Meet the Team

Christie Burnett, Editor
I am an Early Childhood Teacher with many years experience teaching in kindergarten and primary school, starting up and directing a child care centre, and working as a presenter and consultant educating other educators. But most importantly, I am a Mum of two. In February 2008, my husband and I welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our family and in 2012 we were blessed with a second daughter.

When I started Childhood 101 eight years ago, I was an experienced early childhood teacher and new mum on a mission to encourage parents and teachers to keep kids playing. I have always believed that children learn best through play as play engages their interest and motivates their learning, and the social nature of play reinforces the learning taking place – as children share their knowledge and understanding with their peers and interested adults. My eldest daughter is now nine and as we have always made time for play, she continues to include play in her every day life – and play makes a perfect stress reliever for older kids.

Since starting Childhood 101 my work online has extended to include content creation for a range of brands, freelance writing with articles appearing in print and online, and in 2013 my first book, Time to Create: Hands On Explorations in Process Art for Young Children, was published by US publisher, Grypon House. I am excited to share that Childhood 101 has also been twice awarded the Best Parenting Blog – Asia Pacific by Nuffnang.

Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Our Superstar Contributors

Kate Fairlie

Before having children I was an early childhood educator, working in both long day care and preschool, with a special interest in child led, play based emergent curriculum. These days I am mum to four gorgeous ‘picklebums‘ who keep me busy watching them play, grow and learn on our small property that we jokingly call ‘The Pickle Farm’ in ‘almost rural’ Victoria. We don’t actually grow any pickles, but we do dabble in growing our own food, and we are renovating our house, all at the same time as I blog and muddle about with digital design on the side.

Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Picklebums

Ali Wright

I am a mum to two young mini makers – our favourite place to be is around the craft table with glitter in our hair. My focus is on process oriented art, I love watching my kids experiment with materials….paint, glue, clay, cardboard and sticky tape. Giving my kids opportunities to create not only gives their busy little fingers something to do but it has taught me about the importance of open ended creativity.

When we are not busy with art and craft we like to work and play in our small city garden. The mini makers love a good mess – our days include lots of water and messy play, much of which I share on At Home with Ali. When I am not with the kids I work as a graphic designer.

Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | At Home with Ali

Debi Huang

Debi Huang is a Los Angeles, CA-based wife, mom and adventure guide for two young boys. She is passionate about connecting kids and families with nature in the backyard and beyond and shares her own family’s inspiring adventures at Go Explore Nature.

Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Go Explore Nature

Lauren Lauren Hunt

Lauren has been an Early Childhood Teacher for the past 10 years and lives in Adelaide, South Australia. Now working part time teaching children in their first year of school, she is also mum to a two year old daughter. Lauren has been blogging at teacher types since the start of 2014, writing about and photographing sensory play ideas and different ways to teach the alphabet, just to name a few. Lauren is passionate about play-based, hands-on learning and is certainly kept busy by her energetic toddler!

Pinterest | Instagram | Teacher Types

Maree Mortimer

I am mum to 5 year old twin girls and we love to cook. After working as a secondary Home Economics teacher and a teacher librarian in primary and secondary schools, I took time off to raise my daughters. I have many fond memories as a child of cooking with my mum and my grandmother. I want to pass on to my children a love of cooking as well as a healthy respect for what they eat and where it comes from. I believe that as food and cooking are essential for a healthy life, parents need to be encouraged to cook with their children as much as possible. We love to spend time together in the kitchen as a family. We re-connect over food and try out new recipes and ingredients. You can read about our cooking adventures on our blog, threefootcooks.

Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Three Foot Cooks

Jodie Jodie Rodriguez

Jodie Rodriguez has a passion for helping caregivers nurture our youngest readers. As a former National Board Certified early-childhood, elementary teacher and administrator, she has worked with thousands of families and educators providing best literacy practices. She lives near St. Louis, Missouri and now stays home with home with her two young sons (ages 2 and 4). She is the creator/founder of Growing Book by Book.

Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Growing Book by Book

You’ll also find posts from our wonderful former contributors

Kate Gribble of An Everyday Story