Yesterday was my last day volunteering with the infants and toddlers. I spent part of the morning with the infants. I played with Baby L and Baby C. They’ve grown so much. They are both walking and Baby C even says some words. She always says hi to everyone when they walk in. At one point, she picked up one of those soft rings and brought it over to me. Crawling Baby thought it was funny when I put it on his head so I did the same thing to Baby L. Baby L and Baby C laughed. When she’d try to steady the ring on Baby L’s head, it would always fall off. After it fell, it’d role across the room. Baby L chased after it laughing and then brought it back to me to do over again. Then we played a game of peak-a-boo with me sitting behind a shelf which they had fun with, but I had to stop when they started throwing toys on the other side where Baby E was laying. One of the toys actually hit her, but she didn’t cry.
When they brought the babies outside, there wasn’t anything for me to do so I went into the toddler room for a while. I saw Crawling Baby for the first time since his transition. Well, he’s not a crawling baby at all anymore. He’s been walking for a while now and last week was his first full week in the toddler room. He seemed happy mostly playing by himself. Sometimes he’d try to get involved in what the other kids were doing, but since he’s so young, it doesn’t work. He either doesn’t understand what they are doing or they don’t want him to play. Most of the toddlers are ready for preschool so they are ahead of him. He thought it was neat to hold a bucket up to his face and talk into it. I think he liked the echo. Another toddler who I’ll call M came over and they started sharing the bucket. M is older than Crawling Baby and he talks a lot more, but he seems to like spending time with him. Crawling Baby and I walked around the room a few times and I brought out the bubbles which they all loved.
I also saw D. She has changed so much as well. She has small conversations now. When I first met her, she didn’t say any words. When she realized I was there, she ran over to give me a hug. Every few minutes while I was there, she came over and wanted to be picked up. She reaches her arms up and says, “Up up.” The problem is that she’s really heavy and when I want to put her down, she doesn’t want to get down. That happened recently when her grandmother was late picking her up and she wanted me to carry her around the whole time. She has a funny personality. She’s nice, but has an attitude too. I’ll miss her.
It was unusual, but the babies slept for most of the afternoon. When Baby C woke up, I spent some time with her, but then Little Guy and Baby E woke up. They both like to be held, but we got Baby E settled down on the floor. Little Guy really wanted to be held so I held him for a while and then put him in the squishy seat next to Baby E. He was okay for a while, but wanted to be held again. For the rest of the time, I sat holding Little Guy and watching Baby E talk to her toys. There was one toy she was trying to grab. When she couldn’t reach it, she would make a fussing sound like she was frustrated, but when she was able to grab a toy, she’d start laughing. Little Guy smiled while watching Baby E too. When I left, they were all playing and happy.
It was my last day with the babies because it looks like I’ll be taking a job with them maybe next month. I’m not sure of the details, but it’s with one of their preschool rooms. Only a couple toddlers were ready to move up so they haven’t opened the room yet. Now there will be enough kids so they offered me a job in that room. The good thing is I will already know some of the kids. I will miss the infants and toddlers though, but sometimes, I can stop in to see them on my breaks and who knows. Maybe I’ll get to work with this age group again in the future.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Assignment: Excellence and Inequity
Some of the issues surrounding excellence in Australia are the new standards they have put into place. One of them is national
Curriculum framework.
One issue this framework focuses on is the importance of play. Educators must promote learning through play. Activities must be child oriented and initiated, but there is still intentional teaching.
Australia now has something called universal access which states that all children must have fifteen hours of preschool per week. My contact told me it used to be ten hours.
Australia's government has implemented National Quality Standards which are divided into seven areas that contribute to the quality of early childhood education and care. These areas have been identified by research and are:
1.Educational program and practice
2.Children’s health and safety
3.Physical environment
4.Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)
5.Relationships with children
6.Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
7.Leadership and service management
This means that for the first time there will be consistency all across Australia in the Early Childhood sector.
