Early Childhood Education Consultant and Expressions of Learning founder Jamie Spaw is enthusiastic about providing creative educational experiences for young children, who she believes are more capable than most realize.
"Children are often times looked at as incapable, and are typically not valued as a contributor to society or even in their own classrooms," said Spaw. "We believe that children are capable and can contribute a lot when they are heard and seen. When heard, children can make an enormous impact on each other, their parents and the society at large. Adults can learn a lot from children when they themselves begin to relate and ask questions."
To realize her beliefs, Spaw founded Expressions of Learning, a company through which she offers her services as an early childhood educator, providing in-home educational sessions for children ages 0-6.
“I noticed that there were a lot of parents staying home and they needed some sense of guidance. What was appropriate for (children) ages 0-5,” Spaw said.
Since Spaw began volunteering with young children at 17 years old, she knew it would become her lifetime career. After 12 years working as an early childhood educator this year, she started Expressions of Learning.
She hopes to grow her business, teaching other educators her philosophy and teaching methods. However, right now she is focused on providing quality in-home educational services for young children, which focuses on creativity and exploration.
Spaw believes that early exploration through play and imagination is essential for children, and that participating in play is even more crucial than more structured lessons they later encounter in a school.
Ample research supports her conclusions.
“The statistics show (that children that received art education) end up being better professionals,” Spaw said.
However, Spaw said she is also interested in, “those things that we can’t trace like happiness and appreciation of culture, the joy of work and the joy of creating.”
She attributes much of her philosophy of education to an Italian system called Reggio Emilia, which stresses that children should be included in the process of their education, should work with materials that will help them to explore their world and should be given many opportunities to express themselves.
“One of the things that I really want parents to see is even during the daily rituals, you can still communicate with the child,” Spaw said.
She suggests talking to a child through the process of everything from a diaper change to preparing to leave the house. She believes it will allow them to develop a sense of ownership in their world.
During one-on-one sessions, Spaw works primarily with art, choosing the medium because it encourages children to use imagination and building their creative muscles. Engaging those muscles results in decision-making, self-reliance and problem-solving skills, all which are highly valued by our society, though not always emphasized through traditional education.
“Art is an important tool for learning; process art verses product art, letting them explore their materials rather than being told what to do,” Spaw said.
Sometimes she is critical of the direction schools have taken in this past decade.
“Everything is test prep. It leaves little room for creativity," Spaw said.
However, she does not blame educators; instead she looks towards our increasingly competitive society. Moreover, she notes that with all the advantages of technology and structured educational practices, children have lost some of the creativity necessary to make them great leaders and inventive thinkers of tomorrow.
Countering this societal trend, Spaw comes to the home equipped with materials designed to engage children at their level, and let them take the lead in creating art, conducting an experiment or creating music.
She is happy to work with the child while the parents are around, or serve as a baby-sitter. However, unlike most sitters, she will engage the children in fun educational projects while parents are away. When the parents return they are given a log and photos album of the children interacting in the educational activities.
Spaw also works with children who have autism and other developmental disabilities, helping them through similar methods of art, science, exploratory learning and interactive communication.
Currently Expressions of Learning offers a unique service at affordable rates, serving Prince William and Fauquier counties, Manassas City and Manassas Park.
Those looking to have Jamie Spaw work with their child can visit the Explorations of Learning website, or email msjamie@expressionsoflearning.com.
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