Tag: early years

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Changing. Evolving. Growing.

The world is constantly changing. Evolving, growing, shifting — however you prefer to word it, the world as we know it right in this current moment is subject to change. And that’s okay. It is however important that we keep up with progress and adapt and change as needed. This is true for early childhood education, as with many industries, and it’s important to us that we celebrate and congratulate educators and early childhood professionals for their commitment to ongoing training.

To further demonstrate the impact of change and necessity for growth, take a look at this video.

The past few months the news has been filled with disheartening articles about Australian childcare centres, including dozens who are “failing national standards” (Quest Newspapers 16/8/2019). 

Supporting our educators in fulfilling their role should be a key focus as we continue to work hard to create learning spaces that deliver the very best outcomes to children across the country.

The ongoing professional and personal development and constant improvement of the quality of education provided has a run-on effect, delivering improved outcomes for children in their care. 

Over the last few weeks we saw many inspiring and dedicated educators attend three great events of professional development – Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits.

Group professional development is incredibly effective as it is vital to grow and learn together. Seeing this unfolding in front of our eyes at the Summits was fantastic. It’s amazing how much a team can bond through professional development, but we see it time and time again.

A heartfelt congratulations and thank you to all centre Owners, Directors and educators both individually and as teams for their commitment to children’s development, and to raising the quality of education in Australia.

If you couldn’t be at the Wellness Summits, enjoy a video below, and check out the albums of photos from the events on our Facebook Page.

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Allan Preiss from McArthur has spent his entire life working in education and believes that working in early childhood settings should enhance the lives of educators. He specialises in consulting on change management and was a valuable addition to the Wellness Summits. Hear from Allan in this video: ‘Conversations with EL Leaders – Allan Preiss and Galina Zenin’.

Hope to see you and your teams at our next Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits in February 2020!

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Let’s Say ‘Thank You’ to Educators!

The first five years of life are fundamentally important. This is when the most essential
wiring of a child’s brain takes place and foundation for social, emotional, intellectual and
physical development is laid. It’s also the time of life that early childhood educators are given
the responsibility and privilege of nurturing and teaching children.

The first Wednesday of September each year is Early Childhood Educators Day. In 2019, Early
Childhood Educators Day falls on Wednesday 4 September. Let’s mark the occasion by
showing all the wonderful early childhood educators in our lives some extra love and
gratitude!

Early childhood educators care for children during one of the most critical developmental
stages in a human being’s life. Also, this care and focus on their early learning enables
families to work as needed with the peace of mind that their children are safe and sound.

The job of caring for young children is both rewarding and challenging, and it certainly
requires an incredible amount of patience. Let’s celebrate the way in which early childhood
educators provide children with the very best start in life!

         Ways to celebrate Early Childhood Educators Day!

  • Wall of Gratitude: Create an ECE Wall of Appreciation. Templates here. Encourage parents to help children to write down what they love about their educators. Parents might like to say what they value most about them too.
  • Giant Thank You card: Create a giant ‘Thank You’ card for display in the reception area of the centre/kindergarten. Everyone who visits can write a message!
  • Certificates: Design a certificate of appreciation for each educator, or use one here.

 

For more inspiration, take a look at how Bonkers Beat Music Kinder celebrated the day last
year! Click here.

Share your photos too so we can all be inspired to discover new ways to show early
childhood educators our appreciation!

To all the early childhood educators out there sharing their love, kindness, and patience with
young children all over Australia and beyond, we say THANK YOU! You are valued and
appreciated and the world is better off because of your hard work!

 

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Power of positivity

There’s no shortage of research to support the power of positivity. Whether it’s positive thinking, affirmations or reframing, the benefits of positivity in your life are undeniable. 

Early childhood is a great time to start enjoying these benefits. As educators we can help children to harness the power of positivity, as well as reminding ourselves to stay positive too.

Benefits Of Positive Thinking For Children (and Educators!)

Backed by research, the benefits of positive thinking make it a very worthwhile venture with so much to gain. Benefits include:

Building resilience: The ability to see the bright side can enable children to bounce back from setbacks more effectively and build their resilience. Resilience is associated with lower rates of depression, longer life and satisfaction. 

