We believe that if children learn early on how to recognise and regulate their emotions, we’re setting up a future of more empathetic, kind and respectful generation.
It’s so important, in fact, it’s a huge part of our Collective curriculum across all age groups. Our educators incorporate age and development-appropriate emotions learning opportunities throughout the year. Children who learn how to understand emotions in themselves and others are better able to regulate their own responses to strong emotions, helping them to move through that emotion and focus on all the other aspects of their lives!
There’s of course a number of reasons why emotional regulation is important to children’s development and wellbeing.
The early childhood years (o-5) have been identified in numerous studies as a crucial period for the development of important executive functions such as attention, inhibition, working memory, and literacy skills, all that are necessary for successful school transition and later academic success.
Even though this seems important, there hasn’t been much research on how emotion regulation affects young children’s academic performance. But we’ve found a couple of examples that highlight what we feel to be quite important in children’s development. Since academic skills tend to stay fairly stable over time, it’s essential to understand how managing emotions can support a successful start to school, especially in primary school.
Researchers have identified factors such as anxiety, aggression and verbal abilities as challenges that can affect children’s success in school, and furthermore relationships and career. One such study, The Role of Emotion Regulation and Children’s Early Academic Success, looked at how emotional regulation in young children can help with early academic success. Researchers identified that adaptive functioning, which refers to ‘numerous global positive outcomes including normative social, cognitive, and language development as well as the ability to cope with daily living tasks and environmental changes’ can be affected negatively or positively depending on children’s ability to succeed in school.
This particular study also emphasises that transition to school. Children enter a school environment where they are expected to learn important skills like reading, maths, and socialising. At the same time, they may receive less one-on-one support because of larger class sizes and a greater focus on their independence. Adjusting to these new academic and social demands, without the extra support they may have had in an early learning setting, can be challenging for many young children.
Another study, The Development of Self-Regulation across Early Childhood, highlighted that children who learn how to understand emotions in themselves and others are better able to regulate their own responses to strong emotions.
That’s where we come in!
At Little Scholars, we believe helping children recognise and name their emotions is an important first step in developing emotional awareness. This approach is also supported by the Early Years Learning Framework, which encourages children to build a strong sense of identity.
One example from our campuses is the use of a much-loved book, The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. This story helps children identify different emotions through colours. After reading the book, our educators extend the learning with creative activities that use colour and storytelling as tools for emotional recognition. These experiences help children build healthy emotional responses and support their overall wellbeing.
Our campuses also incorporate songs and affirmations as part of their routines to reinforce children’s understanding of feelings, and help them figure out what works for them in regards to regulating those feelings.
We also actively participate mindfulness activities into our days to help children process and manage big emotions. Along with songs and affirmations, we use our sector-leading Bush Kinder program to get children out into nature, as well as deep breathing exercises, meditation and yoga as helpful ways for children to slow down, reset, and navigate their feelings.
At Little Scholars, our goal is for our services to be a welcoming second home for children where they can focus on learning through play, and our educators to be a source of comfort and trust for these wonderful little people. We offer calming zones both inside our studios and in our outdoor environments to allow children to escape and rest when they need a break.
Our hope is the foundations we’re setting in children’s emotional and social development in those crucial first five years of development can be built upon in all stages of their childhood and beyond.
At Little Scholars, we’re focused on the holistic growth of each child in our care, by helping these small humans grow into kind, empathetic little legends who are ready to take on the big wide world. Book a tour at one of our 17 locations across the Gold Coast, Redlands, Brisbane and soon Ipswich to see how we incorporate social and emotional growth into our learning curriculum!
Did you know only about a quarter of Australian children aged 0-4 years regularly participate in organised sport and physical activity?
We all know regular exercise is important for maintaining good health, but we believe it’s even more important for little ones, not only for their health right now, but their optimal physical, emotional and brain development, and to form lifelong good habits for physical activity! The daily recommendation for children each day for physical activity ranges, so here we’ll break it down by age:
Infants (Birth to 12 Months)
Even before they start moving, babies should be active multiple times a day. This can include supervised floor play, reaching and grasping for objects, and at least 30 minutes of tummy time throughout the day while awake. Once they become mobile, activities like crawling, pulling up on furniture, and eventually walking (if ready) help build strength and coordination. Creating simple obstacle courses can encourage movement in a fun way.
Toddlers (1 to 2 Years)
Toddlers thrive on active play and should have at least three hours of physical activity each day, spread throughout the day. This should include energetic movement like running, jumping, twirling, skipping, and dancing. Playing tips, ball games, or setting up fun obstacle courses at home or in the park are great ways to keep them moving. The focus should be on making activity fun and encouraging exploration.
