Wellbeing and Engagement – A Valuable Relationship

engaged educators

Engaged educators are inspired, motivated, productive and happy in the workplace. These are qualities that are vital to creating a learning and care environment for children to flourish.

These qualities of an engaged educator enable them to do the best job possible at enhancing children’s wellbeing too. So how do you engage educators? Start with educators wellbeing.

The Essential Links Between Engagement and Wellbeing 

Working on wellbeing requires a holistic approach. To really reap the rewards over time, your approach to enhancing wellbeing needs to be sustainable, not a quick fix.

It’s incredible what can be achieved for centres, educators, families and most importantly children when we shift our focus to wellbeing. Engagement is a crucial area that benefits from wellbeing practices, but it doesn’t end there!

Engaged educators lead to better outcomes for children, engaged children and educators lead to better mental health and wellness. In turn, wellbeing practices for children can help them to become better learners and all round happier children.

See engaged educators and children in action

It’s one thing to read about what you can achieve with a focus on wellbeing and subsequently high levels of educator and child engagement – it’s another thing to see it!

That’s why we are inviting owners and directors of centres to visit our flagship Bonkers Beat centre in Aspendale, Victoria. Join us at Music Kinder in Action!

We are ready to give away strategies and knowledge to centre owners and directors – with absolutely no expectations on getting anything back in return.

Our goal is simply to show owners and directors across Australia what is possible for your educators, children and centres. See how you can engage educators and the benefits of doing so.

There are only 6 spots remaining PLUS everyone who attends will receive a complimentary gift and a guide ‘How to Implement a World Class Music Program in Your Centre’.

Hope to see you there! Click here to secure your free ticket!

 

Making Life Easier for Families – Spring Holiday Programs

Each year children around Australia have around 11-12 weeks of holidays from school or kinder, while parents can usually access roughly 4 weeks of annual leave. This can make it tricky, but school holiday programs can help.

A school holiday program for children who are not yet school age can be run from different services and enables working families to save their holiday leave time for when they can really enjoy it with their children.

Whether you’re looking for a school holiday program for the upcoming school holiday break or you are creating a program, these ideas will help you to know what a great school holiday program should include for children under six years old.

School Holiday Programs – What they should offer

Keep it interesting

School holidays are about having fun! In our recent School Holiday Programs, we have had a special experience included in our program each day. Experiences we like to include that you might like as well are puppet shows, making books, visiting the library and making and flying kites.

Keep families in the know

Many families won’t know what to expect at school holiday time or what you can offer to support them during the term breaks. Let families know in advance what is on offer to help make school holidays less stressful for them and more enjoyable for their children. Create a program in advance.

Include an adventure

School holiday time is for doing something that you don’t normally do. Break the routine a little and do something special with children. This could be a local excursion to a park, a visit to a farm or a trip to a museum.

Educators who are looking for extra ideas, or parents with time off over the term break, take a look at these 24 ideas for fun in rain, hail or shine in our School Holiday Activity Guide.

To get inspired and learn more about Bonkers Beat Music Kinder, click here.

Active children are happier children

active children

Many studies have shown the strong link between physical activity and children’s behavioural, social and psychological outcomes. And the research consistently indicates that active children are happier children.

They become happier adolescents and adults too, demonstrating that laying a foundation for life that involves regular physical activity has far-reaching impact. It’s important that we set the groundwork for active children so they grow into happy adults.

Encouraging Physical Activity: The benefits

Regular physical activity has a range of benefits for children, including:

  • promoting healthy growth and development
  • helping to achieve and maintain a healthy weight
  • building strong bones and muscles
  • improving cardiovascular fitness
  • improving balance, coordination and strength
  • maintaining and developing flexibility
  • improving posture
  • assisting with the development of gross motor and fine motor skills
  • providing the opportunity to develop fundamental movement skills
  • helping to establish connections between different parts of the brain
  • improving concentration and thinking skills
  • improving confidence and self-esteem
  • relieving stress and promoting relaxation
  • providing opportunities to develop social skills and make friends
  • improving sleep.

(Source: https://www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au/teachers-childcare/physical-activity.aspx)

There’s no doubt about it – physical activity is vital for optimal development in children!

Promoting Physical Wellbeing in Children: Bush Kinder and Sports-inspired Games

If you and your educators attended our recent Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits, you’ve probably learned so many incredible ways to embed physical wellness practices into your centre. For those who didn’t attend, the information provided by our guests speakers was invaluable in guiding us towards the best ways of promoting physical wellness for the children in our care.

Bush Kinder founder Doug Fargher presented at the Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits and shared his expertise and experience working in outdoor spaces with children. Doug is an expert with extensive knowledge on the strong connections between nature and children’s physical wellness during the first five years of development and beyond.

Justin Kuchel from Active Start Sports presented at our recent Wellness Summits as well. Justin’s approach enables children of all ages to engage with fun, physical activities that leave them wanting more. Justin shared insights and showed us how his age-appropriate sports-inspired games get children truly excited about physical activity.

Thank you to all who attended—what a fantastic event it was, and thank you for contributing to it with your commitment to early childhood education!

See the photos from the Melbourne event here.

See the photos from the Sydney Wellness Summit here.

Are you passionate about physical and overall wellbeing? To find out more and join our Wellness Summits call us on 13000-B-BEAT (2-2328).

Respect, Safety and Dignity for All

International Day of Peace

In a time where we see some forces aiming to divide the world, it’s so important to show children the right way forward. The caring and compassionate way forward. In 2017 the theme for the International Day of Peace is Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All. What a beautiful reminder to encourage connectedness and respect among children in our care.

The International Day of Peace (Thursday 21 September) takes place each year worldwide with the aim of strengthening the ideals of peace. This can apply to peace within nations, or global peace. It can even just apply to own our communities. Seeking peace through being inclusive, respectful and kind to others is something we can do every day.

Showing children the path to peace

While the concepts of peace and conflict are perhaps challenging for young children and not for them to worry about at this young age, we can help to embed positive values through their early childhood education.

Here’re a few ways you can intentionally incorporate the values of the International Day of Peace in your centre:

Model compassion and caring:

Show children what compassion and caring looks like. Offer help to others and generally look out for one another.

Promote a respectful environment:

Good manners, listening to others and accepting differences are ways to encourage respect within childcare centres.

Build a sense of belonging for all:

Aim to celebrate all walks of life in your centre. Inclusive practices are essential in early childhood. Ask families to get involved, share stories, songs, traditions, food from their cultures or get children to talk about their home life so children are exposed to a diverse range of family situations.

This ACECQA document is a useful resource on encouraging inclusive behaviour in early childhood. You might also like to explore this Gowrie Victoria document that covers respect for children.

Of course, the International Day of Peace is just a reminder to instill these approaches and values in your centre… By all means, continue to do these things now and beyond!

If you’re interested in learning more about the International Day of Peace, visit the official website here.

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