Author: Bonkers Beat

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Discovering Easter Beyond the Chocolate

With chocolate bunnies and eggs taking over the supermarkets, we all know that children love an Easter egg hunt and keep their eyes peeled for the Easter bunny!

But Easter can present the chance to do some fun craft activities with children too – we love these Easter handprint card ideas on Kidspot. For a spot of cooking, these Easter biscuits are simple to do with kids with minimal ingredients and no fuss, plus they’re chocolate free! We also recommend egg decorating, creating bunny masks complete with cotton wool ‘fluff’ and there are plenty of Easter story books to choose from too. Share your ideas with us on Facebook too.

Of course, at Bonkers Beat we believe that every occasion needs to be accompanied by a song… For Easter we would like to share ‘Easter Bunny’ with you: https://musicearlychildhoodpresenter.com/useful-resources/

The cultural and religious elements of Easter may also be something you’d like to explore, including Orthodox Easter, Jewish Passover and their varied approaches to celebrating.

Whatever you do, make sure you enjoy your Easter with loved ones!

Dates to remember:

School Holidays: March 27 – April 13
International Children’s Book Day: April 2
Good Friday: April 3
Easter Sunday: April 5
Easter Monday: April 6

Have a very happy Easter break and we hope the school holidays are an enjoyable time for all.

Stay safe.

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3 Reasons Montessori Makes Sense

As many of you are aware, the creator of the Bonkers Beat programs, Galina Zenin, is an industry leader in early childhood education. She recently arrived back from the USA after presenting at the 2015 CAEYC Conference. Over the weekend of March 21 & 22, Galina was back into presenting, visiting Adelaide to speak at the Montessori ECEC Conference in Glenelg.

Many Montessori principles are incorporated within the Bonkers Beat program. With the Montessori ECEC Conference in mind, let’s explore three reasons that we believe Montessori makes sense as an educational approach in early childhood education.

INDEPENDENCE

Montessori is well-known for facilitating independence in children, not by leaving them to go it alone, but for providing children with practical learning experiences and the opportunity to learn to care for themselves, as well as the world around them. The Montessori approach differs from the traditional approach that usually involves the caretakers managing the care of the child and the environment. Montessori’s self-teaching principles give children the independence and self-motivation that comes from building confidence within.

You can read more research articles about Montessori at montessoriaustralia.org.au.

MEANINGFUL

Another aspect of Montessori that we love is that kids get to learn ‘why’. This addresses why children lose information, which is perhaps because it’s not meaningful to them. Montessori aims to show children a problem and solution – actively demonstrating cause and effect across various areas of learning. It is not surprising then that children who have learned from a Montessori perspective tend to be more responsible for their actions!

LEARNING BECOMES FUN

When children feel like they have a choice in how they learn, they are more responsive and more responsible for their own outcomes. They learn through their own actions and experiences and there’s nothing more special than seeing a child work something out for themselves – that sense of achievement can be spotted on a child’s face from a mile away!

Keep an eye on our Facebook page where we often share information about activities with a Montessori approach.

If you’re interested in learning more about how we incorporate Montessori into our programs, head to NQSRating.com.au. Galina has two exclusive events coming up, in Melbourne on April 23 and then in Sydney on May 4.

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Harmony Day – Gratitude and Thank-you

Harmony Day on March 21 is a celebration of cultural diversity and inclusiveness across Australia and last Thursday we marked the beginning of our Bonkers Beat Harmony Week at Bonkers Beat Music Kinder.

With this year’s theme ‘Gratitude and Thank-you’, we embarked on a community project together – our Gratitude Tree. Last Thursday we invited current and new families to come along to an Open Day at the kinder where they contributed to our Gratitude Tree and were able to see our centre in action. Coming together as a community is something that is truly reflective of the spirit of Harmony Day and Week, and we found it was a special way of celebrating inclusiveness and expressing gratitude for what we all bring to our Bonkers Beat family and local community.

We have been discussing many aspects of gratitude and giving thanks with children. Some of the questions that have been coming up are ‘Why do we need to say thank you?’, and ‘What are some ways we can express gratitude?’. Our display of clay ornaments depicted what each child was thankful for, and very sweet ideas flowed from the children, making it an enjoyable project for everyone.

