"We are so incredibly blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world. Vancouver Island holds so much magic and mystery deep within our dense forests and stormy ocean waters.
At Little Bears, our campus is a 4-acre forest, which then backs into an additional 50-plus acres of untouched forest land.
We have a special meeting place in the heart of the forest that we call the "Forest Piazza".
Another favorite spot is through the back gate and about a 15-minute walk towards Lost Lake. The "chimney" is a hidden gem where a small stream trickles, and a large brick chimney remains from what we think must have been an old family homestead from the early 1900's.
Every inch of the forest is a learning opportunity.
When considering a forest "Atelier," our outdoor environment is a canvas waiting to be uncovered.
Unlike a blank artist's canvas, the forest is a "living canvas" already rich with "paints" and "textures"-such as moss, mud, and light-that act as invitations for discovery.
This perspective shifts the educators roll as a co-researcher into one as also a co-creator.
The educators and children can use the forest's sensory details to express complex ideas through the "Hundred Languages of Children".

One of the best parts of being in the forest while the rain is pounding down on us is the smells and the sounds of the trees and the dirt.
A torrential downpour is NOT a reason to go indoors; it is actually a profound sensory shift that reconfigures the "Forest Atelier."

When the rain pours (which is often here in Victoria), the forest transitions from a static environment to a dynamic, high-definition playground that engages a child's very soul.

A Sensory Symphony
The most immediate transformation is auditory and visual. The forest floor, usually muted, begins to "speak" as raindrops strike different surfaces-the hollow drum of a cedar stump, the rhythmic patter on broad maple leaves, and the splashing into rising puddles.

The rain acts as a saturating lens, making the deep greens of BC's moss and ferns glow with fresh, neon intensity. All Colours intensify and become alive!

Forest creatures often hidden during the dry hours-frogs, slugs, snails, and worms emerge, offering spontaneous "pop-up" laughter and wonder on our living outdoor Atelier.

For our Little Bears, a puddle is much more than a splash-zone: it's a foundational laboratory for physics and engineering.

Children naturally begin to experiment with "loose parts" like sticks and rocks to create dams, bridges, or channels to direct water flow.

They observe cause and effect firsthand-why some objects float on the puddle while others sink, and how the water's surface reflects light and movement.

Navigating slippery stumps and jumping into muddy puddles builds physical coordination, risk assessment skills, and "grit".

Our Mud Atelier: AKA: Dirty rocks and dirty water

Rain transforms the forest floor into the ultimate open-ended medium.

Wet earth becomes a malleable "clay" for making mud pies, sculptures, or textured "paintings" on tree bark or rocks.
The "Squish" of mud between fingers and even toes provides a deep tactile experience that grounds children in the present moment, often reducing anxiety and improving focus.

***Side note: In the BC Early Learning Curriculum (ELF), one of my former staff members, Shannon McDaniel, has published a Pedagogical Narration, which was written in our forest Piazza at Little Bears!
She writes of her trepidation while removing her own boots and socks and allowing her bare feet into the mud. It's a brave and open look into an educator struggling with her own beliefs and comforts while working with children in an outdoor classroom.

There is a unique sense of autonomy and release that comes with being allowed to get wet and messy.
In an outdoor Atelier, "bad weather" is reframed as a "new world" to be conquered. This freedom fosters a sense of agency-the child is not a passive observer of the rain but an active participant in its lifecycle.

Ultimately, our outdoor classroom empowers our children to see themselves as capable, curious, and deeply interconnected with the beautiful forests of British Columbia. 
The unstructured nature of an outdoor atelier supports diverse learning styles and encourages collaborative problem solving that traditional indoor settings may not fully be able to capture. 
How lucky are we?
As always, thank you for reading. I would love to hear your comments or questions.

With gratitude,
Lexie
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In the mist-heavy forests of British Columbia, Early Childhood Educators are teaching children to look beyond the visible and "listen" to the mycelium minds, the vast, invisible
fungal threads that serve as the neurological network of the forest.