Many of the issues of inequity in Australia are similar to the US. For example, there is the issue of low wages for early childhood educators and a high turn over rate. An article called, Crisis in Childcare Industry explains the situation. “Attending Saturday's crisis summit, Ballina Childcare worker Lisa Cheal said she can barely afford to pay her own car rego, but still buys supplies for the young children in her care. "I live week by week on the wages of a childcare worker," she said. Ms Cheal estimates she's spent $850 out of her own pocket this year for basic supplies such as craft materials, books and cushions for her young class and most childcare workers do the same. "I've been working with children for 15 years, and my family is always telling me to leave," Ms Cheal said. "They can't understand why I stay. I'm studying for my early childhood teaching degree, and if I did leave for a primary school I'd get $60,000 - but I love the infants,” she said. "It's a constant emotional battle.”” Click here to read more.
There is also an achievement gap between students from higher and lower income families. This article, written in 2007 describes the achievement gap and the reasons behind it. Australia has made some changes in their educational system since this article was written. With their recent implementation of quality standards across Australia, the achievement gap may decrease.
In the UK, there is an organization called the British Association for Early Childhood Education which is similar to NAEYC. Participation with them is voluntary, but they provide support, advice and information on best practice for everyone concerned with the education and care of young children. This organization represents England, Scotland, Whales and Northern Ireland.
One project I learned about which helps one disadvantaged group in Northern Ireland is The Toy Box Project which helps The Travellers. They are one of the most disadvantaged groups in Northern Ireland. “Travellers are a distinct ethnic group within Irish society. Their lifestyle and culture, based on a nomadic tradition, sets them apart from the settled population.” A support worker goes to travellers homes with a toy box full of toys, art supplies, books and natural materials. The support worker encourages children to learn through play, builds positive relationships with each family, supports parents in enrolling their children in preschool and helps parents build confidence to engage positively with preschools to support their child’s education. This project was created to reduce inequality and to increase enrolment in early childhood programs and primary school.
Curriculum framework.
One issue this framework focuses on is the importance of play. Educators must promote learning through play. Activities must be child oriented and initiated, but there is still intentional teaching.
Australia now has something called universal access which states that all children must have fifteen hours of preschool per week. My contact told me it used to be ten hours.
Australia's government has implemented National Quality Standards which are divided into seven areas that contribute to the quality of early childhood education and care. These areas have been identified by research and are:
1.Educational program and practice
2.Children’s health and safety
3.Physical environment
4.Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)
5.Relationships with children
6.Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
7.Leadership and service management
This means that for the first time there will be consistency all across Australia in the Early Childhood sector.
Many of the issues of inequity in Australia are similar to the US. For example, there is the issue of low wages for early childhood educators and a high turn over rate. An article called, Crisis in Childcare Industry explains the situation. “Attending Saturday's crisis summit, Ballina Childcare worker Lisa Cheal said she can barely afford to pay her own car rego, but still buys supplies for the young children in her care. "I live week by week on the wages of a childcare worker," she said. Ms Cheal estimates she's spent $850 out of her own pocket this year for basic supplies such as craft materials, books and cushions for her young class and most childcare workers do the same. "I've been working with children for 15 years, and my family is always telling me to leave," Ms Cheal said. "They can't understand why I stay. I'm studying for my early childhood teaching degree, and if I did leave for a primary school I'd get $60,000 - but I love the infants,” she said. "It's a constant emotional battle.”” Click here to read more.
There is also an achievement gap between students from higher and lower income families. This article, written in 2007 describes the achievement gap and the reasons behind it. Australia has made some changes in their educational system since this article was written. With their recent implementation of quality standards across Australia, the achievement gap may decrease.
In the UK, there is an organization called the British Association for Early Childhood Education which is similar to NAEYC. Participation with them is voluntary, but they provide support, advice and information on best practice for everyone concerned with the education and care of young children. This organization represents England, Scotland, Whales and Northern Ireland.
One project I learned about which helps one disadvantaged group in Northern Ireland is The Toy Box Project which helps The Travellers. They are one of the most disadvantaged groups in Northern Ireland. “Travellers are a distinct ethnic group within Irish society. Their lifestyle and culture, based on a nomadic tradition, sets them apart from the settled population.” A support worker goes to travellers homes with a toy box full of toys, art supplies, books and natural materials. The support worker encourages children to learn through play, builds positive relationships with each family, supports parents in enrolling their children in preschool and helps parents build confidence to engage positively with preschools to support their child’s education. This project was created to reduce inequality and to increase enrolment in early childhood programs and primary school.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Assignment Sharing Web Resources #2
The website that I’ve been looking at is Early Childhood Australia. This week, I took a look at their Everyday Learning series. They had topics ranging from play, friendships, dealing with anger to going green. These articles are meant for parents or anyone who cares for children. However, you have to pay for the articles. Next, I explored the link called Child Development, Family, Health, and Education Research. which brought me to a list of topics and ages. I clicked on infants to see what was available and then clicked on play. This brought me to a list of websites sharing articles about the importance of play. I will bookmark this page for future reference.