As our Harmony Week continues this week, we anticipate more celebration of a sense of belonging for one and all through the inclusion of many parents who will be sharing their cultural diversity and traditions with our children and educators.

The Harmony Day website has some great ideas to celebrate:

-Sport, dancing and eating: play world sports together and involve everyone, learn new dances from countries across the world, or enjoy foods of different cultures.
-Arts and crafts: use your creative abilities to make something that symbolises the different cultures of your local community. You could even hold a poster or art competition.
-Music and sounds: apply your musical talents to reflect your experience of different cultures or traditions — rhyme, rap, or rock to a story about culture and experience. You could even hold a concert for everyone to enjoy.
-Listen and learn: invite an Indigenous elder or someone who has migrated to Australia to come and share their story and culture with your class. You could even research more information about their story or write about your own.

We’ve shared some great images on our Facebook page and hope they inspire you. We would love to hear how you will be celebrating Harmony Day in either your centre or your homes. Join our celebration and use social media to share with us!

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Encouraging Gender Equality

Gender equality is frequently discussed in the media and is an important issue in society that deserves the attention. While boys and girls do have some inherent differences, learning that both genders are free to achieve whatever they choose regardless of whether they are male or female is something crucial for society moving forward.

Coming up on March 8 is International Women’s Day (IWD) and the theme for 2015 is ‘Make It Happen’, which we think offers a great message not only to young girls and women across the world but to all of us. That is, that all children can ‘make it happen’ and that anything is possible regardless of gender.

International Women’s Day aims to celebrate achievements of women from the past, present and future in various areas including politically and socially and is even a national holiday in some countries. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get children talking about things they might like to achieve as they grow up, and to empower them to know that in our great country they really can believe that anything is possible.

Gender equality is an ongoing issue that is strongly linked to women’s rights and it’s one that needs societal change. Through our work helping to guide young people in these crucial years, we must be encouraging them to strive to achieve their goals and support one another no matter whether they are boys or girls.

As the Human Education blog says, exploring gender identity, gender roles, stereotypes, and healthy views of gender and self can begin early. Their blog recommends talking about ‘When I Grow Up’ and allowing children to identify what jobs boys and girls might like to do, then discussing why both genders can do any job. This other activity ‘Boys Like, Girls Like, Kids Like’ opens the communication up about gender stereotypes too.

Keep it light, keep it fun, but let’s make sure that we do our best to make little girls believe they can join the police force if they want to and little boys are free to be nurses – or vice versa, of course! If you can dream it, you can make it happen.

 

P.S. Let us know your experiences with perceived gender roles in your Centre and how you encourage gender equality in children. Join the discussion by sharing with us on Facebook.

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Demand for Early Childhood Programs Across the Globe

Across the globe the demand for quality early childhood programs is growing all the time, with research continuing to highlight their important role when it comes to providing educational value for children.

The National Quality Standard (NQS) is a key aspect of the NQF and sets a national benchmark for early childhood education and care, and outside school hours care services in Australia. To ensure children enjoy the best possible conditions in their early educational and developmental years, the NQS promotes continuous improvement in quality.

In many countries, including the United States, it is continually being highlighted that the early years of a child’s life are the building blocks for their future success in school and later in life: “Leading economists agree that high-quality early learning programs can help level the playing field for children from lower-income families on vocabulary, social and emotional development, while helping students to stay on track and stay engaged in the early elementary grades. Children who attend these programs are more likely to do well in school, find good jobs, and succeed in their careers than those who don’t. ” (White House) 

As such, it has been exciting that the interest in Bonkers Beat Music and Wellbeing programs has been experiencing its biggest boom yet. Bonkers Beat Music and Wellbeing is the most comprehensive educational program, covering all seven areas of the National Quality Standard and in addition to being incorporated into many centres across Australia, it is now receiving increasing interest from the USA, Japan and Singapore.

The interest has been so great that Galina was invited to speak at CAEYC’s annual conference. CAEYC stands for California Association for the Education of Young Children. This is an affiliate of the United States organisation, NAEYC – the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The 2015 Annual CAEYC Conference and Expo takes place in Sacramento, California from March 4 – 7, and draws nearly 3,000 attendees. It is the largest gathering of Early Care and Education professionals in California!

