The Pros of Pets

Cheep Cheep Cheep.... 6 adorable little chickens made their way into preschool today! Our chicken coop is undergoing some minor repairs and then these 6 fluffy little gems will become permanent preschool residents (saved by Tash from an unfortunate fate!!) In the mean time, they have gone home with one of our lovely families.

Having pets/animals in our service has always been important to us. Currently we have tadpoles and silkworms and we have previously had ducks, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and birds. I am always amazed at the joy and learning animals bring:

• Gaining an understanding of lifecycles - watching the tadpoles and silkworms grow and change
• Caring for others - feeding, changing water, sweeping out the enclosure, adding new straw
• Gaining an understanding of where food comes from - collecting the eggs from the chickens and using them in cooking
• A calming effect - so often I have seen littlies who are struggling with mum or dad leaving, calm down when face to face with a furry friend

Sometimes I hear that it must be hard work to have animals in the centre....and yes, it is... But the reward is totally worth it!!

Things I’ve learnt from Playschool

Yesterday afternoon I sat watching Playschool with my 18month old. I usually miss it due to being at work, but a Friday afternoon early mark let me spend some extra time with my unhappy (sick) little man. We snuggled together and watched Playschool and the whole time I was amazed at how it engaged him (and me!) This is a kid that has very little interest in television, usually only giving commercials a passing glance or stopping to dance to some music. But somehow, Playschool got him in! And it used to get me in too….well I guess it still does! This made me reflect on all the things I (and other Early Childhood professionals) have and no doubt will, learn from playschool.

·         Made up songs are great – sure there are the old classics, the “fall-backs” but making up songs about things that the children are interested in is great! It doesn’t matter how well you can sing, just make it rhyme and make it fun and the kids will love it

·         Don’t be afraid to act silly – not only will the kids find it funny, but they are more likely to let go of any inhibitions that they may have and really get in and enjoy dance and drama

·         A box is amazing – yesterday I saw boxes get turned into moving trucks, furniture and shoes. The potential of a simple box is so often forgotten! I’ve noticed over the years that kids will often be creative with boxes, but as a teacher I am not. Why haven’t I made story props from boxes before? In addition to the boxes, yesterday they made a waterwheel out of a laundry basket lid and some yoghurt containers – genius!

·         Stories are so much better with props – yesterday’s story was about a little girl moving house. It was acted out through dolls and bears and using cardboard box houses and moving trucks. So often we just pull out a book and read it. Sure we might use voices to engage the kids, but they really do love us acting things out – and even better if they can help! Two of the amazing educators at my centre regularly put on a puppet show for the kids and use it as a way to discuss issues – the kids love it!

I’m sure there are many more things I have learnt from Playschool, but these stood out from yesterday’s viewing. I would love to hear what you have learnt from this iconic Australian children’s program…

Oh – and it also inspired me to set a weekly challenge for my team. They are to get the children engaged in an “active” song (one with dance moves etc) that they haven’t done before and then share with the team. Cant wait to see what they come up with (I might even have a go myself!)

The arrival of Spring

Just a quick post for today (have been off sick for a few days now!)Finally the warmer weather has arrived and I love it! I love walking out into the yard and finding kids (and often teachers!) knee deep in the mud pit with hoses and pipes distributing water from our rain tank. I love seeing barefeet running through the yard. I love picnics under the shade of the trees. I love seeing the kids splashing and searching for frogs in our trickle stream. I love watching a “slip and slide” being created on the hill just outside our back gates – a giant piece of black plastic lathered in soap, a teacher with a hose and a pile of crashmats at the bottom. I love the grins on the kids’ faces when they land at the bottom. I love the laughter of the adults who revel in seeing children having so much fun with such basic materials!

Would love to hear about some of the “warm weather” experiences in other centres!

Just a pile of sticks?

Earlier this week one of our amazing educators bought in a stack of branches that had recently been cut down. Perfectly straight and smooth, these quickly attracted interest from the children. On the first day they used them to create structures in the sandpit, the next day to make a large cubby in the yard. At various times, children were observed carrying them around the yard, picking up different branches (appearing to compare the weights of them!)

It really reminded me what I love about our yard. We have created a space that really doesn’t require any equipment to be put out. It encourages the children to explore the natural environment and to be creative with resources. Just this week I have loved watching a group of girls creating “cakes” with dirt from the garden and water from our rainwater tanks, watched a little one make a “fire” on our herb hill (as he scooped up rocks and bark and piled them up, it created dust clouds which he likened to smoke! I also love watching the kids climb and just hang out in the trees! It was particularly exciting to see an art book up a tree today – evidence of some creative little being using the natural environment to their advantage…it just makes me smile!

