kindergarten Archives - Page 10 of 13 - Early Learning Childhood Education

12/01/201713/01/2017

This is it: 12 months of opportunity has begun

Welcome to 2017! A new year is upon us with 12 months of amazing opportunities for success and happiness for us all.

Like many, you may have made some resolutions entering the new year… These can come in many shapes and forms – quit a bad habit, eat healthier food, do more exercise, visit friends more often…

Did you know that making resolutions on January 1^st is said to date back to the time of Julius Caesar? He created the tradition, basing it on a mythical Roman god named Janus. Janus had two faces so he was able to simultaneously look back into the year that has past while looking forward into the new year that has commenced.

Two faces aside, we can all do a little bit of this, and should. That is, we should all reflect on 2016 and try to work out what went well and why. How can we repeat it? Can we do better?

We can also consider what didn’t go so well or where there was plenty of room for improvement. Again, why? And how can we make change and take steps towards bettering this area in 2017?

This year Bonkers Beat has made the resolution to grow and reach more early childhood educators and industry professionals than ever before.

We are expanding the Bonkers Beat Music and Wellbeing Program, providing more room for centres right across Australia to come on board. We are even taking interest from those interested internationally!

The Bonkers Beat Program includes more than ever before too – more value and even more amazing results for centres, management, educators, families and, of course, for children.

Just a reminder too that Bonkers Beat members have exclusive access to not one but TWO jam-packed, high quality early childhood professional development conferences in your state this year. We are very excited about our special guest speakers for the 2017 Wellness Summits, and you should be too!

Bonkers Beat could be just what you need to achieve your 2017 resolutions. In fact, it’s not too late to join us and come along to our February and March Wellness Summits! Click here to learn more about our programs or email your expression of interest to admin@BonkersBeat.com.

Again, welcome to 2017 and we can’t wait to make this year absolutely awesome with you all!

08/12/201609/12/2016

Making the Biggest Decision for Your Child’s Future

There’s so much to think about during the early years of a child’s life. For parents it can be quite a whirlwind, from the sleeplessness of the first months to finding your feet in parenthood and then all of a sudden children are being enrolled at childcare or kinder.

With the knowledge that the first five years of life are when the brain does its most intensive wiring and development, making educated and informed choices about your child’s early learning is vital.

Pre-cursor for School Success

While childcare and pre-school/kindergarten programs are play-based forms of learning, they can play a big role in your child’s success in school.

In fact, a recent study by the University of Missouri College Education highlights the importance of pre-school years for children’s educational development and preparation for success in life.

Continuity of Care: It’s Crucial

When choosing a childcare or pre-school program for your child, it’s always best to think long-term – that is, commit to continuity of care for your child right through to commencing primary school.

Continuity of care means that children remain at one early childhood educational service for the three years prior to starting school. Early Childhood Australia says that consistency between settings is a critical factor in thinking about effective learning over the long term. “While children are certainly resilient and adaptable, their experiences of transitions and change are likely to be more favourable when there is as much consistency and continuity between settings as possible.”

Sometimes parents leave their current service to enrol their children in the 4-year old funded kindergarten year at the local government kinder. This is the equivalent of switching primary schools in grade 5 or high schools in year 11. Of course this can be a necessity when a family is moving areas, but for the most part these transitions don’t allow children to flourish and continue an uninterrupted developmental journey.

Extra Transitions Unnecessary

There are two main reasons we see this final year switch take place. The first is financial. It is often more affordable for families to send their children to the local government kindergarten. However, government subsidies and benefits like CCB make this cost difference less noticeable. Furthermore, you’ll find more flexible hours, excursions and incursions available in some settings like Bonkers Beat, included in the fees. Not to mention school holiday care! Most importantly of course, the very best early childhood education is an investment in your child’s future.

