First Post! The Who, The Why, and the What
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Hello, my name is Nadya Gilroyed. I am the owner and operator of PlayCademy, a small local business in the Byron neighborhood of London, Ontario. PlayCademy is a home-based center of playful learning for children aged 3-10 (JK to Grade 4). The first learning sessions offered at PlayCademy will begin in the Fall of 2024!
As a shiny new business owner, I am reaching out to the local community with social media posts and this blog to provide more information about myself and PlayCademy. In future posts I also plan to share thoughts and experiences about play-based learning for children.
The Who? My brief BIO
My family has lived in London since 2012, and in Byron since 2019. I am married with two daughters, Iris (9) and Astrid (5).
I am a native of Belarus (Eastern Europe), where I was born and raised. I speak Russian, Belarusian, and English languages.
I have a teaching degree from the Belarusian State Pedagogical University (History major). However, my degree has not been assessed in Canada and I have not taught in a Canadian classroom. I have experience teaching in Belarusian public schools (Grades 7-10) and as a private tutor.
I have a Fanshawe College diploma (Law Clerk) obtained in London, ON. I graduated from Fanshawe in 2016 and worked at a local law firm from that time until 2023.
The Why? Why PlayCademy?
As you can tell from my biography, teaching is not a new idea for me. I spent 5 years studying at university to be a teacher back in Belarus. However, for reasons that would be too long to discuss in this post, I decided not to stay in the profession there. However, after I immigrated to Canada and my children were born, my passion for teaching found a new life.
Like any parent, I wanted to give my children the best start in life and that meant giving them the best knowledge and education that I could, starting from their early years. I also wanted to raise my children to be bilingual (English and Russian), which added an additional layer of work. When the Covid pandemic broke out in March 2020, my oldest daughter was in JK. Like many families, we were very concerned about the potential negative impacts of remote learning on our daughter, which pushed me to do more direct instruction with her. And of course, because I was teaching again, I needed to learn more about HOW to teach her. I was unfamiliar with the Canadian educational system and I had a lot of catching up to do. So, I started learning. I learned about the educational system and schooling options available, about curricula, textbooks and books, learning programs and approaches, apps, online communities, teaching Russian (which I never thought I would do in my life), and so many more things!
All the knowledge I was obtaining was put to practice right away, first with my oldest daughter and now with both kids, as my youngest has just completed JK. I have developed my own system and schedule of home learning which we have been maintaining for the past 5 years. We concentrate on early math and logic development, language skills in English and Russian, and arts/crafts. While teaching my children I combine the use of textbooks (in English and Russian), logic puzzles, and play lots and lots of educational games. I call our family teaching and learning journey "home learning", as opposed to home schooling, because our children continue to attend public school (go Spitfires!) The learning happening at home is supplementary and complimentary...it happens in parallel with, and not instead of, school-based learning.
In time, my commitment of time, effort, and financial investment in this family teaching/learning journey reached a point that made me think of trying to take it to a new level, which is where the idea of PlayCademy was born.
The What? What PlayCademy is About
PlayCademy is my vision and approach to playful learning that I practice with my own children. Throughout my journey as a trained teacher in the past, and a teaching parent in the present, I have developed my own style, approach, and materials that I find work well for early childhood learning. Through PlayCademy, I intend to share my approach and passion for learning with other families.
PlayCademy is an academy of playful learning for elementary aged school children. However, as playful as it is, I don't want the "play" part to lead you to believe that playing games is all we plan to do. PlayCademy is about using a playful approach to deliver serious concepts to children. It is about deep thinking and understanding, analyzing and developing problem solving skills together with creativity. PlayCademy is equally about creating positive learning experiences in a small group setting in order to boost children's self-confidence and learning motivation. It is also a space focused hands-on activities, without the use of electronic screens.
I hope this post has provided you with some initial insight into the origins and intent of PlayCademy. I would be happy to see your comments and answer any questions you have.
Thank you!
Nadya