The Philosophy of the "Wood-Wide Web"
British Columbia is a global hub for understanding these networks, largely thanks to the research of Dr. Suzanne Simard at the Mother Tree Project. Ece's in BC forest schools/Nature daycares use the mycelium as a primary metaphor for teaching.

*Interconnectedness:
Educators teach that trees are not isolated competitors but a living community. Through mycelial threads (hyphae), "Mother Trees" recognize their kin and send life-saving nutrients and chemical warnings to younger saplings.

*The Invisible Support:
Just as the most active part of a fungus is the underground mycelium, children are encouraged to value the quiet, unseen work of mutual care and cooperation.

*Social and emotional Growth:
In our Reggio-Inspired, natural outdoor classroom at Little Bears, we use the "mushroom underground" to illustrate how diverse species cooperate, an essential lesson for early social development. 

In practice, our ECEs facilitate "mycelium style" learning through specific outdoor experiences:

*Inquiry -Based Discovery: Our Reggio-Inspired, Forest Vision
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In the forest, the children are researchers and investigators. The ECEs act as co-researchers alongside the children, encouraging and fostering relationships with human and non-human species. Our non-human relationships are those we form with the trees, the puddles, the nurse logs, the moss, the branches on the forest floor, the slugs, the crows, etc. The children adapt to using a mycelium-style of learning, which is a pedagogical approach that mirrors the interconnected, emergent, and non-linear nature of fungal networks.
Just as a mushroom is the visible sign of a massive underground network, our educators create documentation that makes the "invisible" learning process visible to parents and their colleagues.
Our Little Bears collect treasures such as leaves, bark, and moss to tell the story of their discoveries in the forest, reinforcing their role as active contributors to the forest's narrative.

Our 4-acre campus serves as a "living classroom" where the "wood-wide-web" isn't just a concept, but a tangible ecosystem children are taught to protect for future generations.
Through these invisible threads, discoveries and documentation, our educators are weaving a new kind of childhood-one rooted in the belief that we, like the trees, are never truly alone but always a part of a deeper, supporting web.

Thanks for reading.
With gratitude,
​Lexie

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The dense forest floor in beautiful Sombrio Beach, BC.

As a forward-thinking, childcare advocate, I often find myself re-visiting The Hundred Languages of Children poem by our Late Reggio-rockstar/mentor, Loris Malaguzzi.
 "The Hundred Languages of Children" warns that "they steal ninety-nine" by separating the head from the body and science from imagination.

Malaguzzi argues that children are born with "a hundred" ways of thinking, expressing, and understanding the world. The warning that "they steal ninety-nine" refers to how conventional education and culture systematically strip away these diverse "languages" by enforcing a narrow, standardized way of learning.

*The "Perpetrators". The poem identifies "the school and the culture" as the entities that restrict a child's discovery and expression.

*The Loss of Potential: By prioritizing only a few forms of communication, typically verbal and logical, society silences others like dance, sculpture, painting, and play.

Key Philosophical Separations

The poem highlights several ways traditional systems fragment a child's holistic experience in the world:

*Head from the body: Traditional schooling often tells children to "think without hands" and "do without head, seperating physical action from intellectual inquiry.

*Science from Imagination: Malaguzzi critiques the idea that "science and imagination" or "reason and dream" are separate things. In the Reggio approach, these are viewed as deeply interconnected; a child is a "researcher" who uses both logic and fantasy to construct knowledge.

*Work from Play: The poem warns against the cultural insistence that work and play are separate, asserting instead that for a child, they are one and the same.

Supporting Evidence and Impact

*Multiple Intelligences: Modern research, including Howard Gardner's theory of multiple Intelligences, supports Malaguzzi's view that children possess diverse cognitive and expressive strengths.

 *The Whole Child: The philosophy emphasizes seeing the "whole Child" as strong, capable, and full of potential, rather than an "empty vessel" to be filled with information. 

*Pedagogical Documentation: To protect these "hundred languages, reggio educators use documentation, photos, transcripts, dirty notes, and artifacts -to make children's diverse processes visible and valued. By recording this information, the children are "leaving their mark" for future projects, connections, communication, and generational knowledge.

