The Earthsong Vision
Connect to self, Connect to Others,
Connect to Nature
Earthsong is built upon and guided by six principles:
Empowerment - empowering all children to learn and grow in their own way in their own time.
Holistic development – nurturing and nourishing the whole child.
Community – establishing a range of close connections and creating a sense of community.
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Relationships – children learn through diverse, positive, and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and experiences.
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Environmental Sustainability- learning about nature, in nature, for nature.
Bunurong Traditional Custodian Culture- embedding Indigenous perspectives and culture through a connection to our natural environment.
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Bio - Jasmine Kennedy
Earthsong's Founding Director
All my life I have been deeply connected to the beauty and wisdom of nature. My passion for teaching children stems from seeing children learning to love learning. Earthsong is the beautiful product of these merging together. The Earthsong Philosophy is deeply rooted in holistic connections; "Connect to Self, Connect to Others, Connect to Nature." When we build a community that shares the same vision then I truly believe children are able to flourish.
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One of my greatest achievements was travelling solo to South America. I volunteered my time, skills and knowledge to help start a free school in Peru for local children of a very small town. Many of these children were being locked inside their houses during the day so their parents could work. Seeing the smiles on these beautiful children's faces and feeling the warmth from the hugs of genuine, loving appreciative parents is something I will never forget. When my time ended there, a parent had a baby girl and she was named Jasmine after me. In Peru to have a baby named after you is one of the greatest honours. I was deeply moved and extremely honoured.
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Nature is essential to all human life. It is our responsibility to help children learn to love the earth before we can expect them to save it. Children will care more about nature if they have a relationship with it.The only way for children to develop a relationship with nature, is for children to experience nature fully; they must play in nature, explore nature, use their senses in nature, learn about nature and make connections in nature. This is where Earthsong's motto "Connect to self, Connect to Others, Connect to Nature" has been derived from.
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It is my sincere belief as a teaching professional for many years that children learn best when they firstly learn who they are as individuals, how to connect with, get along with and work with others before formal learning processes can take place efficiently. Nature is the perfect educational environment for this rich, meaningful, holistic learning to take place.
Earthsong Nature Programs is owned and directed by Jasmine Kennedy, a highly experienced registered teacher who is also a qualified, accredited, internationally certified Level 3 Forest School Leader. She holds a Masters of Educational Leadership and Management as well as a Bachelor of Education. Jasmine has 25yrs teaching experience in Early Childhood, mainstream, private and Steiner/Waldorf school settings. She is a currently registered VIT teacher. Jasmine is a Level 3 International accredited Forest School Leader as well as being Level 2 Paediatric First Aid certified with current WWC and Police Checks.
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All sessions are designed and led by Jasmine Kennedy, however, Earthsong strongly encourages child–led learning, so as the weeks progress, children are given more freedom and responsibility to explore their own interests and direct their own learning. Earthsong uses natural resources where possible and nature- based activities that stimulate imagination, creativity, and investigation in a holistic way. Earthsong takes place at a carefully selected site where a small group of children gather to participate in a weekly term program that runs alongside school term dates. (9-11 weeks)
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The drop-off program sessions currently run for four hours, either in the morning or afternoon. The program sessions are carefully planned and designed by a highly qualified and experienced educator, thus ensuring that the practical hands-on activities support a range of interests, learning styles and also aim to scaffold each individual child’s learning experience, skills, abilities, and confidence week by week. All activities are holistically interwoven and span across a range of interest areas.