A little tricky to see - but evidence of creativity up a tree!

If you didn’t get any equipment out in the outdoor environment…what would the children do? Do you have open ended, natural materials for them to explore? How do they use them?

Drawing with felt tip pens...oh how I love it!

About a week ago I was spending some time in our preschool room. We are fortunate enough to have our very own, dedicated art space – Umiliko (which means “To create”) We had out some fine black markers as well as a few coloured pencils. With these, one of our passionate educators had put a pineapple as a provocation. I looked at some of the observational drawings that the children had been doing and was delighted! The detail in these drawings was just amazing.

I stayed in the art room with one of our young creators (4.8years) and watched as she finished her observational drawing of the pineapple. Once it was completed she selected a new piece of paper and began drawing.

The detail that went into this drawing was incredible. We have so many art mediums available for the children, but I must admit that these pens are my absolute favourite. In the last week I have watched children combine felt tip pens with coloured pencils, watercolour paints and also oil pastels. The amount of detail they allow (and I think encourage) children to use is just amazing.

A quick flick through the beautiful book It’s Not A Bird Yet: The Drama of Drawing – by Ursula Kolbe shows some wonderfully detailed drawings using felt tip pens. Ursula also says “Each medium has its’ own voice” – what true words! Looking at the drawing by this creative little being I got those chills up my spine that you get when something just fills you with delight (or is that just me??)

I would love to hear about your use of fine tip pens and other art mediums

Rainy Days...

What’s worse than watching the clock tick by ever so slowly on a Friday afternoon? Having 15 pre-schoolers stuck inside going crazy while it ticks by! This is what happened to me last Friday afternoon and I struggled to come up with ideas. We ended up playing hide and seek, sleeping dogs (or as the kids call it – dead dogs!) kangaroo skippyroo and freeze. We managed to survive the afternoon and actually have a pretty good time, but it got me thinking about things to do on rainy days…

·         Put the clear tunnel off the verandah and let the kids lie in it and watch the rain (our kids love this, but its best for light rain!)

·         Grab gumboots and an umbrella and go for a rainwalk around the yard

·         Make cubbies using odds and ends

·         Bring some of the large foam shapes and gym mats inside and create an obstacle course indoors

I did some browsing of some of my favourite blogs and found this great article on let the children play - http://progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com/2011/08/chalking-in-rain.html

Can’t wait to try this one…

Would love to hear some different rainy day ideas – how do you “embrace” the wet weather, rather than letting it ruin the program?

The Hunter Alliance for Childhood - A must!

I have just returned from day 2 of the Hunter Alliance for Childhood  Expo for Childhood and have to share! Yesterday I listened to an Additive Alert presentation which I believe is going to change how I live my life and how I view the lunchboxes that come into our centre each day. The startling facts about additives in our food (or as presenter Natalie Stackhouse referred to it – edible food like substance!) blew my mind. As an advocate for children I feel I can’t watch the kids in my care put those things into their body without trying to share the information with our families. Because of this, we are planning an Additive Alert presentation for families at our service,

Prior to the presentation I visited each of the stalls, all offering natural services to make parenting easier. There were books that would make a great addition to our parent library, gorgeous wooden toys and delicious organic food.

Today I headed back with my partner and little one in tow. We watched an amazing film – Consuming Kids, which shed light on marketing and the commercialisation of children. It helped to confirm why I don’t have Wiggles/Dora/Ben10 etc in my household! If you ever get the chance to see the film – DO IT, you won’t regret it.

Anyway, the point of this post isn’t just to promote all of the wonderful things at the expo (that’s just a bonus!) it is to make everyone aware of the Hunter Alliance for Childhood. I think as educators of young children we are also advocates. We have a responsibility for their well-being and for ensuring that the children in our care get to be exactly that – children!! For as little as $5, you can join HAC and support this amazing organisation that advocates for children's rights to 'Real Food, Real Play, Real Life.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the expo if you went!

The great “program” dilemma!

So I don’t know if this is going to be an “inspirational” post as such, but it is something that has me thinking at the moment. Tonight at our staff meeting we will be discussing our program. Currently we do a daily journal in both of our rooms – a narrative of the play and learning that has taken place throughout the day, accompanied by delightful photographs. Our wonderful educators put a lot of time and thought into the journal, yet sadly for the most part – it is unread. This can be frustrating and I often find myself questioning...

·         Who do we produce the journal for?

·         If it isn’t read by families is it any less meaningful?

·         Is there a way to encourage families to read it? (And yes we realise that families are busy!)

