Tag: Wellbeing Practices for Life

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Understanding and handling allergies

allergic reactions in children

Did you know that allergic reactions in children range from a mild itch to full anaphylaxis? As an early childhood educator, it is useful to have an understanding of allergies, because prevention, identifying symptoms and responding effectively are all essential to protect children from allergies.

Allergies and what they are

An allergy is what occurs when the immune system reacts to a substance, the allergen, that a child has come in contact with. The allergen is something that is ordinarily harmless, like pollen from flowers, an insect bite or a type of food. The body reacts with allergy antibodies, which react with foreign substances.

The reaction could be minor and mild, or even life-threatening.

What can trigger allergic reactions?

A common trigger for children’s allergic reactions is food. You might find children in your centre who are allergic to foods like:

  • Milk or milk products
  • Eggs
  • Peanuts or other nuts
  • Fish or certain seafood
  • Soy products
  • Wheat

Another trigger you might find is animals, particularly those with more fur. A cat or dog with long hair is an example of an animal a child could be allergic to. There are also allergens like pollen from plants that can even be in the air, bites or strings from a bug or even medications.

What to watch for

Allergic reactions in children could have a range of symptoms. These signs might be:

  • A rash or itchy skin
  • Swelling of the face, lips or eyes
  • Stomach discomfort, nausea or vomiting

In the case of an anaphylactic reaction, the symptoms can be quite severe:

  • Difficulty with breathing
  • Tightness in the throat
  • Swelling of the tongue
  • Wheezing
  • Dizziness
  • Loss of consciousness

Preventing allergic reactions in children

Avoiding children’s allergens is the number one way to prevent allergic reactions in children occurring at your centre. While restrictions can seem frustrating at times, they can be life-saving if a child in your centre suffers from an allergy.

Make sure your centre has an action plan in place for any children who have allergies, and take care to ensure the environment, food and experiences at your centre don’t involve allergens for your children.

More helpful information about allergies, find below:
Developing an allergy policy and allergy action plans
Managing food allergy and anaphylaxis in child care

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Revisiting sustainable practices in centres

sustainable practices in centres

Recycling Week is coming up from November 13 – 19, with this year’s theme ‘What goes around: Why buying recycled matters’.

Sustainability is really important to us and we think it should be to everyone. The Bonkers Beat programs have a focus on sustainability and showing children how to take care of the planet, as well as each other. This is also a focus area for the National Quality Standard, with Standard 3.3 of the NQS stating: ‘The service takes an active role in caring for its environment and contributes to a sustainable future.‘  (ACECQA)

Sustainability in action

Bonkers Beat Music Kinder in Aspendale was filmed by VEA for  training purposes on how to incorporate sustainability into early childhood services. Take a look to get some ideas and inspiration for sustainable practices.

The cycle of recycling

The theme of this year’s Recycling Week, ‘What Goes Around: Why Buying Recycled Matters’ inspires us to think carefully about where we source the things we need, and what we do with things we no longer need.

The message is simple: if you no longer want or need something, don’t just dispose of it. If it works, chances are someone else wants or needs it! And the item you’re looking for could be the very item someone else no longer requires.

When it comes to electronics, homewares and clothes, don’t throw them out. Offer to your friends or on Facebook, pop them on a buy/swap/sell website, sell them in a garage sale, donate to an op shop.

Same goes when you’re considering a new purchase. Ask around for the item as someone may have one sitting somewhere unused. Check op shops for items that have been tested and certified as being in good working order. You’ll save money too!

Dispose thoughtfully

Of course, sometimes things have been used to death and really must be let go. But think carefully about how you dispose of it. Recycling can contribute enormously to reducing the impact of pollution on our planet.

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.

Another tip is that 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. All of these acts of recycling and reusing contribute to sustainable practices in centres.

A valuable free resource for sustainable practices in centres

We all know music helps to convey messages in a memorable and engaging way, so please enjoy an access to the Bonkers Beat song, ‘Bonkers Rap’. This song is a great resource which is about taking care of the environment and sustainable practices in centres.

