Tag: wellness

Posted on

Involving Dad this Father’s Day

Research has confirmed that involved dads are happier dads and the benefits for children are countless too. Improved wellbeing, cognitive, social, behavioural outcomes and more. With Father’s Day coming up on Sunday 1 September, it’s time to schedule a time at your childcare centre for dads!

While dads are welcome to get involved in aspects of their children’s early childhood education year-round, there’s something extra special about an invite just for them! 

Dads and special male role models

To make sure your Father’s Day event at childcare is inclusive of all families, Dads and Special Friends Day or similar could be a more fitting name. 

This can ensure that any special male role model feels welcome to attend. Extend the invitation out to uncles, step-dads, grandfathers or close family friends.

Finding the best time

Breakfast or afternoon tea are usually the best times. This allows for those who are working to only take an hour or two out of their working day to attend. Make sure you’ve got coffee on hand and a snack, like pastries, fruit or biscuits.

For those who can’t bring someone along for whatever reason, centre the day around creating a special gift for Father’s Day. Children who are flying solo through the event can focus on getting their gift looking fantastic ready to take home. Meanwhile, those who have dad in attendance on the day can work on something special together.

Craft Father’s Day ideas

Set up a few different craft stations so children can choose to rotate or stick to one they like.

Ideas you could try include:

Portrait painting: Set up some easels and smocks and get children to paint dad! Guaranteed to be adorable and/or hilarious!

Handprint art: Paint the palm of dad’s hand and have him make a print on paper. Then get the children to do a handprint on top, creating a memorable piece of art to cherish — their hands don’t stay that small for long!

Jar plants: A big bucket of soil, some succulent cuttings and recycled jars are all you need for children and their dads to get planting together. Add in some glue and bits and pieces to decorate the jar for extra fun.

Musical fun on Father’s Day

Every day is a good day for music, and Father’s Day is no exception! Bonkers Beat children love singing songs and reciting poems. Not only does this create a sense of celebration and fun, but it also boosts children’s confidence and ability to perform in
front of a crowd. A very useful skill for life! 

To help children gain a love of poetry, Bonkers hopes you enjoy this special Father’s Day gift – a special poem called ‘My Daddy’. Click here to access.

One last thing – Don’t forget to take pictures on the day!
Take a look at our Father’s Day childcare celebration in 2018 at Bonkers Beat Music Kinder here. 

Posted on

7 Reasons You Must Attend 7 Stones

early childhood professional development

The practical ‘7 Stones’ workshops are back by popular demand! ‘7 Stones’ is renowned for being one of the most practical workshops, delivering early childhood professional development designed for childcare centre owners and/or directors who want to tackle the big issues in their centre and thrive.

If you have come up against issues with occupancy, market competition, staffing challenges, improving your NQS Rating and more, ‘7 Stones’ is exactly what you’ve been looking for. Need convincing?

Here are 7 reasons why ‘7 Stones’ is a must!

1. Early Childhood Professional Development is a must

Regular early childhood professional development opportunities are vital to your centre’s success. Stay on the pulse of the latest changes in the industry, including the NQF and ELYF, best practice and innovative approaches.

2. A truly practical, hands-on experience

Many workshops are simply sit, watch and listen scenarios. Not 7 Stones! This is a workshop that gets you involved and demonstrates rather than tells. A fully immersive workshop that gives you the confidence to take what you learn and apply it right away!

3. Directly address your biggest challenges

Occupancy, staff issues, competition, NQS, documentation, wellbeing, relationships — we address all the biggest challenges in early childhood education. 

4. PD designed for childcare centre Owners and Directors

This early childhood professional development has been designed specifically with childcare centre Owners and Directors in mind. This means you’ll find the entire session relevant and you’ll be surrounded by likeminded individuals, many of whom will be facing the same challenges you are. Many attendees find it to be a great networking experience as well as a practical workshop.

5. Leave with an actionable plan for improvement

The hands-on nature of the 7 Stones workshops means you have the opportunity to really take away practical knowledge and skills. We take a real-life approach so you can implement what you learn in your centre without hesitation.

6. Feel inspired

If there’s one item of feedback that is consistent every single time we run 7 Stones sessions, it’s that the attendees leave feeling completely inspired. Inspired to make a positive change in their centres and reach their full potential!