The next link I clicked on was called supporting best practice. This led to more lists of topics and fact sheets from other websites. Some useful links are babies, Toddlers, early childhood practices, Diversity and inclusion, and assessment and evaluation.
I didn’t come across anything I thought was controversial. Many of their standards for quality care are similar to ours here in the US. I found an article under the link, "Every Child Magazine" called Cultural competence - ensuring individuality is integral to equity, fairness and
social justice.
Australia has recently implemented universal quality standards. This approach is partly an economic investment, but this article expresses the importance of individual children and families and respecting their strengths and diverse backgrounds. “In finalizing the logistics of National Quality Framework implementation (and what
a major initiative and achievement!) we must keep ‘deep understandings’ about children, development and learning in the early years at the top of our ‘to do’ lists. Regulations, rating and results are important, but at the core of quality programs are children and their relations with others.” I thought this quote and the full article were interesting because our discussions were about the perspectives of economists and politicians and the unintended consequences of looking at early childhood programs as strictly a financial investment.
Other than implementing universal standards, I did not find any other information about trends that are different from the US. In both countries early childhood professionals care about high quality, inclusion and diversity, ending the cycle of poverty, professional development, inequality etc. This website has many resources, but a lot of them are for members only or you have to buy individual articles. I wish more of the resources were free, but there are still some links I haven’t explored. The resources I was able to view show a commitment to the well-being of young children.
The next link I clicked on was called supporting best practice. This led to more lists of topics and fact sheets from other websites. Some useful links are babies, Toddlers, early childhood practices, Diversity and inclusion, and assessment and evaluation.
I didn’t come across anything I thought was controversial. Many of their standards for quality care are similar to ours here in the US. I found an article under the link, "Every Child Magazine" called Cultural competence - ensuring individuality is integral to equity, fairness and
social justice.
Australia has recently implemented universal quality standards. This approach is partly an economic investment, but this article expresses the importance of individual children and families and respecting their strengths and diverse backgrounds. “In finalizing the logistics of National Quality Framework implementation (and what
a major initiative and achievement!) we must keep ‘deep understandings’ about children, development and learning in the early years at the top of our ‘to do’ lists. Regulations, rating and results are important, but at the core of quality programs are children and their relations with others.” I thought this quote and the full article were interesting because our discussions were about the perspectives of economists and politicians and the unintended consequences of looking at early childhood programs as strictly a financial investment.
Other than implementing universal standards, I did not find any other information about trends that are different from the US. In both countries early childhood professionals care about high quality, inclusion and diversity, ending the cycle of poverty, professional development, inequality etc. This website has many resources, but a lot of them are for members only or you have to buy individual articles. I wish more of the resources were free, but there are still some links I haven’t explored. The resources I was able to view show a commitment to the well-being of young children.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Teaching Youngsters to Share
Dan Gilbert from Primrose Schools expressed interest in guest posting on my blog. This article is the first of several that he'd like me to share with my readers.
Using Beginning Instruction on Collaboration
Submitted by Dan Gilbert on behalf of Primrose Schools. For over 25 years, they have helped individuals achieve higher levels of success by providing them with an AdvancED® accredited, early child care services and education. Through an accelerated Balanced Learning® curriculum, Primrose Schools students are exposed to a widely diverse range of subject matter giving them a much greater opportunity to develop mentally, physically and socially. Dan has written a number of articles on topics varying from bilingual learning to teaching the importance of volunteering.
People who learn to cooperate as a child experience better chances for success later in life. Making a friend or working in a group setting as an adult comes naturally to those who learned this fundamental skill as a child. The willingness to share comes from the interactions a child has with a parent or a caregiver. Children especially start picking up on sharing and cooperation before age four, says Dr. Mary Zurn (Dr. Z), vice president of education for Primrose Schools. Primrose offers a safe, nurturing preschool environment for children to play, learn and grow. By following role models in play and playing with other children their own age, children can learn to take turns and share before they enter school.
