Cath Arnold > Quotes

“Moments like these underline the importance of adults reserving their own personal judgments and accepting the child's wishes and actions. Awareness of potential schematic underpinnings also help us value and appreciate behaviors so that we can accept what the child may be showing us. Although firm conclusions can rarely be drawn, reflections remind us of the potentially multiple benefits of schematic actions for a child, and also the value in repetitive behaviors which tend to be labeled as negative. Educators should remain curious about a child's seeds of inquiry and make more such opportunities available to meet this need.”
― Cath Arnold, Schemas in the Early Years

“Noticing the potential message in children's behaviors and responding appropriately and respectfully is our aim. Reflecting upon Becky's enclosing and tying-up of her toys, it is clear that she needed the freedom to safely express herself without judgment and for an adult to interact and not interfere. Many adults seek to control children's play or stop them if they see a child playing in ways they deem inappropriate.”
― Cath Arnold, Schemas in the Early Years

“In some respects, children are better placed to perceive their connectedness to the world around them, and in this respect, adults might learn from them. Here we could recognize the child as being more open to a state of becoming as an intrinsic worldly intelligence, rather than thinking of them on the way to 'becoming' something else (intelligent, for example).”
― Cath Arnold, Schemas in the Early Years

“Perhaps we should sometimes resist analysing what it is to be childish and instead develop ways to be alongside children that allow us to feel a little more what it is to be childish.”
― Cath Arnold, Schemas in the Early Years