7. It’s FREE 

A free 3-hour professional development session with an award-winning early childhood expert? What are you waiting for?! Book your seat here: www.bonkersbeat.com/7stones

Can’t wait to see you there!

Posted on

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!

Posted on

6 Ways to Celebrate Christmas (plus FREE access to the Bonkers Beat songs!)

In case you didn’t realise, it is Christmas in less than six weeks! Have you got the remainder of the year mapped out in your centre? What about your plans for the New Year to get 2019 off to the best start imaginable? Well, you’re in luck. Not only have we got six special Christmas ideas to share with you, but also an extra special gift – free access to the award-winning Bonkers Beat Program!

We are giving you your free access as an early Christmas present, so you can utilise all that it has to offer from now until Christmas Day! Sign up here!

  1. Sing, sing, SING: This festive time of year is a wonderful time to get singing! With free access to Bonkers Beat’s well-loved children’s songs, you have plenty of resources to get children (and staff!) singing all day long and feeling the excitement of this time of year.
  2. Arrange an end of year concert: if you haven’t yet, there’s still time to put together a Christmas concert or end of year presentation with children. Use your free Bonkers Beat access to include three Bonkers Beat songs. It’s simple to implement: just watch the videos, print the words and even enhance children’s engagement with the songs through the suggested provocations. Children will love seeing out the year with such fun, and parents will go away raving about your centre.
  3. Keep it inclusive and diverse: Have a focus on inclusion in your end of year celebrations. Explore Christmas the world over and even talk about the fact that not all cultures celebrate Christmas. Where possible, involve families and educators in discussing how they celebrate during the festive period. These books could help too.
  4. Cooking to celebrate: Christmas and other celebrations often have many different cuisines associated with it. Why not get children exploring this? How do you make the food, what does it symbolise, what do their families eat when celebrating?
  5. Special reflections: As the end of the year approaches, encourage children to reflect. What has been learned this year? How are things different now compared to the beginning of the year? Reflections can relate back to Christmas, other cultural celebrations or the year that was.
  6. Inclusive craft: Fostering a sense of belonging is important all year round, so consider the diversity of your children and families when planning craft. It can be helpful to shift the focus to the giving of gifts and appreciation of family, so making presents for loved ones is a great idea.

And don’t forget to come and get your gift of almost 6 weeks of free access to our Bonkers Beat Programs! If you start embedding our programs immediately, you can see the year out with so many benefits:

  • Parents raving about your centre
  • Educators feeling motivated with improved practical skills
  • An enhanced curriculum that boosts children’s brain development
  • A centre with a fun and stimulating environment
  • Engaged parents and even your entire local community
  • Happy, confident children with tools to learn and express themselves

Discover more about the Bonkers Beat Programs here.

Ready to get started on your free, no obligation, no strings attached trial? CLICK HERE!

 

Posted on

Inspiring ways to build collaborative relationships with families

In a busy, fast-paced world, to involve families with your centre when they are already juggling children, work, home duties and many other commitments can be a complex challenge. On one hand, we all understand being time poor, but we also know the positive impact collaborative relationships between centres and families can have on children’s outcomes.

The National Quality Standard has a Quality Area dedicated this very goal; Quality Area 6: Collaborative partnerships with families and communities. Here’s how it is officially defined as per the ACECQA website:

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.

So, what is a collaborative partnership?

Running events that parents come along to is great, but it’s not quite a collaborative partnership. To be collaborative with families and the community you need to create opportunities for them to contribute to the curriculum and have active input into children’s education at your centre. Thankfully, collaboration doesn’t have to be a huge time-consuming commitment for families.

Many centres continue to struggle with involving families in their Quality Improvement Plan or decision making, but it can be done – and it doesn’t have to be as challenging as you might think. Let’s explore some ways you can inspire families and communities to work with you and your centre.

Simple ways to inspire collaboration

Not only will developing collaborative partnerships contribute positively to children’s outcomes, they can also play a role in the success of your centre and help you achieve an Excellent Rating under the NQS. In fact, services must be able to demonstrate that they provide exceptional education and care in a minimum of three of these six areas

  1. Collaborative partnerships with professional, community or research organisations
  2. Commitment to children that respects, reflects and celebrates culture and diversity, including place of origin
  3. Inclusive partnerships with children and families
  4. Positive workplace culture and organisational values
  5. Practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth
  6. Sustained commitment to professional development and support of educators.