“Cooperation and sharing are key character traits that teach children how to get along with others,” said Dr. Z. Collaboration skills do not come with instinct; they are learned. Success in our world comes more often than not to team players. Children who have mastered these abilities find they can enjoy relationships characterized by respect and congeniality. People are called upon to share every day, so those who learn to be generous, to care for others and to cooperate display the good character that makes good citizens.
Examples in Cooperation: Parents teach their children before anyone else, so they should make sure that they demonstrate a proper example of sharing and cooperation for them to follow. By helping others and working respectfully with other, parents send a signal telling children that these are desirable traits. Parents can reinforce cooperation by asking them to help out with the cleaning in exchange for sharing some fun time together afterwards.
Goals Families Achieve Together: Families are great units to use for the development of sharing and collaboration in youth. By choosing an activity and assigning each family member a role, children can learn how people who work together can achieve more than they can separately. When they see it’s fun to combine efforts, they will develop a habit that lasts a lifetime.
Cook to Cooperate: Preparing a meal makes a great educational environment for a child. They can see that they play a meaningful role in the effort and take pride once the meal is on the table. A Story called Stone Soup illustrates the positive role cooking can have in developing team values.
Reading Books: Parents can choose books that illustrate cooperative attitudes such as the story called Little Red Hen. These stories open opportunities for parents to extol the virtues and benefits of working together.
Musical Lessons: Another great way to teach children these crucial values of cooperation and sharing is to listen to music. After playing a clip from a band, children can help identify all the distinct instruments and sounds they hear. The independent contribution of each musician combines to make a symphony.
After learning about bands, parents can join with children to create a rudimentary band where each person plays a role in creating music. Just for fun, record the final rendition on video or audio and play it back. The masterpiece will live on for years as part of family lore.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Floor Time
This morning, I spent some time with Baby E, the youngest baby. In my opinion, she spends too much time in the swing so when I’m there, I like to hold her or give her some time on the floor. Last week, we put her and Little Guy on the floor side by side. They enjoyed looking at each other and their reflections in the mirror. Today, I held Baby E for a while, but decided to give her some floor time. She was hesitant and cried for a few minutes. When she calmed down, she started kicking her legs and reaching up with her arms.
I noticed that she was playing with her pacifier so I brought her a set of keys to play with as well. She reached for them, but didn’t try to take them from me. To get her more interested in the keys, I moved them from one side of her to another and I noticed she was tracking my movements. I offered her the keys again and this time, she held on to them. When she dropped them, I made up a little game where I put the keys on her belly and asked her how they got there. This made her smile and laugh. Sometimes she’d move the keys and sometimes she wouldn’t, but she found it entertaining. Another thing I did was lay on the big ball and role over to her. She liked when I’d end up above her on the big ball. I’d reach down to touch her feet or hand and she’d usually laugh. Infants at her age need a lot of face to face interaction.
Next, I gave her some time to play on her own. She continued to play with her pacifier and the keys, look around the room, coo to herself and kick her feet around. She spent about forty-five minutes on the floor until she got tired. It’s important for infants to have floor time every day not only for interactions with those around them, but for their healthy development and their own free exploration. I’ll end with a post written by janet Lansbury called Set Me Free - Unrestricted Babies (And Equipment. She explains the importance of giving babies opportunities for free movement.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Assignment: International Perspectives Part 2
I’ve divided this assignment up into two posts since there was so much information. Click here to see part 1.
I asked my contacts about the issues of poverty and cultural diversity in their countries. Sherry told me that in Australia, generally four year old kinder is funded for low income families especially those who are receiving government assistance. For children who are at risk or from aboriginal backgrounds have three year kinder funded as well. In Northern Ireland, children are entitled to one year of free preschool either in a nursery class like Kierna’s or in a play group. The nursery class has one qualified teacher and one assistant where the play group may have one leader with a degree and two assistants with nursery training. Children go five days per week and the hours range from 2.5 to 5. Children who are socially disadvantaged get priority for places and then children get in by their birthdates. In Kierna’s class, out of 26 places, six or seven are usually for low income children. These children also get their lunches provided. For younger children who need day care, low income parents can get vouchers to offset the cost. The UK also has a program called, Sure Start that works with low income families. One of their programs is called, “Time to be Me” which teaches children play skills and the parents stay in the classroom with them one day per week. Kierna said she noticed that the children who attend this program are ahead. They already know simple rhymes and songs when they get to her classroom.
