Blooming Curious
Looking to effect change and embrace authentic early childhood values and learning? Tune in to Blooming Curious for weekly inspiration and actionable strategies for early childhood classroom and home based educators who want to nurture curious, confident, lifelong learners. Visit www.bloomingcurious.com for resources and strategies that put the love back into teaching and learning. Sign up for your weekly dose of inspiration with Get Curious.
Episodes
May 5, 2025 • 12 mins
Transform Your Teaching: Integrated Learning with Picture BooksThis episode addresses the common frustrations that educators face with lesson planning, and offers a solution through integrated learning using picture books. I share my personal experiences and insights from my teaching career, highlighting the effectiveness of using picture books to create comprehensive, hands-on lesson plans that cover multiple curriculum areas. In ...
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April 21, 2025 • 4 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, Edwina reflects on the insights shared by various experienced educators like Sally Haughey, Claire Warden, Jessica Vance, Tonya Gilchrist, and April Zajko, about the decline of curiosity in children. Emphasizing curiosity as the foundation of learning. Edwina critiques the prevalent easy-route teaching methods such as scripted lessons and reliance on worksheets and urge educators to deeply refle...
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April 14, 2025 • 58 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, I welcome Sally Haughey, (pronounced Hoy) the founder and CEO of Wunderled, formerly known as Fairy Dust Teaching. Sally shares her journey from beginning her teaching career in 1996 to building a global community of over 240,000 educators across 120 countries. Sally Emphasises a play-based philosophy inspired by Waldorf and Reggio Emilia approaches, she discusses the profound impact of play on ...
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April 7, 2025 • 49 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, we welcome Ben Scholl and David Berlinski, founders of Toolbox Education. They discuss their initiative to equip children with evidence-based tools for improving mental health in schools. The conversation covers the importance of social-emotional learning, strategies to help kids manage anxiety, regulate emotions, and resolve conflicts. The duo also emphasizes the evolving role of teachers in fo...
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March 31, 2025 • 36 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, we dive into the critical topic of building children's confidence in mathematics to combat math anxiety. Following up on last week's discussion with Dr. Aditya Nagrath, who highlighted that many children entering kindergarten are already behind in math skills, we explore practical strategies that parents and educators can use to establish a solid mathematical foundation in young children. From i...
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March 24, 2025 • 38 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, Dr. Aditya Nagrath, author of 'Treating Mathematics Anxiety' and founder of the Elephant Learning Mathematics Academy, joins the podcast to discuss his mission to remove mathematics anxiety and empower children in their learning. Dr. Nagrath explains how deficits in early childhood mathematics lead to future difficulties, the importance of understanding mathematical language, and provides insigh...
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March 17, 2025 • 38 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, I welcome Shana Roberts, a multi-talented educator, author, and podcast host of 'Talk and Coffee.' Shana shares her 20-year journey in education, emphasising the importance of building strong connections with children to help navigate through difficult situations and emotions. She discusses her work as a trauma-informed educator using the Berry Street education model and offers practical strateg...
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March 10, 2025 • 9 mins
In this episode, we discuss the importance of sparking children's curiosity with loose parts as a key educational strategy. Loose parts is a favourite approach among numerous educators, including Janelle McArdle from My Teaching Cupboard who makes a guest appearance on the show.We explore how these open-ended materials benefit child development across creativity, motor skills, problem-solving, collaboration, and more. With insights...
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March 3, 2025 • 40 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, we welcome Alex Peterson, a dedicated Montessori teacher who shares her insights and experience in a Montessori classroom online as @missnearingsmontessori. Alex reveals the creative teaching strategies, hands-on activities, and key differences between Montessori and traditional education methods. She discusses the unique structure of Montessori classrooms, the importance of preparing the enviro...
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February 24, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, we discuss how Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be harnessed to motivate children to love learning. This discussion stems from a popular blog post on the same topic. We explore the hierarchy from the foundational requirements such as physiological needs and safety, to how love, belonging, and self-esteem play pivotal roles in setting kids up for success, ultimately leading to self-actualization a...
