Glad to Meet You, I'm Rebecca
I'm so happy you're here!
About me...
My personal mission is to be grateful each day I am welcomed into the lives of children, their families, and others who love this work.
My current role is re-seeding and preparing the next generation of early childhood educators as pedagogical leaders as well as advocates for children and childhood.
While studying at Southern Oregon University for my master's program, an awareness was deepening regarding children's inner-lives. Using a holistic framework that had become popular in New Zealand, Finland, Norway and other areas of the world, the instructors shared their expertise and knowledge having traveled, studied and written about approaches in education that give equal value to all aspects of a child's development.
The idea itself is not new but resonated deeply within me and many others. Standards-based assessment practices persisted to press upon young children and practitioners using "ready for kindergarten" misinformation forcing drastic changes in the public school system.
Children are full of wisdom, love, and light. They have so much to teach us if we unpretentiously listen, observe with a lens of curiosity asking who this child is, and become their champions. Watching children navigate the world with unbounded curiosity and wonder opened my eyes to the magic that exists within. Some have referenced this as spirituality and include this in the whole-child description of learning with one's heart, mind, body and spirit. This does not reference any religion or religious practice. Rather, it is a call for deeper understanding not just of children and childhood but as adults and adulthood that tends to view children through our own lived-experiences rather than from the child's view of his/her own life.
I am reminded of being present with children rather than being a data collecting machine. To embrace joy, and to approach life with my own sense of awe and wonder. I am passionate about spreading this message and helping others see the beauty and magic in every child.
I am here to share my thoughts, experiences and theoretical reinforcements that have long been pushed aside. I will introduce you to dear colleagues that have traveled, inspired, and mentored me over the years. I will share resources that I have found to be inspiring in this work. My colleagues and I consider ourselves renegades; movers outside what has become the status quo. I know there are many others.
I hope to extend a rekindling of joy and provide a reconnecting to your own spiritual life or soul, to listen deeply to children's stories, and learn from their wisdom. We can share these stories with others who can also influence change. For what is curriculum but the unfolding of possibilities. We can create moments for children where they are celebrated and welcomed for the incredible beings they are, rather than something to be fixed or readied.
Rebecca Tree, M. Ed.