About Us
Children, Naturally believes in authentic child-centred play-based programming
because we know children learn best through play.
Mission & Values
My Passion for PLAY
My philosophy is steeped in the belief that children learn best through play. I am a huge advocate for play; real, unstructured, child-led, inquiry driven, authentic play. As an Early Childhood Educator, I can tell you all the benefits of play, especially outdoors, and how children learn and develop naturally through play; the play where adults stand back and just let it happen. I have spent a lot of time linking play to the developmental domains and curriculum areas to show others the legitimacy of play. The message needs to be that children need to play and be joyful in it and we as adults need to let go of thinking we need to control it. With intentional adults who believe in the process and are there to support children, the learning will happen! Just let them PLAY!
My Biography
Cindy Curry (Early Childhood Educator III, CAE)
Forest & Nature School Practitioner
I have been in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 34 years.
I have held many positions over the years; front lines ECE, director of a non-profit childcare program and nursery school and operated a group family childcare program. Currently, I run Growing Wild, a forest and nature school program, facilitate workshops for various groups, instruct at Red River College, Portage Campus in the Early Childhood Education program and I am an active advocate for children, childcare, and early childhood educators.
Testimonials
Here are some comments from past and present clients of our daycare.
Rachelle Muller
Prairie Meadows Inc
I have had the privilege of participating in a series of workshops such as Schemas,
Loose Parts, Risky Play and intro to Forest School facilitated by Cindy Curry.
These workshops have not only expanded my knowledge and skills but have also
transformed the way I view early childhood education. I am deeply grateful for the
insights gained and the practical strategies I’ve acquired. Cindy was very
welcoming, provided many materials for hands-on learning and made learning fun.
She is extremely knowledgeable in these concepts and I look forward to more learning with Cindy!
Lorraine Milan
Director
Le Coin Magique Inc
We brought Cindy on to do workshops on risky play and the forest school approach for our director’s group. We met at an outdoor space and spent the day exploring and learning about different ways to embrace the forest school approach when a forest is not available, as well as how to overcome personal/professional barriers related to risky play. The workshops were inspiring and the feedback we received was very positive.
Amanda Bokovay- ECEIII
Executive Director
Eagle Wing Early Education Centre
Our entire team attended Cindy’s workshop on schema. It was a great overview of the theory of schema and Cindy made it very relatable for all participants ( CCA/ECE) to understand the concepts and to be able to apply in practice. Highly recommended!
Jamye Lovering
Assistant Director
Le Coin Magique Inc
We hired Cindy to help transition our centre from themed based to emergent curriculum. She met with me and discussed my perceived challenges and areas I wanted support in. She came in to complete observations and gave workshops to the staff. She then was very supportive and followed up with genuine care and offered support to our ongoing journey. We have been able to increase the quality of our ever day curriculum thanks to her teaching and support. The staff felt more at ease and learned what they needed to in order to rise to this new challenge.
We were so pleased we brought Cindy in for a handful of other workshops on different elements of risky play, outdoor play and loose parts.
If you are looking for someone knowledgeable, supportive and who genuinely wants to support your learning and passion for all things child led and nature based, you will not be disappointed.