Preschoolers (3 to 5 Years)
Preschoolers also need at least three hours of activity daily, with at least one hour of energetic play. Running, jumping, throwing, kicking, skipping, and dancing all help develop coordination and strength. Activities should be spread across the day and designed to be enjoyable, encouraging curiosity and movement through play.
At Little Scholars, we ensure children are getting the recommended amount of physical activity each day in a number of ways!
Our extracurricular program includes a number of active offerings, including dance, soccer, swimming, sport and yoga, all designed and led by experts in their field who are specialised in child development to ensure these extracurriculars are getting heart rates up, improving coordination, building muscle as well as fine and gross motor skills, and most importantly, are fun!
Our outdoor Bush, Beach and Pram Kinder programs are thoughtfully planned to make the most of a child’s time outside. This means walking on uneven ground, climbing rocks and trees, picking up sticks, running and jumping. Even our little ones in prams are given time on grass or sand to crawl or enjoy tummy time on different surfaces providing new challenges to developing strength.
Our outdoor environments are designed to allow for sport, climbing, running, jumping, risk-taking, and other physical challenges! Not only do we have fantastic fort in each of our outdoor spaces for each age group, we have a range of other moveable equipment to help children build coordination and muscle such as climbing frames and trestles, bicycles, trampolines, balance beams and stepping stones.
At Little Scholars, we’re focused on the holistic growth of the whole child, not just building those rapidly developing brains, but ensuring we’re helping these little bodies grow strong and capable, all while learning valuable skills through play. By encouraging regular movement and active play, we’re helping children develop lifelong healthy habits. Whether it’s running, jumping, climbing, or dancing, every movement helps children grow in confidence and ability. We believe in creating an environment where children can thrive physically, mentally, and emotionally through play and learning.
Book a tour at one of our 17 locations across the Gold Coast, Redlands, Brisbane and soon Ipswich to see how we incorporate physical activity into our learning curriculum!
Why we should encourage risky play in early childhood
The importance of outdoor play for children’s development
How mindfulness enhances child development
The best playgrounds on the Gold Coast, Redlands, Logan and Brisbane
Introducing solids is an exciting milestone for you and your baby! Around six months of age, most babies are ready to explore new tastes and textures alongside breastmilk or formula. At Little Scholars, we support families through this journey, whether you choose purees or baby-led weaning with soft whole foods.
Most babies show signs of readiness for solids around six months. Look for these cues:
Sitting up with minimal support
Showing interest in your food
Opening their mouth for a spoon or reaching for food
Losing the tongue-thrust reflex (pushing food out of their mouth automatically) Though as babies begin to take in food, this instinct may remain until they get used to it.
Whatever way you approach the first tastes, go slow and offer just a couple of teaspoon-sized portions at first. Hand them a spoon to let them hold, though they’ll likely just eat (squish) with their fingers
You can start by offering food once a day alongside their normal amount of breast milk or formula, then work your way up over the coming weeks to three or more feedings a day.
To help babies adjust to the unique tastes of foods, one approach we like starting with vegetables for the first 14 days, one new, iron-rich vegetable each day. This helps develop a taste for nutritious foods before introducing fruit or other sweet flavours, as they’re already accustomed to sweet flavours through formula or breast milk.
Queensland Health recommends including iron-rich foods every day to help baby grow well, such as lean meat and legumes, baby cereal with iron, and green leafy vegetables. Of course, you’ll need to work up to these denser foods. It’s also recommended to introduce nuts into diets soon, as this can help reduce allergies. However please note we do not offer nut products at our campuses.
We support both traditional purees and baby-led weaning (BLW). Here’s how they differ:
Purees: Smooth textures, spoon-fed by a parent or educator, with gradually thicker consistencies over time.
Baby-led weaning: Soft, whole foods in safe shapes that babies can pick up and feed themselves, encouraging independence and coordination.
Regardless of your approach, always supervise your baby while they eat and offer soft, easy-to-swallow foods. At our campuses, babies are closely supervised during meals and snacks, but we also use these as opportunities to bond, having lots of fun interactions and conversations with our little ones while they eat!
Offer solids when your baby is alert and in a good mood
Start with small amounts. A teaspoon or two is plenty at first
Encourage exploration. Expect mess, it’s part of the learning process!
Be patient. Some babies take time to adjust to new textures
Watch for allergies. Introduce new foods one at a time, leaving a few days in between common allergens like eggs, dairy, or nuts.
At Little Scholars, we help families introduce solids in a way that works for them. Our educators can support your baby with purees or baby-led weaning while ensuring meals are safe, nutritious, and enjoyable. We work closely with families to understand preferences and keep you informed about your baby’s progress.
Starting solids is an exciting step in your baby’s development. With patience, variety, and support, mealtimes can be a wonderful experience for both of you!