Planet Ark’s Recycling Week website has some great resources for you too, including lots of tips and posters to show the right ways to recycle. Explore these resources here.

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Creating collaborative partnerships with parents and communities

creating collaborative partnerships

They say it takes a village, and we tend to agree. When it comes to raising children and providing a well-rounded childhood, parents, families, friends, early childhood educators and communities all play a role. To get the very best out of your village, working together and creating collaborative partnerships is a must.

The National Quality Standard emphasises the power of collaborative partnerships too: “The aim of Quality Area 6 under the National Quality Standard is to recognise that collaborative relationships with families are fundamental to achieving quality outcomes for children and those community partnerships that are based on active communication, consultation and collaboration are also essential.” (ACECQA)

There are three simple ways you can start to foster these partnerships.

1. Focus on communication

Communication is the key to beginning a solid, rewarding relationship, no matter who it involves. Encourage an open line of communication between parents and educators.

This can include posters, emails, Facebook groups, notes sent home, a welcoming space at centres and an invitation to call the centre as needed. Share ideas, feedback, concerns, reminders, invitations – you’re a team! The shared goal of educators and families is to provide children with a fantastic start in life.

2. Host fun events

Life can certainly be busy, but when something special comes up most people are willing to do their best to make it work. Don’t forget to create opportunities for families and centres to have a little fun outside of the normal day-to-day routines.

Picnic dinners are cost effective and simple. Everyone can bring a plate and share food at the local park – a great example of a family-friendly event that gets everyone together in a community-minded way.

3. Collaborate on something

At Bonkers Beat Music Kinder in Aspendale, we love getting together for a good, old-fashioned, Working Bee. We work with families on improving the centres’ environments, share a nice lunch and have a great time.

Most recently our working bee was a huge success. Educators together with families and children created a Community Garden! This was in addition to a new working bench, a teepee, landscaping, gardening and lots of tidying up of our centre’s spaces. Educators, parents and of course our clever children all worked together to create something wonderful – and that’s a collaborative partnership! Take a look at the photos of the day unfolding here.

How does your centre work on creating collaborative partnerships with parents and communities? Let us know on Facebook – we love to share ideas!

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Who Benefits More?

Spending time with the elderly may not seem like it would be an exciting experience for young children, but maybe it deserves more credit… Recent research indicated that when children and seniors get together, there are a lot of benefits for both!

Take a look at this video and see for yourself! http://bit.ly/2xxYuKn

We wanted to share the amazing outcomes of the time spent between young and old with Bonkers Beat and our own community. That’s why we planned a visit with some of the older members in the local area. So, off we went to the Aspendale Senior Citizen’s Club!

Take a look at what a fun and fulfilling day we all had. Click here.

The time spent between young and old isn’t just enjoyable – the benefits are real and they are meaningful. A 4-year old can learn so much from a 74-year old – and vice versa!

Here are just a few of the benefits experienced by children and older individuals through this intergenerational time spent together:

Benefits for children

  • A patient listening ear
  • A lifetime of stories to hear
  • An insight into life’s ageing processes
  • An opportunity to learn something new

Benefits for older individuals

  • Enhanced mood
  • An opportunity to learn something new
  • Improved physical capability and movement
  • More enjoyment of life
  • Lessened dementia symptoms

We are so excited to have started this new relationship and can’t wait to continue working together with our community. In fact, at our upcoming Working Bee on 28 October we are planning to create a community garden!

By getting your centre involved with your local community you can show your children the importance of creating strong connections and enhance the wellbeing of everyone involved.

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Wellbeing and Engagement – A Valuable Relationship

engaged educators

Engaged educators are inspired, motivated, productive and happy in the workplace. These are qualities that are vital to creating a learning and care environment for children to flourish.

These qualities of an engaged educator enable them to do the best job possible at enhancing children’s wellbeing too. So how do you engage educators? Start with educators wellbeing.

The Essential Links Between Engagement and Wellbeing 

Working on wellbeing requires a holistic approach. To really reap the rewards over time, your approach to enhancing wellbeing needs to be sustainable, not a quick fix.