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February 17, 2025 • 59 mins
Understanding Sensory Processing: Insights from Early Childhood Consultant Veronica Green In this episode Veronica Green, an early childhood consultant and mother to a neurodivergent child, shares her journey from becoming an ECE in 2012 to founding Cultivating Confidence, an early years consultancy focused on creating inclusive environments where children and educators thrive. Through her personal experiences raising an autis...
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February 10, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, I share the reasons and benefits of inquiry-based learning (IBL) as a teaching strategy. Inquiry-Based Learning enhances student motivation, critical thinking, and creativity, and links learning to real-world contexts. IBL can furthermore foster a lifelong love for learning, and is the prefect strategy to help students connect knowledge to other subject areas and their own life experiences. Additionally...
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February 3, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode of Blooming Curious, I welcome Tonya Gilchrist, an International Education Consultant and Learning Strategist. Tonya shares her journey towards advocating inquiry-based learning, discusses how to effectively implement inquiry practices within classrooms, and addresses misconceptions around inquiry and agency. She dives into the challenges of standardised testing and talks about her work in transforming educational a...
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January 27, 2025 • 10 mins
In this episode I highlight the natural inclinations and traits of children as active learners. I discuss the importance of incorporating these traits into teaching methods to engage children authentically in learning activities. Using the picture book I Went Walking, I introduce listeners to the multitude of learning experiences that this one little book can bring, and so spark children's natural curiosity and simultaneously...
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January 20, 2025 • 13 mins
Rather than teaching subjects in silos, which can lead to teacher burnout and hinder students' ability to make connections, use the science or humanities curriculum as a starting point. Edwina shares how to plan integrated lesson plans that teach the necessary English skills linked to science or humanities topics. The episode also highlights the benefits of using hands-on activities, non-fiction texts, and outdoor experiences to en...
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January 13, 2025 • 38 mins
In this episode I talk to Daniel Burton, a nature educator specialising in outdoor classrooms and the co-founder of Educated by Nature. We discuss the program's mission to boost the mental, emotional, and physical health of children through connections with nature. Daniel shares the origin story of Educated by Nature, inspired by his experience teaching outdoors at Bold Park Community School. He explains the benefits observed in ne...
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January 6, 2025 • 12 mins
Planning for Back to School: Essential Tips for TeachersIn this episode, teachers are encouraged to resist the urge to spend money on classroom decorations and instead focus on strategies to engage students. We look at the strategies and organisation tips essential for back to school and setting up an engaging classroom.Listen to previous episodes that focus on getting set up and organised for a new teaching year focusing mos...
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December 30, 2024 • 9 mins
Goal Setting for Teachers in 2025: Reflect and InnovateIn this episode of Blooming Curious, we kick off 2025 by talking about setting actionable goals instead of traditional New Year's resolutions. Edwina shares insights on the importance of reflection in teaching and the benefits of goal setting to keep students engaged and promote personal growth. We emphasise the pitfalls of reusing old lesson plans without adaptation and guide ...
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November 25, 2024 • 16 mins
In this final episode of Blooming Curious for 2024, inspired by Jonathan Haidt's book, 'The Anxious Generation,' Edwina unpacks the impact of technology on children's development. The episode discusses the negative effects of excessive screen time on children's emotional and mental health and provides practical strategies for parents and educators to promote healthier alternatives. Edwina encourages parents and teachers to start sm...
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November 18, 2024 • 9 mins
These days just about anyone who wants to get ahead and bring the best out of themselves has a coach.Why should teachers be any different?In today's episode Edwina explores why every teacher should consider getting a coach and why and how to integrate lessons that bring excitement back into the classroom and tick multiple curriculum outcomes.Edwina also announces her new introductory coaching offer for teachers who want to get the ...
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