Boosting self-esteem: Sometimes we don’t feel great about ourselves or feel like we are happy with who we are. Same goes for children. Rewire a child’s subconscious by embedding positive thoughts about themselves.

Improving mental health: Children have many similar issues to face in their lives just as adults do – anxiety, low self-esteem, depression. Tackle them with fresh, positive perspectives on life and ourselves.

Instilling values: A positive voice inside a child’s head can help guide them in understanding the right and wrong way to approach issues and other people.

Promoting happiness: Encouraging children to use positive thinking can better equip them to see the good things in their lives and help them feel happier and more satisfied in their lives.

Use positive thoughts each day and incorporate them as a mantra in meditation time with children to get a noticeable outcome faster. Practising positive thinking in a mindful way such as through meditation can help it to stick.

Incorporating positive thoughts into children’s lives (and our own) can only produce a beneficial outcome – so why not give it a try?!

You will be able to get your own Calendar of Positive Thoughts here. We also share some positive thoughts and affirmations on our social media pages. Make sure you’re following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

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10 ways yoga and meditation can enhance children’s lives

International Day of Yoga is coming up on 21 June, 2019, which is a day intended to raise awareness of the many benefits of yoga practice across the world. Yoga is a valued element of our Bonkers Beat programs. We continually see the incredible benefits of children and adults practicing yoga every day in many childcare services and homes.

What is yoga?

Yoga is a combination of movement, stretching and breathing that is intended to improve health as well as happiness. The United Nations recognises the value of yoga and offers this definition of the practice: “Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. The word ‘yoga’ derived from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolising the union of body and consciousness.”

How yoga can enhance children’s lives (and adults!)

Yoga is an excellent way to do a lot of things. Let’s explore all the benefits you could find from practicing yoga with children or as an adult.

  1. Awareness of our bodies
    When we practice the physical postures of yoga or feel the rise and fall of our tummies during meditation, we become more aware of the connection between our physical and emotional states.
  2. Improve memory and concentration
    Said to be attributed to a combination of deep breathing and the learned ability to focus, yoga and meditation has benefits like improved concentration and memory.
  3. Better breathing
    You would think that we are all quite skilled at breathing, seeing as we do it all day, but mindful deep breaths have a special effect on our bodies such as increased oxygen absorption and even a longer life!
  4. A self-esteem boost
    Accomplishing a new move in yoga or seeing balance improve can go a long way to show children what they are capable of and boost their self-esteem.
  5. More flexibility and strength
    Regular yoga and meditation can enable us and children to move more freely and become strong and flexible.
  6. Learn to appreciate quiet and stillness
    Yoga and meditation in early childhood can be a path to feeling comfortable in silent moments, and mindful when we are still. This helps us to listen with attention and make informed decisions in our lives.
  7. Better sleep
    Most exercise has this impact and yoga is certainly no exception – regular practice can lead to better sleep, and deep breathing or meditation can be useful tools to help children fall asleep more easily too.
  8. Improved overall health
    Cardiovascular health, digestive health, the nervous system, regulated hormone levels, improved immunity, better sleep — the list of health benefits of yoga goes on and on!
  9. Better emotional awareness and control
    Deep breathing is an excellent tool to help calm children down when they aren’t able to control their behaviour in an outburst or ‘tantrum’ scenario. Teaching children to use this technique when required can lead to more awareness and control over their emotions.
  10. Connect with themselves and one another
    Yoga and meditation in early childhood settings can be a fun way to get more comfortable with one another and connect over something they enjoy!

Getting started with yoga

There are many ways to get started with using yoga to improve your health and wellbeing of your children.

All you need is 5 minutes to fit in yoga and meditation, a few quiet moments here and there or you can incorporate it as a regular experience in your day. For example, at Bonkers Beat Music Kinder, we start each day with a ‘Welcome a New Day’ session. This involves educators, children and even families participating in a 20 to 25-minute session of mindfulness exercises and a range of other wellbeing routines.

Yoga and meditation are great for children as a transitional tool. It allows them to reset after rest time or outdoor play when heading indoors to focus the mind onto a new experience or just to unwind.