It’s incredible what can be achieved for centres, educators, families and most importantly children when we shift our focus to wellbeing. Engagement is a crucial area that benefits from wellbeing practices, but it doesn’t end there!

Engaged educators lead to better outcomes for children, engaged children and educators lead to better mental health and wellness. In turn, wellbeing practices for children can help them to become better learners and all round happier children.

See engaged educators and children in action

It’s one thing to read about what you can achieve with a focus on wellbeing and subsequently high levels of educator and child engagement – it’s another thing to see it!

That’s why we are inviting owners and directors of centres to visit our flagship Bonkers Beat centre in Aspendale, Victoria. Join us at Music Kinder in Action!

We are ready to give away strategies and knowledge to centre owners and directors – with absolutely no expectations on getting anything back in return.

Our goal is simply to show owners and directors across Australia what is possible for your educators, children and centres. See how you can engage educators and the benefits of doing so.

There are only 6 spots remaining PLUS everyone who attends will receive a complimentary gift and a guide ‘How to Implement a World Class Music Program in Your Centre’.

Hope to see you there! Click here to secure your free ticket!

 

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Making Life Easier for Families – Spring Holiday Programs

Each year children around Australia have around 11-12 weeks of holidays from school or kinder, while parents can usually access roughly 4 weeks of annual leave. This can make it tricky, but school holiday programs can help.

A school holiday program for children who are not yet school age can be run from different services and enables working families to save their holiday leave time for when they can really enjoy it with their children.

Whether you’re looking for a school holiday program for the upcoming school holiday break or you are creating a program, these ideas will help you to know what a great school holiday program should include for children under six years old.

School Holiday Programs – What they should offer

Keep it interesting

School holidays are about having fun! In our recent School Holiday Programs, we have had a special experience included in our program each day. Experiences we like to include that you might like as well are puppet shows, making books, visiting the library and making and flying kites.

Keep families in the know

Many families won’t know what to expect at school holiday time or what you can offer to support them during the term breaks. Let families know in advance what is on offer to help make school holidays less stressful for them and more enjoyable for their children. Create a program in advance.

Include an adventure

School holiday time is for doing something that you don’t normally do. Break the routine a little and do something special with children. This could be a local excursion to a park, a visit to a farm or a trip to a museum.

Educators who are looking for extra ideas, or parents with time off over the term break, take a look at these 24 ideas for fun in rain, hail or shine in our School Holiday Activity Guide.

To get inspired and learn more about Bonkers Beat Music Kinder, click here.

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Active children are happier children

active children

Many studies have shown the strong link between physical activity and children’s behavioural, social and psychological outcomes. And the research consistently indicates that active children are happier children.

They become happier adolescents and adults too, demonstrating that laying a foundation for life that involves regular physical activity has far-reaching impact. It’s important that we set the groundwork for active children so they grow into happy adults.

Encouraging Physical Activity: The benefits

Regular physical activity has a range of benefits for children, including:

  • promoting healthy growth and development
  • helping to achieve and maintain a healthy weight
  • building strong bones and muscles
  • improving cardiovascular fitness
  • improving balance, coordination and strength
  • maintaining and developing flexibility
  • improving posture
  • assisting with the development of gross motor and fine motor skills
  • providing the opportunity to develop fundamental movement skills
  • helping to establish connections between different parts of the brain
  • improving concentration and thinking skills
  • improving confidence and self-esteem
  • relieving stress and promoting relaxation
  • providing opportunities to develop social skills and make friends
  • improving sleep.

(Source: https://www.healthykids.nsw.gov.au/teachers-childcare/physical-activity.aspx)

There’s no doubt about it – physical activity is vital for optimal development in children!

Promoting Physical Wellbeing in Children: Bush Kinder and Sports-inspired Games

If you and your educators attended our recent Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits, you’ve probably learned so many incredible ways to embed physical wellness practices into your centre. For those who didn’t attend, the information provided by our guests speakers was invaluable in guiding us towards the best ways of promoting physical wellness for the children in our care.

Bush Kinder founder Doug Fargher presented at the Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits and shared his expertise and experience working in outdoor spaces with children. Doug is an expert with extensive knowledge on the strong connections between nature and children’s physical wellness during the first five years of development and beyond.