We aim to be an extension of your family and are here to support you and your child during those important childhood milestones. If you’re in need of high quality early childhood education for your little ones in South East Queensland, book a tour today.
Babies are a mysterious bunch. For many months, their main forms of communication are cries, squeaks, gestures and coos. Parents fall madly in love with these little humans without knowing what they’re thinking and feeling, often just guessing at best.
How babies play, how and what they’re learning, and what they’re interested in can be a mystery to many. Many parents have seen their baby pull out every book off a shelf, for example, watch it fall, then grab another, while that parent scratches his or her head and says ‘why?’
There’s an answer. It’s a schema. A schema is both a category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring that knowledge. In play, babies are often involved in repeated actions or certain behaviours as they explore the world around them and try to find out how things work. Those repetitive actions, such as a baby pulling out book after book, allows a child to practice and construct meaning to something, until they’ve understood that schema. Then they find something else to focus on and lather, rinse, repeat!
As Yvette, educational lead from our Burleigh campus says, it’s children’s development making sense.
“All of those little things that you see children do that seem a bit cute, or frustrating even, like throwing, it’s a schema, a child’s pathway of development for making sense of the world,” Yvette says.
The repetitive action of a schema allows a child to practice and construct meaning until they have mastered the understanding of the schema. Being aware of play schemas helps in two ways:
There are a number of types of schemas when it comes to babies.
Trajectory schema – The trajectory schema is one of the earliest schemas observed in babies. They are fascinated with how they, and objects move. Children will often throw objects or food from their pram or highchair. They climb and jump in puddles and enjoy exploring running water.
Transporting schema – Little ones enjoy repeatedly moving resources around, from one place to another. They will carry many items at a time using their hands, pockets, containers,
baskets, bags, or anything else that will hold their newfound treasures.
Enclosing schema – Children show an interest in enclosed spaces. They may want to sit (and hide in) boxes or laundry baskets. Or they may show interest constructing fences and barricades to enclose toy animals or themselves.
Rotational schema – Children showing a rotational schema may display a preference for turning taps on and off, winding and unwinding string, and playing with
hoops. They may also be fascinated with the physical experience of twirling and twisting their body, spinning around on the spot, or rolling themselves down a hill. They have an interest in things that turn, such as wheels and windmills. They enjoy rolling tyres around, turning lids and watching the washing machine on a spin cycle.
Enveloping schema – Children with an enveloping schema are interested in covering and hiding items, including themselves. They will enjoy dressing up, and filling and emptying bags and containers with different objects.
Connecting schema – Children displaying the connecting schema want to join items together. They find resources like string to tie things. They connect and disconnect toys such as rail tracks.
They enjoy construction toys, and doing arts and crafts where they can glue and stick pieces together.
Orientation schema – Children like to turn objects and themselves around and upside down, to get a view from under the table or from the branch of a tree. They may bend over and look at the world backwards through their legs. They enjoy seeing things from a different view when exploring using cardboard tubes, binoculars or a magnifying glass.
By adapting this theory, we have been able to slow down and become more in tune to the children and noticing their behaviour patterns in play. It is now so important to us that we allow our babies and young children the time to explore the repetitive actions of schematic play.
-Jodie, lead educator
Jean Piaget was one of the first to use the term “schema” back in 1923. Piaget was an important child development theorist and his Theory of Cognitive Development was and still is read and followed today by early childhood specialists. He was one of the first who believed children think differently than adults and that they have an innate desire to learn and actively build up their knowledge about the world. They are not passive creatures waiting for someone to teach them.
Susan, our group pedagogical leader, is bringing her schema knowledge across our campuses to the lead educators in the nursery and toddler studios in 2023. Learn a bit more below about how we use schema theory, and how one educator has taken it on in her nursery.
Schematic Pedagogy
Through our collective curriculum, our educators are guided through a ‘schematic lens’, meaning they can plan for children’s thinking, not just activities. This has a strong link to our Collective Curriculum, our educational program for children.
The learning environment
Our educators apply teaching methodologies to design their play spaces and are intentional in the resources offered.
Observing and planning for children’s thinking
Through our collective curriculum, our educators observe the children through their play, to determine schemas explored through the children’s engagement to an activity or resource. Through observing patterns of learning, our trained educators can plan forward to scaffold their cognitive capabilities.
Partnering with children in play
Through ongoing mentoring and coaching, our educators are able use their knowledge of schemas and plan effectively. Our educators are encouraged to partner with children in their play and observe behaviours explored through schemas.
“Schemas are an intrinsic part of child development, knowledge to schemas provide our team of educators an opportunity to identify and encourage independence in children as they explore patterns of movement, often related to schemas,” Susan says. “Supporting assessing through a schematic lens, provides our educators with a framework which can be used to analyse children’s learning, supporting the planning process within our curriculum.”
