We embrace a Pedagogy of Care as foundational in our approach to everyday practice with children and families. We work in alignment with the BC Early Learning Framework to create a warm and nurturing environment to support all aspect of children’s growth. Understanding pedagogy as a collective, life-making project that responds to the conditions of our times (Vintimilla, 2020), we ask ourselves how thinking differently about children can open our eyes to new ways of being with children in everyday moments?
Pedagogical decisions at Cedar Place are based on anti-colonial, anti-racist principles of inclusion that recognize all children as co-participants in shaping their world(s). Our educational philosophy places great value on taking a gentle approach to care. We emphasize relationship building that honours children’s connections with families, educators, the environment, and more-than-human-others.
We make time for planned and spontaneous moments throughout the ebbs and flows of a Cedar Place day. As we nurture space for subtle moments of experimentations, we are committed to thinking and being alongside children with their unique gifts and curiosities. We create curriculum-making processes that involve time outdoors (with its offering of bigger spaces, weather and meeting with creatures and their families) and indoors (with the daily journey of meeting with children’s families, toilet learning, eating, sleeping and being together in the world with our bodies). In both indoors and outdoors we are committed to creating experiences that help connect us to the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən, Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples. This includes engaging with gardening, stories/story-telling and dancing while always recognizing children as members of a family, culture and community with their own ways of doing and being in the world.
Integral to Cedar Place, we believe in reciprocity within communication and the exchange of ideas and experience between families, children and educators.
Hay’sxw’qa si’em! (hy-sh-kwa sea-em)!
We say this in honour of now and future Songhees and Esquimalt peoples, for whom Hay’sxw’qa si’em (hy-sh-kwa sea-em)! means, “Thank you, respected or honourable one.”
2023-2024
