Our free webinar to mark the launch of our latest pamphlet Singing with Young Children, authored by Paula Lester was hosted on Tuesday 2 December 2025. A recording of the webinar is available to watch on our website.
A recording of Singing with Young Children with Paula Lester and Rachna Joshi is now available on our website here.
Early Years educators were invited to a free webinar exploring a Froebelian approach to singing with young children with the pamphlet author, Paula Lester. Paula explored how young children can be supported in their learning and development with the use of singing and rhymes. Educators heard how Froebel’s Mother Songs are connected to modern day practice and the songs and rhymes we hear today.
Paula is a Froebel Trust Travelling Tutor, an Independent Early Years Quality Consultant and Trainer with over 20 years’ experience in Early Years Senior Leadership. On the webinar, Paula was joined by Rachna Joshi, teacher, writer and Froebel Trust Travelling Tutor, who shared challenges and reflections from modern practice on embedding a Froebelian approach to teaching children through music and song.
Together they were joined by Froebel Trust pamphlet series editor, Dr Jane Read who shared her experience of editing the pamphlet and the other titles in our popular series as she retires from her role at the end of 2025.
You are invited to download their free copy of the pamphlet. Those attended also had the chance to ask the panel questions about the topic.
About the speakers
Author
Paula Lester is an independent Early Years Quality Consultant and Trainer. She has been a senior leader in Early Years for over 20 years, including as a Group Manager and a Director of Quality for two nursery groups in the South of England.Paula is a member of the Froebel Trust Education and Research Committee and is an active Froebel Trust Travelling Tutor (since 2017) currently delivering many courses in England, Scotland and Wales in addition to teaching online. She has a Master's Degree in Early Years Education from the University of Roehampton
Editor
Jane Read is Emeritus Fellow at the University of Roehampton, London, UK where she taught on BA and MA Early Childhood Studies courses and co-convened the Froebel Professional Certificate in Early Childhood. She continues to teach at the University of Edinburgh on its Froebel in Childhood Practice course. Jane is a historian and formerly Archivist for Froebel College and the National Froebel Foundation. Her research focuses on the history of early childhood education and care, specifically on Froebel and the kindergarten movement, both in the UK and transnationally. Jane has published widely and presented her research at conferences across the globe. Until recently, Jane was a member of the Froebel Trust Education Sub-Committee and Series Editor of the Trust’s pamphlet project. She spends much of her retirement outdoors - travelling, walking and cultivating her gardens in Buckinghamshire and mid-Wales – as well as enjoying good food and wine.
Guest speaker
Rachna Joshi is a teacher and writer. She works with children aged from birth to five and their families. Rachna is an endorsed Froebelian Travelling Tutor, a member of the Froebel Trust education and research committee and a trustee of Second Hand Dance, a disabled-led children’s dance company. Rachna's interest in early childhood education continues to develop within these specific areas: children’s development of identity, the way in which children interact with others through movement and dance, and anti-racist practice and social justice within educational contexts.