Needless to say, it’s a privilege for Bonkers Beat’s passionate creator Galina Zenin to have been invited to present at this event. If you happen to be attending the 2015 CAEYC Conference and Expo, Galina’s presentation ‘Learning Through Music’ is on Friday 6 March at 4.15pm and is incredibly valuable.

If you’d like to learn more about the CAEYC Conference, visit conference.caeyc.org.

Upon her return, Galina will be taking on Australia for another tour covering Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney and the subject of successfully implementing music and wellbeing programs. Equipped with a wealth of brand new insights from CAEYC as well as her own ongoing research and development in music and wellbeing programs, Galina’s 3.5 hour sessions can contribute to making positive change in your centre and staff right before your eyes. With small groups and a delicious lunch included, you’d be crazy to pass up these practical and informative sessions. Find dates, times and book online at nqsrating.com.au.

The need for quality developmental programs in the early years is only becoming more and more obvious. To quote the experts from the NAEYC, “Several decades of research clearly demonstrate that high-quality, developmentally appropriate early childhood programs produce short- and long-term positive effects on children’s cognitive and social development”.

If you are a passionate Owner or Director of a Childcare Centre and are interested in finding out more or booking in at the Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney session, the up to date information about this upcoming tour can be found at nqsrating.com.au.

 

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Focusing on Language and Culture

Kung Hei Fat Choy! Or Happy New Year! The Chinese New Year (as well as the Lunar New Year, celebrated by many cultures) takes place on February 19, 2015, followed closely by International Mother Language Day on February 21 – what a perfect opportunity to touch on language and culture with children!

Celebrating the Chinese culture and their different New Year opens up a conversation about various countries of the world doing things a little differently. One of the most obvious ways we are all different is through language. This video ‘Hello to All the Children of the World’ is a beautiful thing to show children as the word ‘Hello’ is explored in language after language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nYjGy_ZUG8

If there are children, families and educators within your centre who speak languages other than English, explore how you can encourage them to share their own special words for things and how fun it is for all of us to learn a little from one another’s mother language. If possible, plan something in advance – songs are a great way to share language with children and you never know who might like to share theirs.

International Mother Language Day aims to promote multiculturalism, linguistic diversity and to celebrate their associated cultures. In the case of China and the Chinese language, a big part of their culture is the Chinese New Year…

To celebrate the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year in your centre, be aware that this year is the Year of the Goat! While children in your centres won’t have been born in the Year of the Goat as the last was in 2004, it is still fun to incorporate the animal into your art and craft activities. In fact, you could talk about all 12 of the animals involved in the 12-year cycle Chinese calendar – Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The Chinese New Year is also a time for feasting with family and celebrating, so you might like to offer some Chinese cuisine. Kidspot has plenty of Chinese food ideas for children.  And you can head here for a great bunch of ideas for your art and craft relating to Chinese New Year…

If you have a fantastic idea to share about celebrating the Chinese or Lunar New Year, or International Mother Language Day, we’d love to hear it. Let us know on Facebook.

 

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Sustainable Future with Three ‘R’s

Just as we teach children to respect and take care of themselves, their belongings and their homes, taking care of the environment should be rated as highly important too. After all, we need to keep the planet in top shape for their future!

Last week we mentioned that putting together a wrapping-free lunch is a brilliant way of looking out for the environment, so this week we thought we’d go a little further and talk about the three ‘R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Here’s a little about each of these sustainability approaches with some ideas about how you can get children involved in centres and at home.

Reduce

Look at all the packaging on everything from food to toys and it’s not hard to imagine that a huge amount of waste is created in every household year in, year out. Christmas and birthdays are always an insight into this as the bins are overflowing as packaging fills them to the brim in one day. When just one kilogram of aluminium generates more than 15kgs of greenhouse gas, the impact of packaging on the environment is notable.

Between us all we can make a huge difference by aiming to minimise the amount of packaging-heavy products we buy. The less we purchase things that are excessively wrapped, the better example we are setting for children and for these companies that reducing waste is important to us and the planet. Avoiding individually wrapped items is an easy one to stick to. Skip the plastic at the supermarket and put the fruit and veg straight in the trolley or basket. Always make sure you take a plastic bag alternative when you go shopping.