The other reason we find that drives families to change centres in 4-year old kindergarten is that they are under the impression that this will ensure their children have friends who will attend the same school. While friendships that continue into school can be wonderful, many primary schools will in fact separate children who have arrived from the same kinder in order to encourage even more new friendships to flourish in this new environment.

It’s important to note as well that there are often many kindergartens that feed into local primary schools, not just the government kinder nearest to the school. For example, local primary schools in and around Aspendale in Victoria love our Bonkers Beat Music Kinder because the children who transition to school from Bonkers Beat are very confident, creative and have more developed social and emotional skills.

Make the Commitment

Research supports continuity as an essential ingredient for the very best early education experience for children. This is also evident in our experience too. When your child commences care, make the commitment for your child’s future and pursue continuous care where possible for the best outcomes.

Before enrolling your child into a kindergarten or childcare, take the time to do the research and find the right high quality service for your child. To allow your child a smooth transition to school in the future, you may even like to start investigating your options for primary and secondary education. Whether your decision is based on a high quality public, religion-oriented or private school it should resonate with your family values and provide the best foundation for your child’s future.

18/11/201618/11/2016

A Practical Approach to a Positive and Stimulating Environment

In 2016 we launched Wellness Works! The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference – and what an inspiring response we have had for this practical professional development for early childhood educators.

Our Newcastle event was no exception, taking place on Monday 14 November. If you haven’t heard about Wellness Works yet, it’s a collaboration between Bonkers Beat creator and innovative early childhood expert Galina Zenin with international early childhood presenter and renowned Early Childhood Business Developer Alina Dan.

Galina and Alina (or the “Duolinas” as they were dubbed at one event!) have dedicated their careers to improving the quality of care in early childhood in Australia and overseas, taking their holistic approaches to the masses. The goal? Well there’s not just one.

Tackling the Challenges Faced in Centres Together

Earlier this year we revealed the top three challenges faced by early childhood educators: motivation, transitions and documentation.

This remains true. Here’s a few things we identified during the year:

-Management find their educators are struggling with motivation, and management are struggling to find ways to motivate them.

-Everyone feels overloaded with documentation.

-The lack of practical knowledge found in centres reflects the need for more hands-on training – both initially and through ongoing professional development.

-Educators find themselves focusing on managing behaviour – this needs to shift with new strategies in place.

We address all of these areas and more at Wellness Works, so if you haven’t signed up to be among the first to learn of new dates for this event, please do by heading to the registration section: bonkersbeat/wellnessworks

Creating a Positive and Stimulating Learning Environment

We need to create a shift in our approach to children’s behaviour and the way we manage it. This is a key area because managing behaviour is a major source of stress for educators. If we can use more effective strategies for this we can simultaneously tackle behavioural issues while improving educator wellbeing – and in turn, improve the wellbeing of children.

Empowering educators and managers to create of a learning environment that is positive and stimulating could be an important first step, incorporating a holistic approach that caters to every child’s needs.

We can’t wait to continue this early childhood revolution with you all in 2017!

Don’t miss out on our next Wellness Works event – sign up in the registration section of our website and you’ll be the first to know about our next Wellness Works! The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference: bonkersbeat/wellnessworks

P.S. A HUGE congratulations and thank you to our inspiring, passionate and AWESOME attendees! You all make us so proud to be working together and we can’t wait to create positive changes through practical professional development.

27/07/201628/07/2016

Overcoming High Staff Turnover in Centres

When it comes to the first five years, we know how important this time is in a child’s development.

Genetics play a role in this foundation-laying period in children’s lives, along with other influencing factors like nutrition, environment and relationships. With many children spending time in childcare centres or kindergartens during these early years, early childhood educators can have a notable impact on their lives – now and into the future.

In this blog we will focus on relationships and high staff turnover in centres. A recent survey conducted by Queensland University of Technology discovered that of 1,200 childcare workers across Australia, 1 in 5 plan to leave their job within the space of a year.

The research leader Professor Karen Thorpe spoke with the ABC, saying: “[The children] are losing people they’re attached to and that’s not good for children’s learning or emotional and social development.”

