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In today’s episode, we talk about the poetry of Wendell Berry. As an activist and farmer, Berry’s clear yet complex vision of what it means to be human is quite rare. His love of nature, family and community is centered on a specific, concrete place on earth and his poems are balanced by reverence. In our spinning, multi-tasking days of school runs, emails and getting the dinner ready, I find that these poems offer a wonderful, contemplative and inspiring tune to life. 

In today’s episode, we talk about some top tips on how to home educate multiple ages with ease - and effectiveness too. After quite a lot of stumbling here and there, we discovered a few tools and dynamics which made home education much more exciting and enjoyable for all of us. They can also be helpful while managing homework with siblings around or starting a new learning project at home.

In today’s episode, we discuss education through the eyes of one of the first educators that joined the Reggio Emilia Approach in Italy. We talk about the foundations of the movement, the image of the child, collaborative and project-based learning. In the Reggio Approach, educators found that children are creative, competent and sociable learners. Education, then, should be based on the pleasure of learning, curiosity and mapping our collaborative, shared search for meaning.  

In today’s episode, we explore the link between wonder and resilience, the importance of relationships in our learning journey and the consequences of sensorial overload for children.  

This is our last episode of the year, and it’s a special one. 2020 was a year like no other, to all of us. In the unfolding of an unprecedented pandemic, I watched so many tragedies and also so many breakthroughs. For me, 2020’s struggles taught me that I am way more resourceful, creative and connected than I ever imagined. And so, in this episode, I would like to celebrate our creativity, our potential for re-invention and connection with this beautiful poem from Loris Malaguzzi, one of the thought-leaders of the Reggio Emilia Approach.

In this episode we’re going to talk about dance and movement, as a way of infusing some extra fun in these days at home. We’re also going to explore why they’re a crucial element of young children development and adult’s wellbeing. Moreover, as we live in a society where children are required to spend more time sitting still than ever before, it is vital to raise our awareness about it, as excessive exposure to screen or strapped time can have harmful effects for the development of our little ones. Dance is an excellent way to practice movement, and now it is scientifically proven to nurture connection and cooperation between adults and children.

In this week’s episode, we’re talking about the secret powers of Empathy. Empathy enhances perception, imagination and interpersonal connections, and can be a huge igniter of social change. In our days, it’s clear that technology has the potential to contribute to major social and environmental disasters as well as for the creation of a more connected abundant and peaceful reality. Deep down, it’s a matter of choice. If we are to educate a generation of problem-solvers, community-builders and creative-thinkers, rediscovering the power of Empathy is one of the keys for a more positive and stable future. And so, how to raise empathetic children in an individual-centred culture, it’s a theme that has been extensively researched in our contemporary times.

Children, like us, have free will and are learning to make choices. If in the past, non-inquisitive obedience or compliance were considered values, clearly this dynamic is no longer compatible with our contemporary times. We know it. And our children know it too. All these cultural changes happened very quickly. We might often find ourselves in a gap: not wanting to reproduce past discipline practices, but also not really knowing what to do instead. In this episode, we’re going to talk about the power of spending regular 101 fun time with children, positive discipline and some great insights about the real roots of misbehaviour and collaboration. 

Without energy and focus, there’s no creativity. In this week’s episode, we’re talking about different strategies to relax, recharge and find joy during these challenging times as a highly-sensitive parent. Parenting 24x7 during lockdown felt really exhausting to me, and I have been testing and trying a lot of new tools and strategies, during the past months. For me, a few of them have been truly transformational. They helped me to recharge, relax deeply, find joy during and keep the feeling of almost-always-overwhelmed far away during these strange times. I would love to share them with you, and I hope you find them helpful too. If you need an extra bit of energy to end the year as well as possible - that might do the trick. 

In today’s episode, we talk about the Reggio Emilia Approach, a revolutionary pedagogy developed among the ruins of World War II, its fundamental dimensions and also some ideas about how to apply them at home.

In today’s episode, we talk about the now scientific proven effects that playing in nature has on children’s well-being, physical, emotional and intellectual development, socialisation and learning; and explore a few treasures that it can bring to little ones and grown-ups. Although natural environments have been children’s best playground for countless generations, in our digital and sedentary society, it’s so easy to drift away from it. Nature is one of the richest resources available for early learning and well-being and is always there, just waiting for us to come in.

It’s no doubt that our world has radically changed in the last 60 years and even more rapidly in the last 20 years with the internet and the spread of digital devices. And the world keeps changing - according to the Institute for the Future, Eighty-five percent of the jobs that today’s students will do in 2030, don’t exist yet. In this new panorama, “soft skills”, rather than formal education are becoming more and more valuable. Childhood is a unique time to develop creativity and learning agility. And so, offering our children a balanced education, which apart from intellectual knowledge, focuses on wellbeing, problem-solving and creativity, will not only support their personal flourishment but also their professional one.