Encouraging children’s community engagement

A sense of belonging is something that is vital for human beings of all ages. With a world of screens at our fingertips though, people are increasingly existing in an online space. Buying groceries and clothes online, sending emails instead of letters and doing banking via an app are convenient, but it also means  less engagement with our local communities. We believe it’s important to foster a sense of belonging within your neighbourhood, and for children to experience it too.

Most children live fairly local to their childcare service or kindergarten, so we become a place where broader connections are made. In fact, for some children and families a childcare service may be the first community they become a part of outside of the family home.

So, how can we build on this further and extend children’s sense of belonging to the local community? We’ve got a few ideas.

Sense of belonging through community engagement

1. Visit the local shops

This is not only a great way to help children feel connected within their communities, but can also give them useful life skills. For example, we visit the bank to deal with our money, the local newsagent stocks newspapers for us to learn about world affairs.. If the local shops are too far to travel,, a visit to a post box can be a great approach.

2. Have local services visit your centre

Many adults will remember having the local fire brigade or members of the police visit us during our early learning years. It’s exciting and educational! It’s also a great reminder for children of the unique roles we all have in our communities and how we work together and support one another.

3. Head to a place of significance

This could be a park, a historic area or a cultural landmark. Many reserves and statues in your local area would have more significance to your community’s development than perhaps you realise. This is great knowledge to pass onto today’s young people.  Understanding where you live helps you to create a deeper connection with the place’s past, present and future.

4. Attend community events

If there is a festival or event coming up in your community, consider organising an excursion along to it! Alternatively, encourage families to head along and meet there to connect with one another and the community simultaneously.

5. Create a community space or event

If your community doesn’t have a lot to offer in the way of community spaces or events, why not create your own? A communal vegetable or herb garden has countless benefits for children and families. Bonkers Beat annual Working Bee have always been involving the wider community and have been a huge success or your centre could host a fundraiser – this not only raises money for something important but also showcases how wonderful your centre is too!

Of course, every community is different with access to community spaces and events varying widely from place to place. However, we are confident that with a bit of imagination you can discover community spaces to share with children. This will help them feel more connected to their local communities and help to develop their sense of belonging.

What do you do with children to help them engage with the community? Share with us on Facebook or via email and let’s inspire one another!

Take a look at our Facebook page to see Bonkers Beat Music Kinder getting out in the community too!

 

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.

Participation for Sense of Community and Belonging

As educators and/or as parents of children, we regularly encourage these young people to participate and ideally to be an active participant where possible. Why? Because this is of course a fantastic way to learn and to work towards the goal of belonging, being and becoming. We are, after all, not solitary beings and frequently as both children and adults life presents collaborative situations with others.

The Bonkers Beat team believes in participation and community involvement and that’s why we were so excited to hold our recent working bee at Bonkers Beat Music Kinder in Aspendale, Victoria. Families, educators and friends came together striving towards the common goal of improving the Centre’s outdoor spaces and we were blown away by the commitment and passion shown by our community. Not only do events like working bees bring us all together and bring about great achievements, but what an important example to set for the children in our community, allowing them to see firsthand the adults they look up to working together.

Creating a sense of belonging and connectedness in your Centre’s community is in line with Outcome 2 of the Learning Outcomes for Children from Birth to 5 Years, and that is: Children are connected with and contribute to their world. Belonging is also an area that assessors will consider during the NQS rating process, paying extra attention to Quality Area 6 – Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities.

We have found that working bees, our Harmony Nights and various other special events in the calendar for Centres can have incredible and immeasurable benefits – we’d love to know what ways you encourage participation to facilitate belonging and a sense of community in your Centre’s families, so please share with us on our Facebook page or here on the blog by commenting.

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