Our Yoga Cards and meditation music can be a fantastic starting point. Children enjoy the fun of the yoga cards while being introduced to the benefits of yoga. You can find them in our store.

The Bonkers Beat programs incorporate daily yoga and meditation that children and adults alike LOVE. To learn more about our programs and the wellbeing initiatives within them, take a look here.

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It’s great to play outside (even when it’s cold)

When it comes to play and exploration, there’s no such thing as bad weather – just inappropriate clothing! Grab coats, boots and beanies and get children playing outside this winter to promote wellbeing, resilience and good immunity.

While we adults tend to avoid the cold weather and opt for a toasty spot near the heater the children in our lives are more than happy to run outside, climbing, chasing and exploring no matter the weather. And let’s not forget children’s love of jumping in puddles! But other than being a lot of fun, there are many benefits of outdoor play too.

Experience the benefits of outdoor play all year long

The benefits of playing outdoors are significant the year round. Outdoor play tends to be less structured and more physical than indoor play, not to mention a lot more ventilation. Let’s look three specific benefits for children who get outside to play.

1. Get moving

Physical movement is so important for good health at any age, especially with one in five Australian children being either overweight or obese. Outdoor space encourages running, jumping, climbing and exploring that can rarely be replicated indoors. In fact, no matter how cold it is, children end up warming up in no time running around outside!

2. Nature time

Australian children are spending up to 30% of their awake time on screens, so a bit of time reconnecting with nature is a must. Experiencing the real world gives children the chance to get excited about life beyond the screen – animals, trees, flowers, rain, hail, rainbows. There’s plenty to look at!

3. Immunity boost

While it’s important to rug up as the weather cools down, getting outside won’t harm children and could actually improve their health with extra vitamin D and fresh air. Even just 10 to 20 minutes outside each day will help make a difference to children’s health.

PLUS The cold doesn’t cause colds

We have to mention this one. It’s a common misconception that the dreaded cold – complete with sniffles, sneezes and a cough – is caused by exposure to the cold weather. This isn’t true, as colds are actually caused by a contagious viral infection and you’re more likely to catch one in winter due to increased time spent indoors!

So next time you think it’s too cold to play outside, think again! Grab the jackets and hats and experience all the Australian winter has to offer.

Click below to get inspirations from our Facebook Pages:
Yoga Outdoors, Adventure Days

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EOFY Special Offer: Your Time to Shine

When trying to run a successful childcare centre, it can sometimes feel as though you are surrounded by risk. The risk of not appealing to enough families and experiencing low occupancy. The risk of new competition within the local area. The risk of not gaining a high NQS Rating and the risk of staff challenges such as avoiding burnout and team motivation.

With the end of the financial year approaching, we wanted to provide you options that reduce risk from your life and your business. We think it’s time to go risk-free with a free ticket to this widely-celebrated early childhood education event for owners and directors…

Join us next week at 7 Stones, Melbourne for a hands on, high value three hour event for centre owners and directors. To claim your free ticket – Click Here.

Take on the New Financial Year – Risk-Free!

End of financial year is a great time to reflect and review the practices in your centre, where they currently stand and your future direction.

Our free 7 Stones event offers owners and directors a practical three-hour workshop that covers our tried and tested 7 pillar approach.

These insights will dramatically boost your occupancy, enhance curriculum, motivate educators, improve your NQS rating, engage parents and stand out in this crazy, busy marketplace.

We limit seats at our 7 Stones events to ensure you receive a more personalised session to get the most out of the event. With only 4 spots remaining you had better claim yours now!

PLUS…

By attending the 7 Stones workshop, you’ll gain access to our EOFY Special Offer: 6 Months FREE!

If you want to make next year, your best year ever, you will definitely want to take advantage of this Special Offer!

Remember, only four seats left at 7 Stones next week: get yours now!

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Top tips for high health standards in childcare

As we all know, children aren’t always “naturals” when it comes to good hygiene habits! While we encourage playing in the dirt, exploring nature and getting creative, there should always be support for practicing good hygiene and safety too. Children often need extra support when it comes to creating and sustaining these habits.  