Choose three that you want to focus on to get started. For Bonkers Beat, we have always been passionate about engaging families in the curriculum and empowering parents with reinforcing music and wellbeing practices at home.

Therefore, in the application for Excellent Rating, Bonkers Beat nominated three excellence themes, which are very close to our heart:

  • Commitment to children that respects, reflects and celebrates culture and diversity, including place of origin
  • Inclusive partnerships with children and families
  • Practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth

What will your three focus themes be?

Once you’ve chosen them, these are simple and achievable ways to start creating some meaningful collaborative partnerships with parents and your centre’s local community:

  • Active events

Social events like a family fun evening, family picnic, movie night, sports event, attending community festivals, or even try a working bee. Not just events where families come and watch. We want it to be collaborative and active rather than passive. A working bee, for example, gets everyone working together — planning, learning and being productive while having fun! Working bees are a fantastic way to bring people together in an active way. Here are some photos from our latest working bee.

  • Effective feedback processes

In addition to fostering an open line of communication with families which is a must, actively ask for their opinions and feedback on a variety of topics. Before making a decision, where possible try to get families involved in the process.

  • Ask for input into the curriculum

Maybe you’re celebrating a cultural date or want to open a discussion about a certain country? Send a note home or post on your service’s Facebook group to invite families to participate by speaking to the children about their culture. Want to talk about different jobs people have? Ask families if they can come and talk to children about their career.

How do you promote collaborative relationships with families at your centre? Share with us on Facebook and let’s continue to inspire one another to deliver the best education possible.

Posted on

Creative ideas for Father’s (and a Special Person’s) Day

Father’s (and a Special Person’s) Day is around the corner, with the annual occasion taking place on 2 September in Australia this year. That means it’s time to plan a celebration such as morning or afternoon tea with some special surprises for the great men in children’s lives!

Taking the time to acknowledge the important role dads have in the family is fun and exciting for children, and it can also include men in children’s lives who are special male role models and father figures too. After all, families come in all different shapes and sizes, and being inclusive ensures everyone gets to join in.

Create an invitation or notice that highlights this by inviting fathers and other special male role models. Many centres opt for Fathers and Special Person Day and specifically note that step-dads, uncles, grandfathers and family friends in children’s lives are invited.

Get some takeaway coffee cups and sort everyone out with a hot drink as the dads and other special men enjoy being the centre of attention. A few simple craft stations or a little performance are all you need to create a memorable event.

If you’re looking for some craft ideas to do at centres or even for parents to do at home with children, here are five great ones to try!

Five special creative ideas:

  1.  Recite or write a poem for dads: To help you get organised, enjoy exclusive access to our much-loved Bonkers Beat poem ‘My Daddy’ – click here.
  2. Paint a portrait: Get out the paints and ask children to create a portrait of their dad or special male figure. If you have the time, you can even do this as part of the father’s day event.
  3. Dad grassheads: You need to get these done in advance, so don’t waste another moment and get started!
  4. Coins and keys box: Make sure dad never loses his keys again and can keep track of his loose change with a DIY box child can make. Here’s how.
  5. Following in your footsteps: This heartfelt craft requires a little more effort but it’s worth it for how thoughtful it is and what a beautiful keepsake it makes. Credit to Kidspot.

We look forward to hearing about your creative ideas you use with children in celebrating Father’s (and a Special Person’s) Day. Please share with us on our Facebook page.

Posted on

Sing and Play for Father Child Engagement

While every family is different, quite often it is the mother of the family who has the most engagement in children’s early childhood education. This is for a variety of reasons and sometimes cannot be helped, but where possible it is really important to encourage fathers to grab hold of opportunities to participate in this crucial period of children’s development.

Research has demonstrated that high levels of positive father involvement result in higher levels of self-esteem in children and a range of studies have found favourable social, emotional, behavioural and educational outcomes. This is in addition to nurturing a beautiful father-child relationship that can flourish for a lifetime.

To help create more opportunities for fathers and children to engage and spend time together while enhancing children’s development, we invite dads to join us at Bonkers Beat ‘Sing & Play’ Group!

Offering educational and enjoyable experiences centres around music, wellbeing, Montessori and art, ‘Sing & Play’ Group takes place on Saturdays from 9.30am-10.30am and is suitable for children from 15 months to 3 years old. And your first session is FREE!

