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tips and examples for kate's coaches

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These are some of the tools that have worked really well when teaching Kate for her Cert 3 but that will work when teaching her any topic or new concept in the future. A lot of these come from cutting edge, research based early childhood education philosophy and pedagogy. They were used to teach Kate about the world and herself THEN get ready to teach children:

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Follow Kate's interests

eg: Romance, Weddings, India, Dancing, Ball Games, Greece, Acting, Singing, Music, Swimming

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Engage Kate in Sensory Experiences

eg: painting, drawing, clay, cooking, playing with water, writing while there is music on in the background. These experiences help Kate to feel calm and unlock her brain making it easier for her to express herself.

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Have high expectations of Kate

eg: Don't assume Kate can't do something because she says "I'm not a fan" or if she struggles at first. Kate picks things up very quickly, even difficult concepts. You just need to engage her.

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Focus on the process not the product/outcome

eg: Kate HATES being tested but if you can make the test fun like with her spelling tests and have her answer on the zoom whiteboard for example, testing in the guise of a fun activity can work really well!

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Make sure Kate is actively involved in her own learning

eg: Kate likes to keep busy so just talking to her doesn't work - she needs to be "doing" something while she is learning like writing on the whiteboard, drawing a storyboard or picture, doing a mind map on Zoom, making something with her hands or something as simple as walking and talking. We had the most success with experiences such as Project India, Project Rainbow and Project Turtle because Kate got to cook, dress up in a Sari, build a turtle feeding enclosure.

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Use shared sustained thinking and questioning techniques with Kate

eg: use Open Questions and encourage mutual conversation rather than one sided conversation or yes no answers. Please see the Blog Post on Open Questions on this website.

 

Involve the whole team in Kate's learning especially her family

eg: even though coaches each have their own responsibilities for teaching Kate different things, it is important for each coach to help to bolster or consolidate what the other coaches are teaching Kate. This can be directly or indirectly like for example all coaches using See Think Wonder thinking exercise when teaching Kate.

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Teach Kate about early childhood education by first applying the lesson to Kate personally and then creating a link to how to teach the children the lesson/content

eg: Kate had to firstly learn how to build relationships with people before she can:

a) have positive, reciprocal and respectful relationships with the children; and

b) teach the children to have good and healthy relationships with each other. 

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Teach Kate how to think not what to think

eg: we have done this through the use of Harvard University Project Zero Thinking Routines such as See Think Wonder and I Used to Think but Now I Think

 

 

Engage Kate in Performing Arts activities which are guaranteed to help her to remember anything she learns and smile the biggest smile EVERY TIME

eg: singing, dancing, song writing, storyboard writing, script writing. Role plays have worked brilliantly to help Kate improve her speech and her confidence.

 

Embrace a Growth Mindset approach to Kate's Learning

Click on the below links for information on nurturing a Growth Mindset.

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Ensure Kate has fun and is happy in her learning!

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