games. Whether you're teaching young children or training future educators, you'll find invaluable resources here. I offer a treasure trove of free resources, creative ideas, and digital products designed to enhance your teaching methods and pedagogy. I helped hundreds of students and educators achieve their professional goals. 👇Why Subscribe? Subscribe to get your hands on exclusive content that blends storytelling, puppetry, and music with effective teaching techniques. These resources are perfect for keeping your programs lively and educational, especially during circle time. 🐞Join me at Storykate to explore new ways to jazz up your teaching style and connect with a community of like-minded early childhood educators. Let’s make learning fun and meaningful together!
Welcome to storytime with Kate! Hey Educators! Spring has arrived in Melbourne. The cherry blossom near my place is already dropping petals on the grass, and children everywhere are bringing flowers inside in their pockets. This month I have been sorting through years of photos from my rooms, and I turned some of them into new resources for you. Check out my channel Kate's story from practice I have been to many, many, many early childhood services, childcare centres, family day care services...
Welcome to storytime with Kate! Hey Educators! It's hard to believe, but the winter (in Australia) is almost over. We are entering the season of orchids and true spring, when everything is in bloom and I hear a lot of birds every morning I wake up and every night when I sit at my computer working long hours. Spring is the season of rejuvenation and I hope we will enter a new era of fewer wars and conflicts, more happiness and joy. What do you like about spring (or autumn, if you are from the...
Hey Educators! OK, this is quite cold and chilly in Melbourne right now. In winter, it may be hard to keep yourself joyful and full of beans. I know it may be summer where you are - in the US or UK, Europe or Ireland. But we all have those moments when we are tired and need something to lift our mood. In search of joy, I started to write about things/people/events in life I am grateful for; I indulged in a shopping spree and bought an inexpensive but wonderful table lamp and a lot of books...