As for cultural diversity, it is still relatively new to Northern Ireland. Recently, there have been a lot of migrant workers from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal. About 10% of children in Kierna’s program speak English as a second language. Funding is available to help these children when they reach age four and are in formal schooling, but not when they are in Kierna’s class. They have a teacher who will work with them in small groups to teach them words and phrases in English.
Sherry and Donna in Australia have had similar experiences. They have worked with very few children from other countries or cultures. When they did work with children from other cultures, they’d play simple games to get the child involve and invite parents to observe the program. Some of the preschools they’ve visited are more diverse. They’ve seen things like welcome notice boards in different languages, display boards that the families have contributed to explaining their customs, also dolls, toys, books, materials, musical instruments, posters, props from all around the world, cooking and games from other countries, and so on. Sherry found a video to a hello song. This is similar to songs they’ve used to expose children to different languages and to make children who speak different languages to feel welcome.
I asked my contacts about the issues of poverty and cultural diversity in their countries. Sherry told me that in Australia, generally four year old kinder is funded for low income families especially those who are receiving government assistance. For children who are at risk or from aboriginal backgrounds have three year kinder funded as well. In Northern Ireland, children are entitled to one year of free preschool either in a nursery class like Kierna’s or in a play group. The nursery class has one qualified teacher and one assistant where the play group may have one leader with a degree and two assistants with nursery training. Children go five days per week and the hours range from 2.5 to 5. Children who are socially disadvantaged get priority for places and then children get in by their birthdates. In Kierna’s class, out of 26 places, six or seven are usually for low income children. These children also get their lunches provided. For younger children who need day care, low income parents can get vouchers to offset the cost. The UK also has a program called, Sure Start that works with low income families. One of their programs is called, “Time to be Me” which teaches children play skills and the parents stay in the classroom with them one day per week. Kierna said she noticed that the children who attend this program are ahead. They already know simple rhymes and songs when they get to her classroom.
As for cultural diversity, it is still relatively new to Northern Ireland. Recently, there have been a lot of migrant workers from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal. About 10% of children in Kierna’s program speak English as a second language. Funding is available to help these children when they reach age four and are in formal schooling, but not when they are in Kierna’s class. They have a teacher who will work with them in small groups to teach them words and phrases in English.
Sherry and Donna in Australia have had similar experiences. They have worked with very few children from other countries or cultures. When they did work with children from other cultures, they’d play simple games to get the child involve and invite parents to observe the program. Some of the preschools they’ve visited are more diverse. They’ve seen things like welcome notice boards in different languages, display boards that the families have contributed to explaining their customs, also dolls, toys, books, materials, musical instruments, posters, props from all around the world, cooking and games from other countries, and so on. Sherry found a video to a hello song. This is similar to songs they’ve used to expose children to different languages and to make children who speak different languages to feel welcome.
Assignment International Perspectives
One of my contacts, Sherry is from Australia and one thing she told me was that the biggest change in early childhood education is the implementation of a national curriculum framework called The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia which they haven’t had until recently. Read about it here.
It specifically states that children should be taught through play. “The principles of early childhood pedagogy underpin practice. Educators draw on a rich repertoire of pedagogical practices to promote children’s learning by (amongst eight other points) planning and implementing through play.” (EYLF, 2009, p.14)
This means that the activities should be child oriented and initiated, not
teacher directed.
Sherry stated, “Another issue in Australia is that the Federal Government has legislated that every child in the year before they attend school must have access to 15 hours of preschool per week (it is called Universal Access). As up until now children have had 10 hours, it is a big change to staffing, programming and timetabling.
Also the Government is bringing in the National Quality Standard which is divided into seven areas that contribute to the quality of early childhood education and care. These areas have been identified by research and are:
1.Educational program and practice
2.Children’s health and safety
3.Physical environment
4.Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)
5.Relationships with children
6.Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
7.Leadership and service management
For the first time there will be consistency all across Australia in the Early Childhood sector.”
My contact Kierna from Northern Ireland also gave me an overview of their educational system.
She blogged about it here.