In a nature-based childcare centre like ours, the "100 Languages of children" philosophy transforms the outdoors from a simple playground into a vast, living laboratory for expression and inquiry.
By removing the 4-walls of a traditional classroom, educators allow children to use the natural world as a primary tool for communication and theory-building.

1. The Environment as the "Third Teacher."

In the forest, nature is not just a backdrop but an active participant in the learning process.

* Provocations: A simple "nurse-log" hosting ants and wood bugs or a slippery, shining path that follows a slug serves as a provocation that sparks immediate curiosity and leads to deep, child-led investigations. Our educators thoughtfully curate beautiful provocations indoors and outdoors to invite each child to explore with all 5 of their senses. Natural materials, loose parts, and beautiful treasures are used throughout the process, inviting communication, wonder, and curiosity.

*Dynamic Context: Unlike static indoor toys, the forest changes with the weather and seasons, providing a constantly evolving "curriculum" that responds to the child's daily observations.

2. Nature as a Symbolic Language

Children translate their outdoor experiences into various "languages" to process complex ideas:

*The Language of Biology: Exploring plant life cycles or the "circle of life" in a pinecone or a cedar branch.

*The Language of Physics: Testing gravity and speed by rolling logs down a hill.

*The Language of Art: using loose parts such as sticks, stones, mud, acorns, pinecones, arbutus branches, and moss to create ephemeral sculptures or temporary "homes" for forest creatures.

*The Language of Mathematics: Sorting and classifying natural objects by size, texture, or quantity (e.g., "Small stones" vs "large stones")

3. Fostering Empathy and Connection

The forest setting encourages "empathetic relating" to the natural world. For example, children may develop a sense of stewardship by carefully clearing snails from the path to prevent them from being stepped on, or by safely removing worms from the pavement and placing them on the grass. This demonstrates a "language" of care and reciprocity.

4. Documentation in the Wild

Educators in forest settings act as "researchers" and "translators."

*Visible Learning: They capture photos, record dialogue (Ex, "I wonder why....")
and keep physical Learning journals and documentation to make the child's invisible thinking processes visible to parents and the community.

*Revisiting ideas: By documenting a child's theory about why a puddle forms, the educator can later offer certain materials such as funnels, buckets, and water to help the child "test" and refine their theories.

Looking towards the future of childcare in BC, I have so many thoughts and questions around a promising  "Universal Educational System".
Will the Hundred languages of children be honoured through a "One-size-fits-all model?"

I guess we will have to wait and see....

Thank you for reading.
​With gratitude,

Lexie

So why not us?
This is a huge undertaking and an exciting opportunity to show the world the important work that we are doing here in Canada. Stay tuned...
​As always, 
with gratitude,
Lexie

2025. What a year!
Maybe it's me, but as I sit with my hot tea looking out at this bluebird sky on New Year's Eve, I take in a deep breath and remember all that has happened in this year.
COVID-19 settles a little more "safely" into our rearview mirror, and I take a moment to reflect and find gratitude in the lessons I have learned.
Author Brene Brown says that practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives and can have a profound effect on our health. I absolutely agree.
But,
Sometimes this can be really, really hard.
For anyone who has ever lost a pet, you know how difficult and sad this can be. When you have to decide to put your pet down... the decision is enough to break your heart in two. It is hard to be grateful when your best friend passes away, but knowing she is no longer in pain and that we gave her the most wonderful and loving 7 years does give me a "ping" of gratitude. Grieving her loss will take time, and I know that eventually she will be remembered with smiles instead of tears.

"Finding gratitude during difficult times is not about ignoring pain or practicing 'toxic Positivity'; it is a resilient mental strategy that allows difficult emotions and appreciation to co-exist.
When life feels exceptionally heavy, traditional practices like detailed journaling can feel overwhelming. Instead, here's what I try to do when I'm feeling a little down or destabilized:

A walk and talk with a close friend in nature. We like to call it (Mother Nature's therapy). Without fail, getting into the cool, brisk air and chatting for an hour about life, kids, work, husbands, etc. (whatever comes up) feels SOOOOOOOOO good! Our bodies crave our close girlfriends, and I know this is an instant pick-me-up regardles of how stressed out I might be.
Besties are AMAZING at remembering your past hardships and bringing them to the forefront when our brains seem so consumed by the present.
"Remember when your mom..... (blabla bla...) you get the picture, they remember everything for you, so you don't have to!
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Remembering and honoring my sweet Bella. May you rest in peace and breathe BIG deep breaths in Heaven.

