Aberdeen City Early Years Conference

It was great to meet so inspiring people today and to have the opportunity to exhibit our work.  The theme of outdoor play and learning simply buzzes at the moment.  I was impressed as always with the practical and very accessible ideas that Juliet Robertson presents (see http://creativestarlearning.blogspot.com/) and also by the warm. funny loving and highly insprational Clare Warden (see http://www.mindstretchers.co.uk/articles.html )  So much food for thought.  Now I'm off for a week of level 3 forest school training.  I will miss my lovely class and the precious moments in the woods on Tuesday and Wednesday with our Nature Nurture Groups.  But hopefully I will come back with sackfuls of ideas

Its been a very busy and eventful month.  Our article appeared in TESS and it looks fantastic.  You can still read it on http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6012360.   We've also been able to set up a research project with a friend from Aberdeen University.  She will start work in August this year and research the what it is about Nature Nurture that works so well and what are the longer term effects of this early intervention.

Best of all we have started with two more groups of children.  One little girl is almost blind and she is helping us notice all the amazing sounds in the forest.  She also helps us remember how important it is to sing while we play.  Another child has witnessed terrible violence in his family home.  He's learning that adults can be gentle, can care about their environment and most of all can value him in his exploration and play.