She said one difference between Northern Ireland and the US is that children start compulsory schooling at the age of four instead of five. They call it Primary 1 and she mentioned that it has become less formal over the years. Children now have more play based experiences, but they are still learning to read and write at a very young age. Kierna teaches in a nursery program for children ages three and four. It is not compulsory like Primary 1, but it is free. Kierna said that nursery teachers have to have a teaching qualification which allows them to teach children of any age in elementary school. She gives her class a lot of outdoor time and play based experiences. However, that is not the norm in Northern Ireland. There are classes that do not go out everyday or even have a good outdoor space. Kierna’s practice has been the most influenced by her experiences in Norway.
She discusses her experiences in European settings here.
She told me that the French and Polish settings were generally more formal and that she prefers the Scandinavian models.
Click here for part 2.
It specifically states that children should be taught through play. “The principles of early childhood pedagogy underpin practice. Educators draw on a rich repertoire of pedagogical practices to promote children’s learning by (amongst eight other points) planning and implementing through play.” (EYLF, 2009, p.14)
This means that the activities should be child oriented and initiated, not
teacher directed.
Sherry stated, “Another issue in Australia is that the Federal Government has legislated that every child in the year before they attend school must have access to 15 hours of preschool per week (it is called Universal Access). As up until now children have had 10 hours, it is a big change to staffing, programming and timetabling.
Also the Government is bringing in the National Quality Standard which is divided into seven areas that contribute to the quality of early childhood education and care. These areas have been identified by research and are:
1.Educational program and practice
2.Children’s health and safety
3.Physical environment
4.Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)
5.Relationships with children
6.Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
7.Leadership and service management
For the first time there will be consistency all across Australia in the Early Childhood sector.”
My contact Kierna from Northern Ireland also gave me an overview of their educational system.
She blogged about it here.
She said one difference between Northern Ireland and the US is that children start compulsory schooling at the age of four instead of five. They call it Primary 1 and she mentioned that it has become less formal over the years. Children now have more play based experiences, but they are still learning to read and write at a very young age. Kierna teaches in a nursery program for children ages three and four. It is not compulsory like Primary 1, but it is free. Kierna said that nursery teachers have to have a teaching qualification which allows them to teach children of any age in elementary school. She gives her class a lot of outdoor time and play based experiences. However, that is not the norm in Northern Ireland. There are classes that do not go out everyday or even have a good outdoor space. Kierna’s practice has been the most influenced by her experiences in Norway.
She discusses her experiences in European settings here.
She told me that the French and Polish settings were generally more formal and that she prefers the Scandinavian models.
Click here for part 2.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Weekly Favorites for September 18, 2011
This list is a little short. I've been sick this week and not tweeting or looking at the blogs as much. Here are some of the great ideas I found. Enjoy...
1.
Homemade Fairy Dust
A fun activity that was apart of a very creative fairy birthday party.
2.
Bubble Wrap Prints
Another twist on bubble wrap printing.
3.
Reused CD Snail
Use those old CD's to make this cute craft.
4.
3D Autumn Art
Art for the fall using natural materials.
5.
Ice Eggs
A fun activity for a summer day or for an ice theme.
6.
A Bottle Full of Spring
The author of this post is in Australia where it's spring right now. She has linked up to some neat spring activities.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Assignment: Sharing Web Resources
The organization I chose to learn more about is Early Childhood Australia.
Here is their mission statement.
“Early Childhood Australia will advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity
in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight
years.”
Their values are The rights of children, leadership, excellence, respect, courage, honesty, openness, collaboration, diversity, justice and social inclusion of children.
Their newsletter is called ECA Web Watch. The first issue they discuss on their September issue is child protection week. More than 30000 children are neglected or abused every year in Australia. The newsletter discusses how communities, organizations, adults and children are doing their part to protect children from abuse and neglect. They have created programs for this purpose.
Play a part program
Aimed at children aged 0–8, their families and communities, the Play a part program is a local community engagement strategy that aims to prevent child abuse and neglect through the creation of child-friendly communities.
All children being safe program
Aimed at preschool and early primary children aged 4–6, the All children being safe program
uses non-threatening ways to help young children feel strong and stay safe in their communities, and to make people aware of support services available in their local communities.
Another issue that caught my attention was an article called, “For Full-time Fathers The Pressure is On.”
This article looks at how the lifestyles of Australian fathers have changed in recent decades.