Children’s bonds with educators

Children have various bonds with different educators and can also be creatures of habit – they tend to like routine and seeing familiar faced, so when an educator they are used to seeing is no longer around it can cause distress.

Children deserve the opportunity to feel like they can trust their caregivers and when an educator who has created a positive, nurturing relationship with them is leaving, that sense of trust can be affected. Needless to say, this can disrupt a child’s learning experience and be generally upsetting for them.

The impact is felt

The impact of losing staff members – team members – is felt across every aspect of a centre. And while children are impacted most, everyone is affected.

To gain a passionate, qualified, dedicated educator is no easy feat and requires time, energy, patience and financial resources. Even more to train them, help them to understand centre’s philosophy, make them feel welcome and comfortable. For educators to then be planning to leave within a short frame of time presents many challenges for a centre.

Parents need to be informed, job advertisements need to be distributed – and of course, as we mentioned, it needs to be explained to children.

Facilitate loyalty

So how do we overcome high staff turnover and improve retention of our valued educators? It’s a complex issue and one that there is no simple answer for, but it is something we need to work to overcome together as dedicated members of this important industry.

In this recent article in Early Edition, we discuss what an exciting time it is to work in early childhood education. We also acknowledge that it’s a role that isn’t always easy but as a team we can create positive environments that are geared towards maximising the day-to-day experience for our educators.

Supporting the wellbeing of educators and maintaining an open line of communication with plenty of opportunities to express feelings can be invaluable. While we spend a lot of time doing and informing, sometimes we can benefit greatly from simply listening and understanding.

Have you experienced high staff turnover in centres? What actions do you take to improve retention of your educators?

High staff turnover in centres is an industry-wide issue in early childhood, so a team approach is the first step toward fostering a culture of long-standing teams of educators in our centres.

21/07/201622/07/2016

Revealed: The Top 3 Challenges Faced by Early Childhood Educators

On July 12 the very first Wellness Works: The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference took place in Melbourne… And what a fantastic success it was!

In the lead up to the Melbourne event, we did some research to find out exactly what challenges in early childhood education were coming up for educators, leaders, managers and owners working in the field. The reason for this was to ensure that the conference addresses what you really want and need from your early childhood professional development. We asked many centres to share their top three challenges, and it’s safe to say there was a theme in the responses!

Top 3 Challenges in Centres

Here are the top 3 challenges in early childhood education that we identified after reviewing responses from a range of centres. These are challenges that are faced on a daily or regular basis by educators, room leaders, management and owners.

Motivation

Many centres find they have difficulties with motivating their teams – from getting them motivated initially, to keeping them motivated. This is a priority at Wellness Works and is addressed thoroughly. Our approach is through empowering and motivating the leaders in the centre as the basis of improving motivation levels across the team. Our tactics and tips are foolproof…

Transitions

If you’re like the vast majority of the educators we heard from, transitions continue to cause stress and are a great source of frustration in centres. We’ve been careful to focus on this area and deliver practical ways for your centre to tackle transitions. You will even find them enjoyable…!

Documentation

How do we document a child’s learning, how do we maintain adequate – even excellent – standards for our centre’s documentation without it being a job too big to handle? Documentation is a hot topic for early childhood and we set out to improve your understanding of documentation and make sure it is no longer a huge challenge for you and your centre.

Do these challenges sound all too familiar? Not to worry –Wellness Works: The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference comes to Sydney on July 26 and Brisbane on July 28. Both Galina and Alina (or the Duolinas as they’ve been dubbed!) are really excited. If you’re coming along to Wellness Works, you should be excited too! (And if you haven’t got your seats organised yet, you’re in luck as there are still a couple of places available for Sydney and Brisbane – be quick and get them here!)

