respect Archives - Early Learning Childhood Education

Harmony Day is one of our favourite days of the year. A day that is dedicated to celebrating cultural diversity, inclusiveness, respect for others and ensuring everyone feels they belong.

For many special days throughout the year we plan activities in advance, and while there are certainly many wonderful things you can do in centres in honour of Harmony Day, sometimes the simplest acts can mean the most. This Harmony Day let’s focus on meaningful conversations with children. The Harmony Day website offers a range of discussion topics that are suitable for early childhood. Consider these:

What is diversity? What are some of the ways that people can be different from each other?
All the same: What things make us the same?
What is Harmony Day? What does harmony mean? What are some examples of harmony in nature/in the world?
Family diversity: Who is in your family? Talk about how families are the same and different.
My groups: Talk about all the groups to which you belong eg team, family, friendship group, hobby. What things help you to feel you belong?

Carrying the message of Harmony Day through your centre’s culture

This Harmony Day feels especially timely for us this year, given the news that ACECQA has recognised Bonkers Beat Music Kinder with an Excellence Rating under the National Quality Framework.

ACECQA specifically recognised Bonkers Beat’s “commitment to children that respects, reflects and celebrates culture and diversity, including place of origin, inclusive partnerships with children and families, and its practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth”.

Not only can your Harmony Day efforts contribute towards shaping inclusive, respectful and kind attitudes in young people — you can even transform the way your centre approaches early childhood education!

If you’re ready to see how Bonkers Beat’s culture is inspired by the values of Harmony Day, why not come and see for yourself?! We are hosting an Open Day this Saturday 24 March from 10 am until 12 pm at Bonkers Beat Music Kinder. Activities for children at this free event include music, yoga and a jungle treasure hunt plus lots more!

Event: Open Day – Music Show and Yoga with Bonkers the Monkey
Where: Bonkers Beat Music Kinder, 49 Laura Street, Aspendale, Victoria
When: 10am – 12pm

To discover why Bonkers Beat Music Kinder is different, click to watch the video submission to ACECQA.

In 2015 the National NAIDOC theme is We All Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate.

Taking place from July 5-12, 2015, NAIDOC Week, as always, presents educators across the country with the opportunity to discuss and celebrate Australia’s rich indigenous culture.

If you haven’t celebrated NAIDOC Week before, NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’, who would organise the events for this week of celebration, but has since become the name of the week itself. The week is dedicated to activities centred on supporting and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

The NAIDOC website suggests a few points on how you can go about celebrating this year’s theme:

Invite elders or others to talk about local sacred sites or Indigenous culture
Learn the Traditional names and stories for places, mountains, rivers etc around your region

To celebrate Indigenous culture in a more general sense you might like to:

Read a Dreamtime story
Create your own Aboriginal art
Listen to Indigenous music
Take children to visit local Indigenous sites of significance or interest if possible

Expanding our knowledge and understanding of our history and culture is such a special part of learning, and being Australian we have a rich Indigenous history that deserves to be recognised and celebrated.

Here we also have for you some ideas, that can be used for celebrating NAIDOC week at home, in a centre, for a school holiday program or an incursion.

NAIDOC Week is the perfect time to do this and you’ll find plenty more information and resources via their website: naidoc.org.au

Tag: respect

Inclusiveness and respect this Harmony Day and beyond

Carrying the message of Harmony Day through your centre’s culture

Learn, Respect and Celebrate – NAIDOC Week 2015