The natural world illustrates a creative harmony through which we can feel the love and nurturing peace of their creator. Within natural environment we are all encouraged to freely embrace our own original nature and breathe confidently with joyful appreciation and creative interaction. The following words were seen carved on a wooden sign outside a small cottage garden in the English countryside:-

‘The beauty of these gardens and surrounding country is a reflection of God’s love for mankind and man’s creative co-operation with God. May God who created you and this place draw you to Himself.’ (author and place unknown)

These words emanate a vision of how we might manifest a new approach to education that can deeply embrace the keys to empowerment that maintain learning potential – that of:-

• Natural environments
• Authentic creativity,
• Compassionate understanding,
• Co-operative sharing.
• Nurturing our relationships with each other and our planet earth.

Where by:-

• Wrong has no meaning because everything is an important part of our learning.
• Failure cannot exist because beginning and end are self-determined by the learner.
• The curriculum is initiated by each individual person/child on a moment by moment basis.
• Authority and discipline are intrinsically creative structures invoked spontaneously within chosen social and practical skills.
• The word freedom is surpassed by a positive attitude that invokes individual empowerment.
• How to love, the music of the heart, is sewn into the fabric of everyday living and learning.
• Playtime is shared amongst everyone as a universal language.
• The ‘dis’ in dis-abilities can be transcribed into ‘special’-abilities. Where everyone is acknowledged for their special strengths, their gifts and talents.
• Every question is open ended and can have different answers on different occasions
• Time-out is embraced as a personal organisation of meditation and contemplation.
• All learning is recognised as a powerful resource, positively charged and dissolved as a colloidal presence within our fluid state of being.

The art of education is to creatively present multisensory information through an integrated spectrum of accurate conceptual communication.

This section of the Eastwood Education web site is written to present an introduction to six of our most empowering approaches to early years education practiced today. The sections are introduced as follows:-

1 Scaffolding Child-Directed Play and Learning

Montessori and Steiner Philosophy Pioneered ‘Free-play and Child-directed Learning’ in the Early Years and Alternative Education.

2 High/Scope –

An Early Years Approach to the development of language, thinking and reasoning within the context of Child-Directed Play & Learning; embracing the development of communication and social interaction as fundamental to our learning processes.

3 Outdoor Play Every Day

‘They watched the mist creeping into the valley as they left – carrying woodland contentment and wearing moments of peace, holding something special.’ Helena

4 The Importance of Music

Steiner describes perception as ‘the musical element’ that relates not only to music, but also the musicality of language and the natural world. Within everyday life vibration emanates sound and thereby gives a deeper meaning to the different perceptions of our worldly domain and enhances development and learning through musical rhythms and melodious sounds.

5 Child Development and Learning through Creativity

‘As human beings we need to exercise our creativity and imagination we need to represent our thoughts, impressions and feelings.’ Aesthetic appreciation, creative activity, problem solving, imagination and fantasy all appear to be interrelated within definitions of creativity which, in itself is a quality that ‘makes us uniquely human.’(Duffy,2006:5&23)

6 The Reggio Emilia – A new perspective on young children’s Learning

The villagers of Reggio wanted to restore the young children’s rights to choose for themselves and joyfully retain-their liberty, a love of learning & enthusiasm to participate with passionate creativity.

Creativity, multisensory learning, aesthetic appreciation and divergent thinking plus some heart magic, are born when ideas, feelings and experiences flow togerther like the water within a stream, where an infinite freedom is contanined within the boundaryies of the geographical terain and the earthly laws of physics. The philosophy of a new approach based on an integration of the above six different approaches to Early Years Education could look.

Thesix different approaches to Early Years Education presented in this section could be combined into an optimum approach to all areas of education.The following bullet points provide a summary of how education could pioneer self-directed discovery learning.Early educational experience together with one’s attitude towards learning, are noted for their subsequent influence on a person’s application to academic and intellectual endeavour. The following bullet points present a comprehensiveeducational approach that could provide personal empowermentand successful learning for all ages and ability.

• Outdoor Education in natural environments [The forest school philosophy presents the natural world as the best curriculum and teacher for children’s development and learning.]

• Free-play and discovery learning (enthusiasm, exploration, experimentation). [Montessori and Reggio Emilia philosophy considered freedom within minimal authoritative supervision as the most important aspect required for children to attain their fullest potential.}

• Creative activities, authentic communication and creative expression. [Steiner and Reggio Emilia philosophy presents creativity as fundamental to all meaningful learning.]

• Encouragement to develop free thinking and a unique personality.

• The provision of information that organically supports self-correction within self-directed and discovery learning.

• Sharing musical activities together for the development of important social skills and integrated sensory motor skills that are fundamental to all areas of learning.

• Embracing the 64 arts – Learning together within creative topics, projects and associated challenges. [These arts described in the Vedas are presented as the most effective ways to enhance our divine disposition for sharing through loving and creative interaction. Steiner focused on these arts and other spiritual principles presented in the Vedic and Christian Scriptures.]

• Study skills and private tuition – for basic foundation skills up to senior academic exam levels. [Learner directed Learning establishes is a powerful individualistic approach to academic development based on personal motivation and appropriate environmental scaffolding and adult support.]….

• Freedom to embrace a chosen area of learning for any length of time without interruption.

• Supportive scaffolding within the context of passion and enthusiasm for the development, application and mastery of skills.

• Authentic and compassionate social interaction – Creative Listening, Learner directed learning,Special [Social interaction and co-operative educational projects are considered fundamental to everyone’s personal endeavour and achievement.]

• Freedom within clear simple boundaries: Do not hurt or cause anxiety to others. Do not contrive to cause disturbance. Do not damage the environment. [True choices come on an empty canvas within the freedom of a safe environment]

• Sharing and caring as a valued member of a sharing and caring community.

Joy is when imagination plays with time within the soul. Laughter is the sound of imagination playing with the soul.H.Eastwood.

Our materially rich world of object – bound entertainment holds ourselves and our children from natural creative occupation, no longer do we take time to spontaneously celebrate or authentically communicate or express genuine gratitude. For these things cannot be bought as a prepack package of convenience. Our easy life of robots and machinery, our world of electric slaves and power struggles, distract us from playing with the flowers, listening to the birds and rolling on the grass. Without these freedoms of inspiration where does the flow of creativity find its source? When does the heart burst into a song of communication and creativity overflow within a space of natural play and learning.

Creativity is the gift of movement Joy is the gift of love Happiness is the gift of being present Peace is the gift of calm contemplation Gratitude is the gift of sharing Devotion is the gift of life Reverence is the gift of humility Patience is the gift of time.                                                                                                                                                                 H.Eastwood