The Aeon Learning Journeys Blog
This blog series documents the evolving and exciting learning journeys that flourish within Aeon’s programs. At Aeon Academy, we understand that learning is a lifelong journey and we strive to be an organisation that supports & celebrates that journey.
Everything we do is about nurturing the creative spark in children and inspiring them to learn through creativity and play. We provide a safe learning environment where children can exercise their imaginative problem solving, build their compassion, engage in enjoyable playful experiences and explore endless possibilities. We value Nature Play and see the environment as a key teaching tool.
The Aeon Marketplace
Strawberry ice-cream? With a yoghurt frosted donut?
The Aeon Marketplace is a vibrant, thriving community of shops organised and run by the children of Aeon. It began as a passion project from a small group of children with a dream to open up their own pizza shop. Unfortunately, the paper pizzas they made just didn’t last very long, so we began looking at other materials. In the end, we used kitchen sponges and cloths to make durable, easy to clean play food. We found uses for recycled containers, boxes and other throw away materials. Before we knew it- the Aeon Marketplace was born!
mmmm freshly grilled tomato.
Once the pizza shop was finished, other children came forward with more ideas for shops, and began to brainstorm how they could use what we have to make the food they were interested in. The shops evolved from a simple operation with two people preparing and serving the food to a complex system involving levels of management, specific roles for each staff member, hygiene inspectors, delivery people, tax collectors and food critics. The children negotiate their roles, work together to keep their shops running, call meetings to discuss problems with their ‘manager’ and compete with the other shops by offering deals and showing off their best customer service.
Sir would you care for some roast chicken with some side dishes?
The Marketplace has an astoundingly rich and diverse selection of food cultures and is a great place for children to learn about foods from around the world and the way people eat.
We are frequently amazed at the intricate level of detail that the children introduce, pulling from their existing knowledge of the world and sharing it with each other to extend their cultural understanding and knowledge. Without even realising it, children use the Marketplace as a way to discuss, role play and learn about healthy food choices, sharing, recycling and so much more in a boundless and self-created setting which changes everyday.
Fake Food artist & Aeon Marketplace developer is Lead Educator Lucy Marshall. Here she is shown packing up a Yum Cha special.
What we’ve been up to in Sparks
As part of Landcare week our youngest children in Sparks have been getting their hands dirty exploring clay play in the garden. We had some interesting conversations about looking after the land we live on and the kinds of things we can make out of clay that speak about caring for the land.
Mailen talked about animals in the landscape and said she sees lots of rabbits when she rides into school along the Molonglo River.
Sabina, Emily and Safirah made flowers that represent the flora of the land around them.
George made a tower using a stacking technique like a cairn of stones.
We all talked about descriptive words for how the clay felt; slimy, wet, smoodgi, fun!
Dramatic Play – Evolving Goals & Teamwork in Sparks
Aeon has welcomed two new Sparks Educators this term with Veronica & Lucy joining Dora and Younduk. Lucy is Diploma qualified and Veronica is in the last year of her Early Years Teaching Degree and both have a passion for delivering positive and engaging learning opportunities for our students.
Often the best laid plans produce unexpected (but just as wonderful) results. This week saw an experience that began as knocking down blocks evolve naturally through the children’s negotiations and flow of ideas into a complex castle role-play.
The children created an intricate narrative involving faeries, knights, magic potions and lava!
The thoughtful exchanges and respectful dialogue enabled the children to weave increasingly complex and detailed stories as they collaborated in their play. All the children demonstrated a real appreciation for each other’s contributions and ideas.