Building Resilience:
Gratitude acts as an emotional anchor, helping us view life in its entirety rather than being completely overwhelmed by temporary, catastrophic circumstances.

Gratitude fosters resilience by shifting the brain's focus from what is lacking or threatening to what remains stable and supportive.
​"I am grateful that Bella had access to quick and caring medical staff who handled us both with care, patience, and love. There was no delay in her medical care, and she passed away peacefully in my arms rather than (Anywhere else)...

Cognitive reframing: Allows individuals to view challenges as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable barriers. This process, known as cognitive reappraisal, provides individuals with a sense of agency and control over their emotional responses.
Active coping:
Instead of avoiding stressors, grateful individuals are more likely to practice "active coping," approaching problems with broad perception and strategic thinking.
Buffering:
Regular practice can build a psychological buffer against future trauma and aid in "post-traumatic growth" by helping individuals find meaning in past hardships.

In 2025, health and wellness experts emphasize that making gratitude a permanent habit requires moving beyond generic "Thank you's" toward intentional, daily micro-rituals.
To make gratitude a seamless part of your everyday life, it may be helpful to reflect on one thing you are grateful for every morning when you wake up.

Start your day and end your day with something that happened in your day that was positive and uplifting.
Ultimately, making gratitude a permanent "trait" rather than a fleeting "state" fosters lasting resilience, deeper social bonds, and measurable improvements in both mental and physical longevity. 
Thank you! I am grateful that you read my words and learned a little more about me and my world today. Happiest of New Years! Bring on 2026!
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With Gratitude,
Lexie
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Professional Development in the world of Early Childhood Education.​

Professional development is SO important in early childhood settings as it ensures high-quality learning environments, keeps educators updated on current research and best practices, and directly improves outcomes for young children.

Every three months, my incredible staff gather on-site for professional development. Early Childhood educators must complete a certain number of hours to keep their certification valid, which can be tricky when you are working full-time. Workshops are often held on weekends, and that can be difficult to navigate when you have a family of your own at home! At Little Bears, our workshops are held on regular school days, so my staff can gain their professional hours while not losing any hours of work. 

Research consistently shows a direct link between highly trained educators and positive child development outcomes in areas such as language, literacy, and social-emotional skills.

Ongoing training equips my educators with knowledge on the Reggio-Emilia approach and a hands-on learning experience to create their own provocations, ideas, and concepts while continuously developing their professional skillset.
Educators use this time to work together as a team and to discuss current situations happening in their programs.
I often use these days to bring in guest speakers such as Kim Atkinson, Vanessa Lee, and Cheryl Cameron.) We are lucky to have so many amazing educators here in BC at our fingertips.
I also use this time to share photos through a PowerPoint presentation that I have taken from visiting centres across the globe, such as New Zealand, Sweden, Italy, and California. These opportunities are so fun when I can share my research and stories while (hopefully) inspiring my staff with incredible pictures of amazing centres!
Nourishing my staff with a warm meal that they don't have to bring themselves is also always part of our day. We use this time to pause, reflect, and chat with the educators from all of the programs.
The staff always receive a certificate at the end of the workshop. We often collaborate on what to "Name" our Professional Development day, and we usually wrap things up a little early so everyone has a bit of time to relax and gather their thoughts.
Every Professional development day is different, but what remains the same is the opportunity to work with, discuss, collaborate, and learn from each other in a professional setting. These are an important part of my practice and for the ongoing training of my wonderful staff.
Shine on!
​Lexie




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The Prime Minister's Award of Excellence in Early Childhood Education is the highest honour for educators in Canada, recognizing outstanding elementary, secondary, and preschool educators for their achievements and innovative practices.