Various research programs and studies reveal that on average, Australian fathers
are working more, spending more time with their children and helping with domestic
chores—and the pressure to ‘do it all’ is starting to show.
The newsletter offers a resource sheet which discusses Closing the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This requires a focus on early intervention/education of Indigenous young children (from birth), their families and communities. I mentioned this because it relates to culture and diversity which is the topic this week.
Here is their mission statement.
“Early Childhood Australia will advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity
in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight
years.”
Their values are The rights of children, leadership, excellence, respect, courage, honesty, openness, collaboration, diversity, justice and social inclusion of children.
Their newsletter is called ECA Web Watch. The first issue they discuss on their September issue is child protection week. More than 30000 children are neglected or abused every year in Australia. The newsletter discusses how communities, organizations, adults and children are doing their part to protect children from abuse and neglect. They have created programs for this purpose.
Play a part program
Aimed at children aged 0–8, their families and communities, the Play a part program is a local community engagement strategy that aims to prevent child abuse and neglect through the creation of child-friendly communities.
All children being safe program
Aimed at preschool and early primary children aged 4–6, the All children being safe program
uses non-threatening ways to help young children feel strong and stay safe in their communities, and to make people aware of support services available in their local communities.
Another issue that caught my attention was an article called, “For Full-time Fathers The Pressure is On.”
This article looks at how the lifestyles of Australian fathers have changed in recent decades.
Various research programs and studies reveal that on average, Australian fathers
are working more, spending more time with their children and helping with domestic
chores—and the pressure to ‘do it all’ is starting to show.
The newsletter offers a resource sheet which discusses Closing the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This requires a focus on early intervention/education of Indigenous young children (from birth), their families and communities. I mentioned this because it relates to culture and diversity which is the topic this week.
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Tube
Here’s a simple activity that our toddlers love. We’ve found some long cardboard tubes. They are a little longer than wrapping paper tubes, but twice as wide. I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures. We had one teacher sitting holding one end of the tube and the other end was slanted down to the floor. It looked like a ramp. Then the toddlers rolled balls down the tube and chased them across the room.
One toddler wanted to see what would happen if we held the tube straight forward with someone at each end. One person to put the ball in and the other to catch it. We found out that it the ball still would role down the tube. Next, he wanted to see what would happen if he held the tube closer to his face. He’d laugh whenever someone dropped a ball in the tube. One little girl experimented with putting a dish at the bottom of the slanted tube. The balls would role down, but the toddlers couldn’t see them. A couple of them weren’t sure where the balls were going so we asked them to peak inside the dish. They laughed when they discovered that the balls stayed in the dish.
The new teacher has several of these tubes and she’d like to add them to the gross motor room. She wants to mount them to the wall at different angles so that the children can experiment with the balls moving in different angles and directions. She also wants to try tennis balls with the tubes so that Crawling Baby can use them. The small ones that we are using now can be a choking hazard for him. He spent some time in the toddler room today and he was very interested in the tubes and balls, but didn’t understand the rules of our game. At one point, he wanted to drag the tube away. I wanted to see how he’d use the tube, but the other teacher brought it back to the group to continue the game.
I have a feeling that the children will do lots of experimenting with these tubes and that we can use them for a variety of activities.
One toddler wanted to see what would happen if we held the tube straight forward with someone at each end. One person to put the ball in and the other to catch it. We found out that it the ball still would role down the tube. Next, he wanted to see what would happen if he held the tube closer to his face. He’d laugh whenever someone dropped a ball in the tube. One little girl experimented with putting a dish at the bottom of the slanted tube. The balls would role down, but the toddlers couldn’t see them. A couple of them weren’t sure where the balls were going so we asked them to peak inside the dish. They laughed when they discovered that the balls stayed in the dish.
The new teacher has several of these tubes and she’d like to add them to the gross motor room. She wants to mount them to the wall at different angles so that the children can experiment with the balls moving in different angles and directions. She also wants to try tennis balls with the tubes so that Crawling Baby can use them. The small ones that we are using now can be a choking hazard for him. He spent some time in the toddler room today and he was very interested in the tubes and balls, but didn’t understand the rules of our game. At one point, he wanted to drag the tube away. I wanted to see how he’d use the tube, but the other teacher brought it back to the group to continue the game.
I have a feeling that the children will do lots of experimenting with these tubes and that we can use them for a variety of activities.
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