Reuse

Reusing things is an exceptional way of helping to reduce waste and there are so many ways we can do this.

Using refillable containers for drinking as well as for handwash, toiletries and more minimises waste. Washed plastic containers from takeaway, egg cartons and milk bottles can all be used in centres and homes to store things and as the basis for art and craft projects.

When it comes to electronics, homewares and clothes, there’s no doubt another family who needs these things so rather than throw them away in your next clean out, consider donating or offering to people you know.

Food scraps are often suitable for pets or for compost. Maybe a neighbour has a garden that could utilise your organic waste.

Recycle

Recycling goes a long way to reduce the impact of pollution and helps to keep the planet in good shape.

At Bonkers Beat Music Kinder we have rubbish and recycle bins arranged in each room and discuss with children the importance of using the correct bin. Needless to say, children are fascinated to learn that their off-cuts of used scrap paper can be turned into tissues, newspapers, kitty litter and moulded cartons for eggs and fruit.

A good key to recycling effectively is to always aim to buy recyclable items. This means avoiding things that are packaged in materials that need to be separated and make recycling challenging.

Children might enjoy watching this video, How Recycling Works: http://www.getitrightbinnight.vic.gov.au/how-recycling-works/

Work with children to feel the different textures of plastic and paper and how to separate them for optimal recycling – as always the key is to make it fun. Creating a sustainable future is something that should be engrained in children in a positive way and now is the time to begin!

If you’d like to learn more, these links may be of interest to you:

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/explore/reduce/
http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/rrr.html
http://www.cleanup.org.au/au/Campaigns/reuse–recycle–reduce.html
http://www.cleanup.org.au/PDF/au/putrubbishaway.pdf
http://www.wwf.org.au/get_involved/change_the_way_you_live/sustainable_shopping_tips/
http://www.wikihow.com/Recycle

 

P.S. As a loyal Bonkers Beat supporter, please enjoy this gift from Bonkers the Monkey – click here for your exclusive access to our song ‘Bonkers Rap’. A fun resource for talking about looking after the planet!

 

 

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Healthy Lunches for a Healthy Future

Whether it’s back to school or just starting, healthy, nutritious lunches are crucial for children to make the most of every day.

The first step to a great lunch with lots of variety is a good lunch box. Aim for something with a few different compartments to minimise the need for wrappings. The Organised Housewife also suggests that lunch boxes are:

-BPA-free
-Sealed tight for freshness
-Easy to clean
-Not too big, not too small
-Dishwasher safe

Depending on your climate and choice of snacks, an option for a lunch bag or box that is insulated or able to be cooled is a great idea too.

From carrot sticks to crackers, popcorn to berries and everything in between – the options are endless for lunchbox snacks. There are plenty of creative and fun ideas available online for cutting sandwiches into adorable shapes and presenting fruit and veg as fun-size kebabs too – see our list of resources at the end of the blog and explore.

Healthy alternatives can take a little more planning and/or time, but it’s well worth the extra effort just to know exactly what is going into children’s little, growing bodies. Some muesli bar and slice recipes are actually incredibly simple AND incredibly delicious. Give them a go and share your recommendations with us on Facebook or here on the blog. For a healthy alternative that’s as easy as can be, fruit is always a winner!

Another great tip to consider when putting lunches together is to include children in preparing the lunch. Simple spreading, arranging and cutting of sandwich toppings is a useful life skill. Plus, children tend to be more interested in eating something they helped to make too! Eventually, children will be excited to make their own healthy lunches and might even come up with some tasty combinations you hadn’t thought of.

While you’re focusing on the wellbeing of children, spare a thought for the wellbeing of the environment too and aim for a rubbish-free lunchbox. This means less risk of flyaway wrappers not making it to the correct bin and chances are the less packaging a lunchbox item has, the healthier and more natural it is.

Another very important consideration is allergies – please make sure you’re aware of the allergen policy at your child’s place of education as this can vary. We all have to do our bit to protect young children from risks, and in some cases allergic reactions pose enormous risk to some children.