What Early Childhood Professionals are Saying

Here’s what just a few of the Melbourne Wellness Works attendees had to say about the event:

“Thank you today was very enjoyable. I have RSI I took so many notes!”
– Mandy, Joseph Avenue ELC

“Great opportunity. I feel empowered to take back to a team. Loved the songs and games”
– Rebecca

“This PD was fantastic, all the info was great, very engaging and fun”
– Jessica, Aberdeen Street ELC

Join us at Wellness Works: The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference and let’s break down your challenges in early childhood education and address them together.

Featuring the engaging and experienced early childhood experts, Galina and Alina, this just might be the best professional development session you attend this year!

06/07/201608/07/2016

The Journey of a Small Local Kinder

Choosing the right childcare centre, kindergarten or school is one of the most challenging decisions parents have to make. It’s clear that many parents have an idea of what sort of program or approach to early childhood education they prefer… So how can our philosophy, values and early childhood curriculum suit everyone?

As early childhood educators, we want to deliver what all families want, but how do we do this while staying true to what we believe will help a child to reach their full potential?

Have a Vision

After teaching music to children for more than 25 years, it was evident to me that music is powerful! I could see how music could change lives and characters of young people and could become a key for the development of the whole child. The vision for me was to use music as the foundation of a program to nurture each individual, develop their sense of identity and unlock the door to reach their potential.

The questions I asked myself were: “How can we create a curriculum where music will become a strong and valuable foundation for children’s learning? How can we include music in everyday routines? How can we achieve the best outcomes for EVERY CHILD, EVERY DAY?”

Fix your Focus

With so many expectations from parents, it’s hard to know what to focus on. “Will your programme help my child to read and write before he’ll start school?…” “Can you help my child become independent? He will be going to prep next year…”
“Don’t you teach children math in kinder? They need to know how to count…”

So where do we start? I believe we should start with VALUES. For example, the Bonkers Beat Philosophy is based on Five Principles:
• Respect for all people
• Respect for all animals & living creatures
• Respect for all plants & nature
• Respect for kinder & personal belongings
• Respect for yourself

While our program reflects these Five Principles, it’s clear that every curriculum should have only one Main Focus: THE CHILD!

Ask yourself these questions:

What is the main focus of our curriculum?

Is this working for the children (and educators)?

Are the children really interested and engaged?

Do I really know and understand every single child?

What new and exciting ideas can I offer?

What is my purpose and what is my vision?”

Remember every educator is a creator and every educator is an innovator. If our Main Focus is the CHILD, we are well on our way to delivering a world-class curriculum.

Wellness Works for Every Child

We mentioned in our previous blog, ‘Why Wellness REALLY Works’, that a holistic approach really is crucial to deliver high quality early childhood education. For me, the approach that made the most sense – and demonstrated amazing results – was through wellness. There’s really no denying that achieving wellness for children AND for educators improves every aspect of early childhood education – for families, staff, centres and the industry as a whole.

In our days of pressure and fast living, it’s so easy to fall into the habit of doing the same things over and over again. From time to time we might feel scared to make a change or try something different. Often, we get criticised for not doing things the ‘usual’ way. Believing in your dreams and working towards one goal with a team of supportive and dedicated people, will make a difference. It will help you to put your vision into practice.

For me, one single idea of a music program for EVERY CHILD EVERY DAY, was just the beginning of a comprehensive and innovative curriculum which is now successfully run in centres all over Australia!

There is always so much more for us to learn, that we can never say that all our work is done. There will always be many more opportunities to improve, make our curriculum better and reflect on the changes of our fast moving society.

I’ve joined forces with internationally renowned early childhood expert Alina Dan and invite you to join us at Wellness Works: The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference. Come along and see for yourself why a holistic approach is so unique and effective.

30/06/201630/06/2016

WHY Wellness REALLY Works

“Wellness is a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential. Wellness is multidimensional and holistic, encompassing lifestyle, mental and spiritual wellbeing, and the environment. Wellness is positive and affirming.” National Wellness Institute

We all want to be the best version of ourselves possible. And we want the children in our care to reach their full potential too. Working towards wellness is the key.