Below are some tips for upholding high standards of health and hygiene in childcare settings. They will not only help everyone stay safe and healthy but they will also help you to meet Quality Area 2 of the National Quality Standard.

1. Handwashing should be second nature

Handwashing is a simple way to reduce the spread and potential ingestion of germs. Help children to get used to handwashing after playing, using the bathroom and always before eating.

  • Use images and signage around the centre as reminders
  • Set times for handwashing
  • Make soaps and taps easy to use
  • Have a handwashing song that encourages action and duration of adequate handwashing (here are some to try)

Ensure all educators and staff lead by example!

2. Covering your mouth to cough and sneeze

A simple but effective practice to embed in your centre is covering mouths when a sneeze or cough is ready to escape. Ensure tissues are readily available around your centre and are placed in the bin once used.

Another clever thing children can learn, especially for those coughs and sneezes come along when we aren’t prepared, is coughing and sneezing into the elbow. Here’s a handy poster you could print for your service that demonstrates this technique.

3. Have an illness policy in place

Getting sick from time to time is inevitable. No matter how healthy and cautious families and educators are, illness does happen. It’s important to manage it well. A good policy will ensure that if you are unwell you remain home so that others are protected from sickness. Take note of different exclusion periods for illnesses via Health Vic.

Help parents assess whether their child should attend childcare or kinder with these three questions from Care for Kids:

  • Will my child be well enough to comfortably and happily participate in the activities of the day?
  • Will my child’s care provider be able to care for my child without it affecting their ability to look after the other children?
  • Will my child pass the illness on to their playmates if I send them in today?

4. Avoid Sharing

Children often want to share cups and utensils, but it can increase the risk of germ spread. On top of encouraging children to keep their own cups, plates and spoons to themselves, labelling can be a useful approach. There’s nothing children enjoy more than spotting their own name on something and knowing they have a special item to themselves.

5. Keep the centre clean as can be

Staying on top of disinfecting toys, bedding, carpets, toilets and surfaces at your centre is the best way to ensure that your service doesn’t become a hub for illness spreading germs. Hospital grade disinfectants will be the best bet to kill nasty germs and keep everything safe for playing, resting and learning!

What hygiene practices do you have in place to keep children’s health protected at your centre? Share with us via Facebook!

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Focusing on music through the lens of the revised NQS

In striving to improve the position and quality of their childcare offering, many services are looking for ways to go ‘above and beyond’ expectations for meeting National Quality Standards. New guidelines clarify the difference between Meeting and Exceeding NQS rating levels for each standard. This allows services to have an in-depth understanding of the expectations of the revised NQF and improve their curriculum accordingly.

Many elements of the NQS, such as Element 1.1.1, focus on developing the best possible outcomes for children and enhancing their wellbeing. The exploration of creative arts, including music, now plays an even bigger role in meeting these expectations.

We have found that a focus on music in early childhood educational settings is more powerful than ever when considered through the lens of the revised NQS. This is a topic we intend to cover during our upcoming ‘7 Stones’ Management Event on Tuesday 28 May.

It is hard to believe that music and wellbeing practices are so transformational for centres looking to increase their NQS Rating and market position.

We have seen firsthand the incredible impact on services who implement music and wellbeing practices. That’s why this upcoming ‘7 Stones’ Management Event is all set to demonstrate how to enhance every Quality Area of the revised NQS and improve your rating through music and wellbeing practices.

During this inspiring presentation, you will discover how to:

  • Empower educators and transform improve centre’s culture
  • Increase occupancy and attract new families
  • Maximise opportunities for each child’s learning and brain development
  • Gain a marketing advantage and stand out
  • Engage parents and support them at home

You won’t want to miss this one. We’ve consulted with the best of the best to dig deep into the revised NQS so we can empower you with the right tools and strategies to flourish!

Spots won’t last, so register now and get ready to see things in a new light: http://www.bonkersbeat.com/7Stones/

This event is designed specifically for management and so we urge centre owners and directors to attend.

Secure your spot now.