I had the privilege of starting my ECE career as a volunteer at Carrot Seed Preschool in Victoria, BC.
I was in grade 12 and had already been working as a daycare assistant for the past two summers. My wonderful mentor was Diane Bentley, a former recipient of the Prime Minister's Award of Excellence. 
Working under Diane was transformative in shaping who I would become as an educator later. Diane introduced me to the Reggio Emilia philosophy and the teachings of Loris Malaguzzi.
The Reggio philosophy was not as popular as it is today, and was widely unheard of amongst my other colleagues. Diane opened my eyes to nurturing beautiful, natural spaces and introduced me to the concept of "loose parts" and using the environment as the third teacher.
When I was a young educator, I made a Vision Board that I kept for many, many years inside the door of my closet. The board had many dreamy photos of dresses, diamonds, houses, and cars, but at the very top of that board, I wrote..."Winner of the Prime Minister's Award of Excellence".
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Kim Atkinson came into my world around 2010, and we worked together on many projects over the next decade, including:

 The University of Victoria on The Community Early Learning and Child Care Facilitator's Project: (2013)

ECEBC Conference, Pathways to Professionalism: Leadership in Practice: Building a culture of research and collaboration (2017) as Presenters in the afternoon workshop.

We co-wrote and published an article in the Journal of Childhood Studies (Vol. 42, No.4, Winter 2017)
"An Uncertain Tale: Alternative Conceptualizations of Pedagogical Leadership."

Kim also wrote the Early Learning Framework for BC.
We were so honoured to be one of the child care facilities chosen for the many photographs used in this new BC curriculum!
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Celebrating amazing women in early childhood education!
There are SO many others who I have had the privilege of working with over the past 3 decades...
Keep shining so BRIGHT, beautiful ladies! We are all learning and growing from you every day!
Shine On!
With gratitude,
Lexie

Seriously.... this island is absolutely breathtaking! But don't tell too many people!
It has been so much fun to get out and start exploring again with my mischievous sidekick, who is new to the island and bursting to see all of its majesty!
It has been a really long time since I ventured all the way up to Port Renfrew from Victoria. Only about a 3.5-hour trip, the weather was windy, and the skies were dark. It torrentially rained most of the way, which made the roads a little tricky, but honestly, this is what we love here! Our rain is unrelenting, ferocious at times, flood-worthy. It can feel a little alarming at times as you pass by large broken branches that have fallen on the highway and bright orange pylons marking the remnants of past mudslides.
The road to Renfrew is long and windy, and it has claimed many lives in my lifetime, including a very good friend of mine about 25 years ago. RIP, Michael Battle.
Once you hit Sooke, you have to stop by the potholes! This park climbs high into the mountain while following the Sooke River. The salmon were spawning when we made the short hike down to the water to have our picnic. There was a small group of humans gathered along the shore with cameras set on tripods, and many had binoculars. This was the first time I had actually seen the salmon spawning in this river. Usually, we visit Goldstream Park to witness this yearly event that draws thousands of visitors.

The salmon spawning at Goldstream Provincial Park is an annual natural spectacle occurring mid-October through December, where thousands of Pacific salmon return from the ocean to their birthplace to spawn and die. 
The primary species is the Chum salmon, which returns in the largest numbers. You can also spot smaller runs of Coho and chinook salmon, as well as steelhead and cutthroat trout.
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The primary salmon species that spawn in the Sooke River, where we were, are Coho, Chinook, and chum salmon.
The spectacle of thousands of returning salmon also attracts wildlife, such as bald eagles and black bears, which come to feed on the dying fish.

Driving further through Sooke, you pass through a tiny little place called Shirley, which you will (surely) miss if you blink. There is a cute little coffee/ice cream shop called Shirley-delicious that is worth the stop.
Jordan River is next, and it is a tiny little place with an enormous following of surfers! The waves were wild and HUGE on this wild weekend of wind and we had to stop to watch the local surfing talent.
Heading further north, you will pass a few amazing beaches, such as French Beach, Sandcut Beach, China Beach, Mystic Beach, Sombrio Beach, and finally Botanical Beach. Each of these magnificent places offers something different and unique.
On this trip, we decided to head straight up to Botanical Beach, which is located at the end of the Juan de Fuca Trail. This beach is famous for its intricate and biologically diverse tide pools, best explored during low tide. Unfortunately, the waves were huge and the tide was high, so exploring the rocks was a bit difficult as we dodged incoming waves crashing in with floating debris!
It was incredible and loud and wild!