Wellness is made up of several connected parts, and can really only be approached holistically. By approaching early childhood education with wellness in mind, we can make an incredible positive impact for all involved.

The Australian Psychological Society’s 2015 survey on stress and wellbeing in Australia showed that the wellbeing of Australians is faring worse than the first survey in 2011 – we’re reporting lower levels of wellbeing and workplace wellbeing, as well as higher levels of stress, depression and anxiety symptoms. This is in line with BeyondBlue’s statistics that suggest there are 3 million Australians living with depression or anxiety.

It’s time that we in early childhood education put some serious effort into the wellness of both educators and children. The best way to change the future is with wellness and some inspired leadership action. This is the mentality behind The Complete Wellness Works Educational Leaders Conference.

This is a conference like no other, designed specifically for educational leaders, management, directors and owners. It’s time to lead your centre with an early childhood revolution. You can learn more and register today at www.bonkersbeat.com/wellnessworks/.

Early childhood education needs a holistic approach, and the multi-faceted nature of wellness is the ideal foundation to build the future on.

Wellness in early childhood really does work, and The Complete Wellness Works Educational Leaders Conference is going to show you how to make it work for you and your centre.

Alina Dan is an internationally renowned early childhood presenter and business developer – her presentation will empower you to reach your full potential in your role as a leader.

Galina Zenin is a multi-award winning educator and her Seven Stone Philosophy is a clear path to incorporating wellness in early childhood. Her presentation is not only informative but gives you practical tools and inspiring insights into incorporating wellness to make your centre the best it can be.

Why does wellness work?

Here’s the simple answer: the path to wellness in early childhood is also the path to reaching our full potential. Let’s get started on the journey to wellness and watch as your team and the children in your care flourish – not to mention your centre.

Spots are filling FAST! Secure yours now – register at www.bonkersbeat.com/wellnessworks/

09/06/201610/06/2016

Exceeding NQS Rating again

We’ve done it again! Bonkers Beat Music Kinder & Childcare has received an outstanding rating of Exceeding National Quality Standard from the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)! This is the second time we have received an Exceeding NQS rating, having been assessed in 2012 and 2016.

This result is one that the Bonkers Beat Music Kinder & Childcare team at Aspendale worked hard for, and it’s important to let you know you aren’t alone in your challenges in your centre – we all need support, guidance and teamwork along the path to achieving our goals, whether that’s an Exceeding NQS rating or something else.

While the Bonkers Beat programs offer exceptional value, support, practical tools and proven benefits for all, we also invite you all to visit our Aspendale centre yourself to get a feel for the Bonkers Beat experience. If you’d like to arrange a time to visit, please send us an email (info@bonkersbeat.com) or give us a call (1300 022 328).

You can have a taste of the Bonkers Beat experience in this video tour of our Aspendale centre. The video also features an insight into Galina’s passion and vision for the future of early childhood education.

We truly believe that a team effort is required for success, strengthened by effective leadership and a passionate approach to early childhood education.

Happy singing and stretching,

Galina and the Bonkers Beat Team

P.S Take a look at the video to enjoy a virtual tour of our Aspendale centre and hear about the things that are most important to Bonkers Beat and the future of early childhood education.

18/05/201619/05/2016

Walking – The path to better health

This Friday 20 May is National Walk Safely to School Day – an annual event that encourages Primary School children to walk to school with a focus on safety. As early childhood educators, we can spread the message of the benefits of walking and the importance of pedestrian safety within our centres. After all, children, their families and educators can benefit from walking!

Walking for good health

Most of us walk each day, at least a little – walking is one of the easiest ways to fit in some exercise every day. No special outfit or equipment needed, and you can do it just about anywhere at any time!

So what are the benefits of walking?

