Through Australia’s bushfires, COVID-19 and a number of other highly stressful events in the past few years, educators, learning communities, families and children have shown resilience and supported each other’s mental health and wellbeing. However, the uncertainty, rapid change and accompanying feelings we might have experienced—anger, grief, loss, shame or the feeling of being overwhelmed, […]
‘Being safe is a foundation to wellbeing. When children feel safe, their brains relax, cortisol decreases and they are calmer.’—(Always Be You, 2020). This piece, by SHONA DOYLE from Be You explores children’s wellbeing, providing safe environments and linking researcher, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory back to early childhood education. When we set high but achievable expectations, […]
‘The early years of a human being’s life have a significant impact on lifelong mental health and wellbeing.’ Be You shares the importance of mental health and wellbeing to babies and toddlers and suggests resources for families and educators. New research has increased understanding of the environmental and biological factors that shape babies’ and toddlers’ […]
Observing children is a great way of getting to know them. It’s also how we can gather information about their mental health and wellbeing, including noticing their strengths and behaviours that may cause concern or present possible signs of mental health issues. Read more about the behaviour, emotions, thoughts, learning and social relationships (BETLS) observation […]
Reflecting and planning skills are fundamental to our work as educators. While reflection allows us to have a wider range of perspectives and brings about new ways of thinking or understanding, planning builds upon that new understanding to create informed, responsive goals. Have you considered how both these practices may also help strengthen and protect […]
The end of the year can be a stressful time for everyone. Families and educators may be juggling work commitments, family and social events and planning for holidays. End-of-year celebrations, finalising portfolios and transition reports, staff changes and planning for the coming year all take their toll … What does this mean for our stress […]
December is almost over. This can mean excitement about new beginnings approaching, but also, feelings of sadness can take us by surprise. Transitions happen every day and are best described as a period where we try to adapt to new circumstances, expectations, people, environments or routines. Using our existing knowledge and experiences, we make predictions […]
Australia regularly experiences natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and bushfires, as well as increasing community violence or acts of terrorism. These distressing events can be traumatic for everyone in the community, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes, as in the case of natural disasters, there can be some preparation, both physical and psychological. Being psychologically […]
This article first appeared on KidsMatter Early Childhood’s Shared Thinking blog on 30 June 2014. It was first shared on The Spoke in 2018 and was updated in July 2020. What self-regulation is … and isn’t Self-regulation is not simply self-control. It is the ability to manage our energy states, emotions, behaviour and attention: the […]
This blog post was originally posted in 2018, and was updated in July 2020. Supporting children’s social and emotional learning Babies are born communicators and are capable of experiencing and expressing a wide range of emotions. Through their many positive interactions with caregivers, they learn to feel good about themselves and to enjoy relating with […]
