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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