PICTURES: Inverness nursery Tin Tin’s wins recognition for developing The Curiosity Approach to childcare and early learning
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An Inverness nursery has become the first in the Highlands to achieve a mark of excellence in a “revolutionary” new approach to early learning.
Tin Tin’s childminders in Crown has been accredited by the organisation The Curiosity Approach after two years spent developing and delivering the educational method.
Devised by Birmingham-based child carers Lyndsey Hellyn and Stephanie Bennett, and first promoted in 2017, The Curiosity Approach has grown rapidly in popularity across 16 nations internationally.
Already well-established in territories as diverse as Australia, Hawaii and England, it is now being embraced by an increasing number of nurseries north of the border.
Following the endorsement of another in Aberdeen, Tin Tins is the first in the Highlands to achieve the recognition.
Instead of directing children and telling them what to do, the ethos is based on child-led learning and aimed at sparking their innate curiosity to create “a generation of thinkers, doers and investigators”.
Children are encouraged to explore and experiment in a calming environment filled with creative natural resources, loose parts and diverse objects, but free of conventional noisy or elaborate mechanical toys.
Tin Tins’ owner Tina Strain, a registered childminder for over 20 years, is a passionate advocate of the approach and is enthused by the positive impact it has had on her nursery, which provides care for up to 12 children.
“It has taken us two years of constant observation, evidencing and transforming the nursery environment to bring us this award,” she said.
“It has been about taking away as much plastic as possible and all those toys where you press a button and it does something for you.
“Give the little ones some recycled materials like cones, pom-poms or blocks and they will go and create something like a little village.
“It is all about encouraging their imagination and ingenuity. Give them a box of objects and they will create and make up their own play.
“Rather than dictate that ‘we’re going to do this today’, it lets the child lead.”
Much emphasis is placed on creating a more relaxing homely environment rather than the traditional child educational setting with bright colours and stark furnishing.
“We had to implement a lot of change in our approach to teaching the children,” Tina explained.
“We changed the setting to make it softer and more homely. It makes it easier for children to learn, basically.
“The Care Inspectorate have been very enthusiastic about our progress and indicated we could strive for a maximum rating of six. It is not yet national policy, but I’m convinced most settings will be following this line in the future.”
The Curiosity Approach founders drew on a melting pot of past pioneering thinking on child education, including the work and theories of Maria Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Rudolf Steiner, and Emmi Pikler.
Allowing the children freedom of expression, while remaining engaged and attentive, can make for an unpredictable working day for staff.
“For instance, I took some of the little ones to Mitchell’s Motorcycles in Inverness this week a day after watching them making motorbikes out of tyres and other loose parts,” Tina said.
“Whatever their interests are, we just look to nurture it.
“In many ways, this country’s approaches to education hasn’t changed since the 1800s.
“Children come into class and do repetitive work, whereas this approach allows the child to take healthy risks and do the kind of stuff people of my generation did as children outdoors.
“Play is far more important to early development than forcing a child to sit and write academically.
“A lot of our play incorporates different shapes, colours and numbers and they automatically learn them.
“We find children are learning quicker - and better - by not being forced to learn.
“I feel they are more advanced for their ages and gain a lot in maturity from getting out into the community for things like litter-picking and care-giving at old people’s homes.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “As one of the council’s partner providers, we are delighted that Tin Tin’s ELC has received this well-earned accreditation which required a significant amount of hard work and dedication.
“The curiosity approach is well recognised and reflects the child-centred pedagogy promoted in Highland Council’s own Early Learning and Childcare settings.”
