Kirsty

About Me

Thank you for clicking on my profile. My name is Kirsty and I run Bright Stars Childminding from my home in Abbotskerswell, a quiet rural location within a fantastic community. I live with my partner, our 6 year old daughter and our Miniature Dachshund, Rolo.

Within my setting I offer a curriculum which is widely seasonal and nature based. Each week we follow a different theme and a lot of our adult led activities are based around that theme, with a view to deepen the children's experiences and engagement with the world around them. As we follow this nature based approach we spend a lot of time outdoors in natural environments, such as the woods, the beach or by a river. My experience has shown me that children love to explore and truly immerse themselves in, the sights, scents, sounds, tastes and textures of the outdoors and as such are provided with countless opportunities for discovery, creativity and problem-solving.

We have a nature shelf in the playroom where we like to display the items we collect whilst out and about, as well as objects, books and tinker toys centred around the theme for that week. We also tend to have a sensory or curiosity table set up with nature based elements, loose parts, tinker trays etc, designed to stimulate the children's ideas, initiative and imagination. We have this to shift the focus from teaching particular skills to developing learner dispositions such as, curiosity, creativity, perseverance, self expression, playfulness, independence, resilience, responsibility, concentration, problem solving, listening and communicating, being friendly and considerate of others and cooperation.

I always provide the children with a lot of time for free play to allow them to explore in their own way and pursue their own interests, and I will always support and elaborate upon their play to further enrich their learning experience. I also strive to provide a relaxed and homely environment and am currently undertaking a Hygge accreditation, and making moves towards adopting this approach. This Danish term doesn't have a direct translation into English but is about feeling joy and appreciation for the simple moments in your day. Scandinavian and Nordic countries consistently top the happiness charts and in these countries hygge is seen as a pathway to happiness, wellbeing and good mental health. My aim in undertaking this approach is to bring more wonder, joy and comfort into children’s lives because ultimately, children that feel secure and cherished are happier and learn better.

Please do get in touch if you are interested in hearing more, or would like to see if I have space available.