Playcentre has changed my life
My involvement with Playcentre over the last 15 years has changed me. I am now more observant. It started with my Course 2, when I learned how to observe the children at play. Now I observe my world all the time! I read body language, voice tone, and those fleeting looks. I pick up on feelings, on adults who are unwell, upset or worried. This isn’t just at Playcentre but throughout my life. I observe the clouds, the light, and the changes around me as I walk our farm. It’s as though I have an inner camera/computer that doesn’t just see any more. In my head I am describing, noting and recording what I see all day long.
On session I take photographs. Heaps of them! I mentally write those learning stories for that activity, that group, those individuals; I link them to those events in earlier learning stories. I see the development of ideas, the growing complexity of learning and development, of friendships and relationships of learning.
Playcentre has the power to change how you see yourself. Not as ‘just a mum’ anymore. Now confident, capable of earning a living, of enjoying friendships, of coping when those long term members move on, of supporting newer families and watching the changes as they occur, as confidence, self esteem, happiness and contentment in their role in life grow. I am able to share my knowledge, to support others and watch with pride as families grow and learn together.
Playcentre, you have a lot to answer for.
Thank you for the quality you have given to my life and that of my children.
Thank you for the people I have known, the lives I have influenced and learning that goes on for life.
Rowena Bullen, Ohau Playcentre
