TeacherTomseCourses

While it is specifically designed for early childhood educators, directors, and childcare owners, parents and grandparents of young children will also find it invaluable too.

We will examine the (real) purpose of education, the role of community, the history of play, what play is and how it educates, the role of the teacher/adult, the role of the environment/classroom, and the role of rules/agreements.

Like with anything worth doing, you will get out of it what you put into it. This course is designed in the spirit of play-based learning in that I eschew direct instruction, “how to’s,” tick boxes, and lists of learning objectives. Instead, my approach is to assume that you are a motivated, intelligent, committed adult. I share my best thinking, tell stories, and ask probing questions intended to make you think about yourself, the children in your life, what you can do given your own unique situation; and, of course, to inspire you!

Absolutely! This is a course for self-motivated educators and parents who want the children in their life to have an authentic childhood full of learning and play; who want to learn to be partners in that learning; and who are willing to honestly examine and reconsider their beliefs about children and learning.

I guarantee that you have never taken a course like this one. It will challenge you, it will probably even make you mad at times, but it will also cause you to think and grow. Most importantly, it will enable you to offer children in your class or at home an authentic childhood with learning through play where it belongs, at the very center of their lives.

The first lesson will be published on January 31st.

Starting Wednesday, January 31st, and on every Wednesday for the next six weeks, you’ll receive access to one module of the course along with a work book. You can watch that week’s episodes at any time that’s convenient for you, as long as you do so prior to the following week. We will all be working through the material together as a cohort, week-by-week. (If you can’t watch it that week that’s ok too, since you have lifetime access, but you’ll have more fun if you keep up with the cohort.)

At the start of each week, you’ll get about forty five minutes of video in bite sized chunks. You’ll watch these and then spend another 15 minutes or so each week filling out your reflection guide/workbook. In total, you’ll be investing about one hour every week between January 31st and March 6th.

No. You can watch the sessions and work through the reflection guide any time that is convenient for you; after that you can share your insights and ideas in our online community area and Teacher Tom will comment and “cheer you on.”