Did you know that Bonkers the Monkey happens to be a huge fan of healthy eating? Take a look at Bonkers and his healthy eating adventure here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.829328450436364.1073741953.343913688977845&type=3

Resources for you:

http://www.nudefoodmovers.com.au

https://www.ohsobusymum.com.au/category/all-recipes/lunch-box-recipes-all-recipes/

http://www.kidsfoodtalk.com.au/contents/en-us/d31_naked-wrapper-free-food.html

http://www.kidspot.com.au/Back-to-School-Lunch-box-nutrition-10-days-of-lunch-box-loving-recipes+7196+181+article.htm

 http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/kids+healthy+lunch+box+ideas

 

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Celebrating Australia Day Four Ways

Australia Day is often associated with the public holiday, fireworks and the beach, but when it comes to our early childhood educational services, Australia Day can be a special opportunity to celebrate this great country.

To mark the occasion this year, we’ve come up with four avenues for you to explore and offered some ideas and activities for your service to include or for parents to utilise at home.

Diversity

Australia Day is a great day to talk about diversity and multiculturalism – ask children what they know about Australia and all its unique people. Use this opportunity to discuss the fact that despite us all being so different in so many ways, we are all Australia and there is respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.

Geography

Break out the map of Australia and talk about the different areas across this huge country. Open children’s minds to the big, wide world – or in this case, the big, wide island that is Australia! Maps can be great fun to turn into an art project as children cover the country in different colours and textures – this further represents the diversity and uniqueness of the country and all its people.

Art

Speaking of art, what better way to go about celebrating Australia Day and its people than doing some beautiful cave drawings, inspired by Indigenous Australia. Handprints, fingerpainting or dot art depicting kangaroos, boomerangs and the desert landscape can be insightful activities.

Music

The national anthem isn’t the only Aussie song we can break out to mark Australia Day… Kids might prefer the fun of singing classics like Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree or Home Among the Gum Trees (maybe just the chorus as it’s a long one!).

As always, we love to see everyone’s creative ways of incorporating the cultural calendar into your services – please do share with us on Facebook or by commenting here on the blog.

Try these resource-packed links that may be useful to you in planning your Australia Day celebrations:

http://australiaday2015messages.com/australia-day-2015-artwork-crafts-activities-project-with-pics/

http://www.fleetcare.com.au/news-info/news/fun-facts-about-australia-day.aspx

http://www.australiaday.org.au/events/

P.S.
Don’t forget to incorporate some Aussie food – lamingtons are always a winner!

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Tips for Easing Transition to School

Welcome to 2015! What an exciting year ahead and this time of year is particularly busy as we see children transitioning from one room to another and some children starting primary school!

The transition process varies from child to child – some find it stress-free and easy while others can struggle at first and take a bit longer to feel comfortable. There are of course ways to help all children with these transitions, such as taking it slow and introducing unfamiliar processes in stages. Confidence is key, so carrying through things that children are learning and working on them at home will do wonders and contribute to self-esteem and ability to cope with change. Always maintain an open line of communication between educators and parents so that if there are any concerns on either end, including the child’s, this can be addressed as quickly as possible.

Starting primary school is a particularly big step and an important milestone for children, and for parents! To help everyone with this time, we spoke with a primary school Prep coordinator who gave us some tips on what children should aim to be able to do before commencing school to make the transition to school as comfortable and as enjoyable as possible. These tasks are things that we can incorporate into ours days at centres and that parents can work on at home.

Children starting Prep should aim to be able to:

-Tie their own shoelaces
-Count from one to ten, and from ten to one
-Write their own name
-Recite the alphabet
-Carry their own bag
-Pack their lunchbox with various compartments for different items
-Be confident with zips, buttons and velcro
-Use the bathroom independently and confidently
-Take care of their belongings including books and uniform
-Put things away when they are no longer being used
-Listen and focus

Do you have any more to add that you believe are a great help for the primary transition? Share with us on Facebook or comment below.

Good luck to all currently transitioning or about to – as daunting as it can be, watching children tackle the next step in their education and their development is a special and exciting time!

If you’d like to learn more about easing the transition to school, these links are full of handy tips and resources:

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/professionals/learning/Pages/transition.aspx?Redirect=1

https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/families/starting-school/1-thinking-about-transition-school

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/parent-resources/transition-school/

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