Justin Kuchel from Active Start Sports presented at our recent Wellness Summits as well. Justin’s approach enables children of all ages to engage with fun, physical activities that leave them wanting more. Justin shared insights and showed us how his age-appropriate sports-inspired games get children truly excited about physical activity.

Thank you to all who attended—what a fantastic event it was, and thank you for contributing to it with your commitment to early childhood education!

See the photos from the Melbourne event here.

See the photos from the Sydney Wellness Summit here.

Are you passionate about physical and overall wellbeing? To find out more and join our Wellness Summits call us on 13000-B-BEAT (2-2328).

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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.

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Early Childhood Educators Day

Early Childhood Educators Day

We place the future of tomorrow’s leaders in the hands of early childhood educators each and every day – that’s a big responsibility! And thankfully it’s one that is viewed as a true privilege by early childhood educators. It is a job that, while rewarding, is challenging and requires a lot of patience. And it is a job that deserves more recognition and celebration than it perhaps receives.

The first Wednesday in September each year is Early Childhood Educators Day – a chance to show early childhood educators that their work is recognised, appreciated and valued. So next week on Wednesday 6 September, let’s do something special for early childhood educators.

Ways to Celebrate Early Childhood Educators Day

The Australian Childcare Alliance has many fantastic ideas to celebrate Early Childhood Educators Day.

Here are just a few:

  • 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.
  • Colour-coordinate clothes for the day. Everyone comes to work in costume!
  • Create a giant “thank you” card for display in the reception area of the centre/kindergarten
  • Design a certificate of appreciation for each educator, or use one here.

Early childhood educators care for children during one of the most critical developmental stages in a human being’s life – the first five years. This care and focus on their early learning enable families to work as needed with the peace of mind that their children are safe and sound and receiving the best start.

To all early childhood educators, we commend you on your hard work, your kindness and your patience. And we thank you for all that you do each day.

Get involved in Early Childhood Educators Day on social media by using the hashtags:

#EarlyChildhoodEducatorsDay   #LoveMyECE

 

 

Image Designed by Freepik

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Top 3 Benefits of Whole Team Training

Last week’s 2017 ACAV Conference was fantastic. The event saw 960 participants attend, with participants from all over Australia.

There were really interesting sessions with lots of ideas and the expo was just amazing. Seeing so many passionate educators is always a beautiful sight to behold – early childhood is such an important sector and it deserves this dedication.

Professional development is so vital to to give children the best start in life. One thing in particular to note from ACAV Conference was that some centres brought a few educators to attend and learn. While it’s not always easy organising staff at one place at one time, but if you can, there is no doubt that the whole team will experience the benefits.

So what benefits are there to be drawn from approaching professional development and training as a team?

1. Collective knowledge

When your team’s knowledge increases as a group, they can encourage one another and share perspectives. Teams who have done training together often reflect on what they learned and have a better understanding of the training.

2. Ideas and improvements

With everyone on the same page, your educators’ ability to apply what they learned is increased too. From the collective knowledge developed through group PD training, educators will have a solid shared foundation on which to brainstorm fresh ideas and improvements to the way you operate in your centre.

3. Bonding time

A team whose members know and understand one another have a better chance of working together more effectively. Giving your team of educators the opportunity to have experiences outside of the workplace and their usual set tasks can help develop both their professional and personal relationships. The results can be lower staff turnover, higher educator engagement and an overall happier team.

The Bonkers Beat programs were built with whole team professional development and training in mind. That’s why all centres who implement Bonkers Beat Programs, attend two Wellness Summits each year in order to learn and grow together.

Speaking of Bonkers Beat, our ‘Match & Win’ raffle resulted in two lucky winners out of almost 200 entries! The winning centres will now have access to our Bonkers Beat Starter Program online course (valued at $595). They can use this program for their entire team to build confidence in implementing music into daily routines.

In the interests of developing strong teams within your centre, we want to give you some practical tools.
Click here to access the special offer. Your whole team will reap the rewards – and so will your centre, your families and children.

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