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Exploring Easter beyond the chocolate

Who doesn’t love chocolate? We can’t think of a single person who doesn’t love some variety of the sugary treat, especially children! And while a chocolate Easter bunny is nice, there’s plenty more to explore about Easter that children will love too!

Four facts about Easter to help you celebrate

As we prepare to celebrate Easter, it can help to have a little more insight into this much-loved time of year. Perhaps it will inspire you to approach it a little differently.

1. Easter is all about new life
The eggs, flowers and baby chickens – they’re not a random bunch of items, but actually symbolise one of the meanings behind Easter which is new life and rebirth. Furthering this theme is that for most countries, Easter takes place in the season of new life – the spring equinox!

2. Easter has songs too
While Christmas is renowned for its carols, Easter singing isn’t anywhere near as popular. We think this should change! Our special gift to you for Easter comes in song form — enjoy our Bonkers Beat song, ‘Easter Bunny’! Print the lyrics here and learn the moves and tune via the video:

3. There’s not just one day for Easter
The commonly celebrated Easter days in Australia incorporate Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Good Friday recognises the death of Jesus Christ, and Easter Sunday is significant as the day Christians believe Jesus was resurrected. In addition, there is Orthodox Easter which, this year, takes place on 28 April.

4. It’s a fun, family-friendly time of year that everyone can enjoy!
There are many things you can do to celebrate Easter, whatever your religion or preferences may be.

Decorating eggs is a favourite Easter tradition (real or fake are equally fun – get some inspiration here). You can also organise an Easter hunt (with or without chocolate ) which always gets children smiling and excited. Also meeting an Easter bunny can be enjoyable, though a little scary for some children!

However you choose to celebrate, we wish you all a very Happy Easter spent with your loved ones!

image from www.freepik.com

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Optimising children’s development through educators’ wellbeing

As early childhood education professionals, we’re all committed to children’s development. It’s fair to say that we all put that at the top of our priority list. In doing this, we can sometimes forget to focus on educators, or on ourselves.

When we talk about wellbeing in early childhood, we’re often talking about children’s wellbeing. And so we should, because enhancing the wellbeing of children is the key to optimising their development on so many levels. In fact, approaching early childhood education with a wellbeing focus enables us to enhance children’s development across many crucial areas.

DDevelopmental impact of a wellbeing focus:

SOCIAL WELLBEING: Can facilitate teamwork; increase self-esteem; build confidence; embed social skills
PHYSICAL WELLBEING: Can encourage physical activity; reduce muscle tension; stimulates feel-good hormone; boost immunity
EMOTIONAL WELLBEING: Can have a calming effect; improve ability to understand and regulate emotions, reduce negative feelings; uplift the spirit

A wellbeing focus can even go beyond this for children’s services. It can also provide a pathway to improve the wellbeing of educators, and this can have a remarkable impact for individuals, centres and children.

At our recent Wellness Summits as part of the Bonkers Beat programs, early childhood expert Heather Barnes (OAM) presented and shared some valuable insight into the importance of educators’ wellbeing.

Heather notes the profound positive impact of wellbeing practices that encourage self-reflection, empowerment and team-building. It sounds like a lot to work on, but in reality, these can be achieved through a combination of professional development and a strategy committed to everyone’s wellbeing within child care services. And why wouldn’t you, when a wellbeing focus will transform every aspect of your centre for the better!

Wellbeing (along with music!) is the focus of our practice and the Bonkers Beat curriculum . The results we see in the wellbeing and empowerment of our educators and in turn the development and wellbeing of our children are powerful. If you’re free this Saturday and are able to be in Aspendale, Victoria, please feel free to join us at our Open Day at the Bonkers Beat Music Kinder. You will see firsthand as we demonstrate our music and wellbeing practices.

P.S.It’s also our 10 Year Anniversary celebration! We will be celebrating this milestone and raising money to help Aussie farmers through some tough times with donation opportunities on the day.

EVENT: Bonkers Beat 10 Year Anniversary Open Day
WHERE: 49 Laura Street, Aspendale, Victoria
WHEN: Saturday 30 March, 10am – 12pm
REGISTER FOR THIS FREE EVENT HERE!

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