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The trail that leads you down to the beach is about 2.5 km long, and it is lined with old-growth forest, moss-covered trees, and a GAZILLION mushrooms everywhere! If you love FUNGI like I do, you will probably spend most of the time taking photos of these incredible mushroom species! Surprisingly, we ran into quite a few people on this trail that loops its way through the forest, along the ocean side rocks, then back up through the trees to the car park.
Rain does not deter us, Vancouver Island die-hards! We always say,
" If we never WENT  outside when it was raining... we would never BE outside." It rains a lot here and we love it!
Heading back down the island, we decided to stop by Sombrio Beach to check out the surfers again. We had no idea that the entire parking lot would be filled to the brim with vans! Apparently, today was an epic day to surf and EVERYONE knew it!
One final mention, if you decide to take a trek out of Victoria along Sooke Road and out to Jordan River, is to stop and feast at Stoked Wood Fired Pizzeria & Market. Simply the BEST wood-fired Pizza I can think of on the island! We had the margarita pizza and added sundried tomatoes (highly recommend), and it blew our socks off! Definitely a popular place for locals as well as surfers heading to and from Sombrio/Jordan River!
Enjoy!
Shine on!
With Gratitude,
​Lexie
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I didn't realize I was doing it until recently, when an old friend popped by who was also an early childhood educator.
"Your home feels so ....Reggio!
It does?
"You can tell you that you teach about the Reggio philosophy, just by looking around your home!"
It makes sense that, after studying something for a long time, you would slowly start to incorporate it into your everyday life.
Treating my home as the third teacher, I have created a naturally bright, open space with lots of neutral colors, mirrors, cozy nooks, tactile fabrics, loose parts, beautiful plants, yummy smells, and even pieces found in nature.
My outdoor space is also very calming, with a deck oasis surrounded by shrubs and flowers, a water feature to add that sound of trickling rain. Little spaces carved out for my own children to relax and chill in their own space. A fire pit with cozy chairs, inviting friends and family to roast a marshmallow.
I have unintentionally created an Intentional design that soothes, wonders, and wows.
My best friend refers to my home as her spa getaway.
She comes here as a retreat from her everyday life as a nurse.
Both of us are in the "business" of caring for people, which makes our careers very similar in many ways. She is a nurse and identifies as an ER Nurse, even though it has been years since she worked in the ER. I am an early childhood educator who has been off the floor for quite some time now, and I identify as a small business owner/Pedagogical Leader, and Boss lady.
Creating beautiful spaces has become a huge part of my life. 
During COVID, when my own school-age children were not in school, we spent a lot of time together in our home. I had just moved into this new space and we were able to thoughtfully decide together what we wanted their rooms to look and feel like, and our shared living spaces as well.
Like Reggio-Emilia, each space and the materials in it are chosen with intention and purpose.
I have chosen calming colours, whites, greys, and pale blues. The lights are rarely on because the large windows provide beautiful natural light.
I have many fur babies, so I am always vacuuming up fur, so the hardwood floors are perfect for quick sweeps and easy care.
My diffuser is usually on, releasing soft scents of either lavender or peppermint, and the kettle is always primed and ready to boil water for that hot cup of tea.

A home transformed into a beautiful, nourishing sanctuary becomes a personal oasis-a retreat where you can shed the day's stresses and truly "retire". By mindfully incorporating the sensory elements of sight, sound, touch, and smell, you create more than just a living space; you cultivate an environment that actively supports your well-being and provides a peaceful haven to return to, day after day.
This intentional approach ensures that my home is not merely a place of rest, but a restorative destination that rejuvenates my body, calms my mind, and nourishes my spirit.

I have chosen to keep most of my home private, as this is a public blog, but I have decided to share a couple of photos of my home decorated for Christmas.
Happy decorating...
I will post photos of this Christmas decorating once my home is ready!
Shine on!
With gratitude,
​Lexie

 



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