I have seen some beautiful programs/journals in services – they look great, read well, yet I still wonder if they are being read and enjoyed? Does a visually appealing journal equal more readership? We currently print our journals in black and white as it is more cost effective, however perhaps if they were in colour they would be more appreciated. For our service it has always been more important that the content be meaningful than that the journal look “pretty”, but maybe we need to strike a balance between the two.

This is how a typical journal of ours looks:

I also wonder if the busy lives of families contribute to the lack of readership. Maybe we need to think outside the box (or off the page!) and look at different types of technology to share this information with families without compromising the privacy of the children. Perhaps families would be more inclined to read the journal if it was available in different ways, such as via email or on a blog.

I did a quick google search and found a child care service that blogs...

http://www.coomeraclubhouse.com.au/blog/

With the Early Years Learning Framework in place, the importance of meaningful documentation of children’s learning has been highlighted. The framework really values play and explains the benefits of play in a simplistic, family friendly way. The challenge now, for us as educators, is to find ways to share that with families.

I am really excited to hear some innovative ideas at our staff meeting tonight and would love to hear how other centre’s document children’s learning. Do you have a daily journal? Do you have a weekly one? How do you entice families to read and appreciate this documentation?

The quest for an independent school...

Back in 2008, Tash (Owner of Inspired EC) and I spoke at the Connecting Children with Nature Conference in Perth. Although one of the highlights was undoubtedly hearing the amazing Claire Warden share her passion, it was Bold Park Community School that had a profound impact on me and it’s one I find difficult to explain – so bear with me!

Perhaps I should start by saying that mainstream schools really disturb me. I do not cope with the concept that all children need to learn the same thing at the same time in the same way – education is not one size fits all! To really explain my issue with mainstream education I would need a 24 hour block of time, so let me summarise the key problems I have:

·         Homework – seriously, is 6hours of structured learning not enough? Is it really necessary to spend more time at home, eating into precious family time?

·         Stencils – walking into a classroom and seeing 25 pictures that all look the same makes me want to throw myself on the floor like a tantruming toddler! Surely children are capable of drawing for themselves and even if the result isn’t a perfectly formed duck – does it really matter? Isn’t the process far more important?

·         The lack of wonder/curiosity – the answers just seem to be there and there is always a right answer. How nice would it be for children to hypothesise and then investigate and maybe not even find a definite answer?!

·         The environment – a sterile room with tables, chairs and not much else! Where is the home-like feel that we value so strongly in early childhood? Surely school age children deserve that too. And don’t even get me started on the outdoor environment…concrete and plastic L

·         A lone teacher – I think there is so much to be said for team teaching. If there is a personality clash between a child and their teacher (and let’s face it, it happens) it’s just too bad. Having two teachers means there are two different adult personalities in the room, two different perspectives and lots more creative ideas bouncing around!

Okay, I could go on but I think I’ve made my point and it is clear why I remain in Early Childhood! Getting back to the amazing Bold Park Community School… Everything I just wrote about above was not an issue at Bold Park. The classrooms were light filled, home-like environments that clearly said “you are valued.” Rather than rows of tables and chairs, the rooms were set up in interest areas/stations. There were science areas where children could find facts, share their ideas and test theories. There were art spaces filled with quality, open ended materials that just seemed to invite children to come and express themselves. It was clear that play was valued. I couldn’t find a stencil no matter how hard I looked, instead the walls featured beautifully presented documentation of the children’s learning. I walked away from that school wishing that I didn’t live on the other side of the country!

There are many other independent schools throughout Australia….just none here in Newcastle, which breaks my heart. In my constant web trawling I have found a few that take an approach more in line with early childhood education:

·         Kinma – Sydney NSW

·         Candlebark School – Victoria (Run by Author John Marsden)

·         Fitzroy Community School – Victoria

·         Collingwood College – Victoria

I look through these sites and others and daydream about sending my child to an amazing place like this. I spend my days at work wishing that we could keep our kids in that rich and inspiring environment forever.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am not saying that this type of education is what every parent wants for their child. I’m simply saying that there needs to be options! In the Newcastle area the options are mainstream public education, private education (which tends to be taught in a similar way to the public system) and the Newcastle Waldorf School and I just don’t believe it is enough – our children deserve more.

So…what to do? We need a bunch of passionate people to come together and get an independent school off the ground in Newcastle – people who are not afraid to say “I want something better for children.” If they can do it in Perth, Sydney and Victoria, surely we can do it here. Who is with me??

CLOTH NAPPIES IN CHILD CARE – WHY NOT?

