01/09/2026
Today is Early Childhood Educators Day. Mayfield has been part of the Eskay Kids story since July 2020, and in those six years, something very special has been created. It’s not just a beautiful place for children to spend their days, but a beautiful way of seeing childhood. Time for children to become deeply absorbed in something without being hurried onto the next activity. Time to wonder, investigate, create, revisit an idea, change their minds, solve a problem, sit quietly, move their bodies, find their people - or just to be. Chidlren need space - space to move freely between inside, outside and beyond. To follow an idea wherever it might lead. To experience the changing seasons, notice the tiny things, test their capabilities and develop a relationship with the natural world around them. Most importantly, they need educators and teachers who understand the value in all of that - those who know when to step forward and when to step back, those who can resist the temptation to provide the answer, those who can see learning in something that might look ordinary to everybody else, and those who understand that a child's plan doesn't need to become an adult's plan. Our beautiful educators and teachers trust children with time, space, responsibility and real choices. They notice without interrupting, they support without taking over, and they truly believe that childhood isn't just preparation for what comes next - childhood matters right now! Over the past six years, many beautiful people have brought that philosophy to life - they've created relationships with children, families and each other. They've protected long stretches of uninterrupted play. They've opened doors instead of creating boundaries. They've embraced nature pedagogy not as an occasional experience or planned activity, but as part of the rhythm of everyday life. In amongst all of that, children have been building their own memories of what childhood feels like - the feeling of having time, space, of being trusted, of being known, that their ideas mattered. Years from now, the children may not remember exactly what they did on an ordinary day at Mayfield, but I hope some part of them will always remember how it felt to be here.
Happy Early Childhood Educators' Day to our beautiful Mayfield team. Thank you for understanding that sometimes the greatest thing we can give a child isn't another experience we've created for them - it's the time, space and trust to create their own. It’s such a privilege to watch you doing this work.
Sharon xo