Get ready to:

  • build your child’s confidence and social skills through music
  • enhance creativity through art
  • improve wellbeing with stretching and breathing exercises
  • stimulate brain development with Montessori experiences
  • Have meaningful, quality FUN with your child!

It’s worth noting that increased father and child involvement benefits dads too. Fathers who spend quality time with their children feel more satisfied with their lives and experience more empathy, increased relationship happiness and overall improved sense of wellbeing.

Of course, mums are welcome too, as well as uncles, aunties and grandparents — the more loving and engaged adults in a child’s life, the better!

Try your first session free of charge then continue each Saturday throughout Term 2 at $12 per session. Around the same price as coffee and cake at the local café but with way more benefits for your child!

To register for our 1st session free, email info@bonkersbeat.com or call 9587 8786.

Can’t wait to see you!

 

 

 

 

Sources:
https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/op22.pdf
https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/families/about-families/dads/fathers-connecting-children

Posted on

Building strong teams and positive culture

culture in early childhood education

Working in early childhood education, collaboration is essential. Not just between centres and families, but also among staff. Building teams and a positive culture in early childhood education paves the way for a centre and its educators to thrive. Of course, a thriving centre means the best experience for families and children too.

Over the years we have asked countless educators what their biggest challenges are, and we frequently hear that one of the challenges is staff motivation, culture and turnover. Sound familiar?

In 2016 the Queensland University of Technology surveyed 1,200 early childhood educators across Australia about their jobs. Of those surveyed, one in five planned to leave their position within the following year. The reasons cited for this included feeling undervalued and not enjoying the working environment.

Creating a positive culture in your workplace can help your team feel bonded, supported and appreciated. A little effort can go a long way to keep your staff turnover low, and your centre’s culture brimming with positivity and happiness!

A team that is motivated and appreciated is one that will help your centre and its children reach their full potential. Take a look at these ways that you can build teams and a positive culture within your organisation and consider giving them a try:

  1. Focus on the positives:

    Often when we have staff meetings or changes, the focus is on what we can do better. While improvement is important, try to shift the focus to the positives. Hearing what is being done well will encourage everyone to want to do it more.

  2. Make responsibilities clear:

    Clashes in teams can arise when there is uncertainty over who is responsible for what, or if someone feels they have an unfair share of the workload or have drawn the short straw. Keep it clear and make sure everyone feels comfortable in speaking up in the right way if something is displeasing to them.

  3. Involve your team in decisions:

    A democracy is always better than a dictatorship, so make sure your team feels they have some say in the workplace. Friendly negotiations, votes, team discussions – it’s important changes happen from within a team, not to them. That way, they’ll feel they’ve accomplished something together.

  4. Spend quality time together:

    Don’t let it become all work and no play! After all, in early childhood education, we are experts at playing! Organise some team dinners or even a yearly staff retreat! Don’t forget to mark the end of the year with a celebration too. Some centres have a list of all staff birthdays so that if that member of your team is in on their special day, you can all sing happy birthday to them. A lovely gesture!

  5. Group professional development:

    A team that learns together can grow together, in the same direction. This is one of the reasons the Bonkers Beat programs and our Wellness Summits are so effective for centres and their culture – because we work with the entire team together. Take a look at teams having a great time and growing as educators together at our recent Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits here.

We’d love to hear how you help your team to bond and create a positive culture in your early childhood education service? Share with us on Facebook!

Posted on

A Merry Bonkers Christmas (And thank you)!

As each year goes by we feel more and more grateful to work with passionate, dedicated early childhood education professionals and parents. I can say without a doubt that 2017 was no exception – and I’ve got a good feeling about 2018 too!

This year we have all worked together to the same very important and honourable goal: to deliver the best education to young children. The children we care for each day are the reason we keep working so hard, striving to improve and find the most effective ways to build their resilience, enhance their wellbeing and empower them to explore, learn and grow.

I think we all did a great job! And next year we will continue on this journey together as educators and parents, doing all we can for young children and their futures.

To our wonderful readers and supporters, from the bottom of my heart and from all of us at Bonkers Beat, we say thank you and Merry Christmas!

Enjoy our special Bonkers Beat Christmas song ‘Ring The Bells’ and spread Christmas cheer to all your loved ones including animals too.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a New Year that is fulfilling, empowering, inspiring and full of happiness.

I hope you will have a well-deserved break.

Keep singing and stretching,

Galina

and the Bonkers Beat Team

Posted on

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

Powered by WishList Member - Membership Software