Benefits of Walking for Educators and Parents

Whether you’re a parent of a young child or children, or an educator of them, we think it’s safe to say that you lead a busy life. Many of us don’t take care of ourselves as well as we should, but walking for just 30 minutes each day can offer a range of health benefits, such as:

-Lower stress levels
-Improved mindset and mood
-Better cardiovascular fitness
-Strength for bones and muscles
-Reduced body fat
-Lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease

Benefits of Walking for Children

-Boosting mood
-Improved academic performance
-Connection with the outdoors
-Maintain good physical health
-Setting up healthy habits for life
-Become responsible pedestrian familiar with road safety

Best of all, any day is a good day for walking!

Mix it Up

Keep walking interesting – walk to the shops, stroll along beaches and local tracks, walk through national parks, walk with other families or friends… Even just parking a little further away from your destination and walking a little extra adds healthy steps to your day.

If you live close enough to your centre, consider adding a walk to or from the centre into your weekly routine – you won’t regret it and you’ll be embarking on a path to better health for life!

07/04/201607/04/2016

How a Child’s First Five Years Can Change Everything

The research is pretty conclusive – the first five years of a child’s life are the most important. This means early childhood education could be one of the most significant factors in life when it comes to determining a child’s future.

As National Youth Week approaches where we celebrate Australia’s youth aged 12-25 for a week-long initiative (April 8-17, 2016), it seems like a good time to consider the impact of those earlier years on how children will develop, and who they will become.

Laying Life’s Foundations

According to Goodstart Institute of Early Learning, 80 per cent of a child’s brain develops before they reach age 5, and the experiences they have during this time will shape the rest of their lives. With a child’s brain developing more rapidly from birth to 5-years old than any other time in their life, it is not surprising that, as Raising Children explains, this is when foundations for learning, health and behaviour throughout life are laid down.

During these first five years of life, various factors will influence a child’s development. Genetic factors, relationships, environmental elements… The latter two can both be impacted significantly by early childhood education, including both the educators themselves, the approach to learning and the facilities provided.

Holistic Approach – Teaching the Whole Child

With so many areas of a child’s development for parents and educators to nurture and optimise, it can seem almost impossible to support every area of learning for a child – let alone every day for those first five years! This is where music steps in. Countless studies show that partaking in musical activity in childhood helps to develop the whole brain – with amazing emotional, social and academic results (not to mention physical, through movement and dance!).

Music Every Day Made Simple

While many of the studies on the impact of creating music on the brain are based on learning an instrument in one or two lessons per week, it is clear that creating music with our voices and bodies via singing, clapping, clicking and stomping is closely related. I am dedicated to delivering a way that children can experience music activities from age two not only for 30 minutes twice a week, but every day.

The result of children’s involvement in making music is evident in their academic ability, behaviour and wellbeing. I see these outcomes on a daily basis, as do the educators at other centres implementing the Bonkers Beat music program across the country.

Find the Time to Enhance the First Five Years

Many educators feel that their days are just too busy to incorporate music into their daily routines, but these are just a few ideas of when you might use music. Here are some times when music can be slipped into the day with little to no effort to enhance children’s brains and learning:

-Smooth classical music – on arrival during family grouping time
-Transitional songs – during transition times
-Nursery songs and musical games – throughout the day
-Relaxation music – during rest time
-Classical music including Mozart – during art/craft sessions to stimulate creativity
-Yoga music – during stretching or yoga sessions
-Meditation music – during meditation, relaxation and breathing time
-Smooth classical music – on departure during family grouping time
-Multicultural and folk music – to encourage spontaneous dancing and bonding during family grouping time or community events

Make the Most of the First Five Years; Make Music

Incorporating music into early childhood can affect almost every aspect of children’s learning, from literacy and numeracy to coordination, wellbeing and everything in between. These benefits can last a lifetime. With the knowledge of just how incredibly important those first five years are, introducing singing and musical experiences designed to enhance children’s development is essential and will change a children’s lives for the better.