Early in 2010 I was heavily pregnant with my first child and looking forward to using the gorgeous Modern Cloth Nappies my partner and I had ordered several months ago from Baby Beehinds. I think I had bored all of my staff with my irrational nappy love, so was extremely delighted when I heard the question “Can I bring cloth nappies to your centre?”  Finally, someone else who shared my passion for cloth!  In the six years I had been at the service we had not once had a request for cloth nappies and until they were on my personal radar I had not really thought about it.  After happily agreeing to have our first cloth bottomed toddler at the service I began to think more and more about it.  Why hadn’t we had cloth nappies before?  Was it because no-one uses cloth anymore or was it because we don’t encourage the option of cloth nappies in our promotional material?  Was there any real reason why we didn’t promote the use of cloth nappies?

For weeks after, I couldn’t stop thinking about cloth nappies and their use in child care services.  I spoke to several other Directors and also to friends who use cloth nappies and found that many services did not have cloth nappies as an option.  I wondered what the reasons were for this. The Fourth Edition of Staying Healthy in Child Care gives recommendations for how services use cloth nappies if families wish to provide them and it makes it sound like a pretty unpleasant or difficult option, stating:

If a parent provides cloth nappies for their child’s use, ensure the parent also provides ‘plastic pants’ to help

prevent faeces, and therefore germs, from leaking. Wearing clothing over plastic pants also reduces the

number of germs from the bowel being transferred to surfaces in the centre. It is a good idea for the nappy

and the plastic pants to be covered with clothing at all times. Parents need to be aware that cloth nappies

with urine and/or faeces will not be rinsed or washed at the centre. They are to be placed into a plastic bag

and laundered at home.

I have now been using modern cloth nappies on my own child since March 2010, without “plastic pants” and am yet to have a “leak” as mentioned in Staying Healthy in Child Care.  I think the statement of the NHMRC is outdated and primarily relates to traditional terry cloth squares which are no longer the only cloth nappy option available.  This statement also encourages the belief that cloth nappies are somehow less hygienic than their disposable counterparts, a belief that was disproven in an American study in the 1990s that focused on the difference in hygiene in child care environments using cloth and disposable nappies.  The results showed that the type of nappy used made no difference and that hygiene levels came down to the hygiene practices of carers.

So easy to use...even a bubba can help!

So with those things in mind, again I wondered, why not?  In 2006 our service devised an Environmental Plan and began making changes to ensure we left a lighter footprint on the earth.  As I look back now, more than 5 years on, I am amazed that none of us really thought about nappies.  However, there is no point dwelling on possible missed opportunities – it is time for action!

My adorable boy showing off his cloth nappy "hat"

We added the following to our Nappy Change Policy:

·         Families were to provide 4+ cloth nappies/day for their child (labelled with their name)

·         Families were to provide a labelled storage bag (usually known as a wet bag)

·         Staff would put soiled nappies straight into the wet bag at nappy change time

·         The wet bag would be kept in the child locked cupboard where the nappy bin (for disposables) was kept

·         Families were to collect their wet bag at the end of the day and were responsible for laundering

We then made sure that families were aware of their nappying options by adding it to our information booklet that families receive when enquiring about care, and also included it in our monthly newsletter.  We felt it was important that families know they have choices at our service. As a cloth nappy user myself, I now understand that it is a lifestyle choice and one that is made very consciously.  I know that if I was told I couldn’t send my child to child care in cloth nappies, I would not send him to that service - that is how important it is to me!

While cloth nappies may not be for everyone, I feel it is important that we respect the choices made by families and incorporate them into our services where possible.  And just think – there will be fewer nappies in your garbage bin at the end of the day!  For services that are already “Cloth-Friendly” I encourage you to visit the Australian Nappy Network website and enter your details into their cloth friendly child care survey, an initiative designed to keep a register for families looking for cloth friendly care.

At a time when many families are focussing on the environmental effects when making purchases, I feel it is an opportune time for child care services to embrace nappy choices and support families who wish to join the cloth nappy revolution!

And best of all.... they are super cute!

Would love to hear about any centres using cloth!!

Nicole

Welcome...

Well the day has finally arrived... Inspired EC has its' own blog! Each week I will share my passion for all things Early Childhood.

I am proud mumma to a delightful 16month old and an Early Childhood Teacher/Director at Woodrising Community Preschool and Child Care Centre  in beautiful Lake Macquarie, NSW.

I am a self confessed blog addict and love finding new Early Childhood/Parenting blogs to "stalk" The aim of this blog will be to share ideas, images and stories to delight and inspire. Comments and feedback are encouraged - there is nothing like a good discussion (or debate!) between passionate people.

I can't wait to begin sharing my ramblings with you!


Nicole