You may be wondering if you have a baby or a small toddler in one of our campuses, how we use schemas to help their development. We talked to one of the educators at our Deception Bay campus about using schemas for educational programming. Deception Bay Little Scholars was recently rated as Exceeding the National Quality Standard (NQS) after it was assessed by the Department of Education. The NQS sets a high national benchmark for early childhood education and care in Australia. Jodie, lead educator in the nursery studio, says learning about schemas was a game-changer.
Both our younger babies and older babies really enjoy dropping objects or putting things in and out of containers (vertical trajectory). Using old formula tins and cutting an opening in the top with lids from jar foods a milk bottle lids, is a big favourite.
Our older babies are seen continuing with trajectory and begin to start exploring other forms of schematic play like, transporting, rotation, connecting and this can lead to a disconnecting schema where the child builds something that they can demolish or through [activities like] untying knots, as well as enclosing, positioning, enveloping and orientation, such as looking at things from different viewpoints like hanging upside down, looking through their legs, looking at things upside down. No wonder our little people are so busy and on the go all the time!
Thanks, Jodie!
Related:
Pedagogical Practices: Bringing new learning techniques to Little Scholars
When a baby or toddler is ready to reduce the number of naps they have each day, or even drop naps altogether, this can be an equally challenging transition for parents!
Daytime naps naturally lessen in length and frequency as a child gets older because they can tolerate more awake time, from both a physiological and neurological perspective as they grow. Circadian rhythms – your 24-hour body clock that helps control your daily schedule for sleep and wakefulness – also mature as sleep begins to consolidate, particularly at night.
Especially for new parents, you may be wondering what some of the signs are that your child is ready to drop a nap. Dropping a nap is a transition that happens over time. Babies need to decrease their number of naps incrementally, but that won’t happen on its own, babies and toddlers still need your guidance to help ease these changes. And our educators are here to help.
Since our educators spend a few days a week with your little one, they have the knowledge of what to look for in signs of tiredness, or readiness to stay awake just a little longer! It’s important to remember that each child is different. What works for one, won’t work for another exactly the same age or way, and this is not a process to rush, small people need their rest!
Here are some signs that may show your little one is ready to drop a nap:
“For some children, cutting down their bottles or altering their times they have bottles (obviously age-appropriate) may help with stretching wake windows,” says Hayley, an educator with our Deception Bay campus.
“We aim to wake the child through gentle means, such as hustle and bustle around them to help them wake more naturally, which can help too.”
Hayley says looking at wake windows as a guide for your child can help and you can find free resources and blogs by sleep experts online. But she says keep in mind small children going through leaps and teething may have more difficulty with their sleep, but these adjustments are usually temporary.
Keeara, an educator in the nursery at our Yatala campus says they’ve had some parents request help in stretching their child’s nap to one sleep to transition in the toddler room.
They find play in an outdoor environment during the morning keeps little ones occupied enough to stay awake – but says if their children did fall asleep, it was obviously needed, and educators will try for a short afternoon nap to make up for it.
Fresh air and active fun like sensory activities are a great way to stretch that wake time out a little longer for little ones. Maybe for your child, it’s making music or playing with different textures that will keep him or her engaged and interested just a little longer.
Our Facebook and Instagram channels offer ideas on creative activities our educators do across our campuses to entertain little ones, which can really help stretch out those wake windows.
Like Hayley, Keeara and her fellow educators have also found works is having lunch around 11:30 and putting bottles on the warmer at the same time so they’re ready to go when lunch is finished.
“We’ve found most of the children would have their bottle then self-settle in their cots as they were so exhausted at this point,” Keeara says. “Surprisingly, it worked really well and made the transition smoother, they even slept for a longer period of time having just the one sleep.”
Then comes the (often dreaded by parents) time when children are ready to drop naps completely.
“We have a fair few two-three-year-olds in our room who have dropped sleep,” says Skye, an educator at our Yatala campus. “The most common sign for them was becoming upset at rest time, moving around a lot and getting up for drinks, toilet and to just tell us something.”
She says even if educators suspect a child is ready to drop naps, they start off with still giving the child a bed, but giving them a quiet activity like books, puzzles, or drawing supplies.
“That way they still have the option to fall asleep if they want to, if they haven’t slept the whole week, we then move them to an activity mat that we keep clear of beds, again for quiet activities while their peers sleep,” Skye says.
Independent play is also important for your child’s development, and it’s central to effective quiet time, so it’s worthwhile implementing it into your older toddler’s daily routine. Quiet time is a time during the day where your child has an opportunity to rest their busy little bodies and minds. The length of quiet time can range anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending upon the child, but consistency in this new quiet time will work wonders for the whole family.
Skye says dropping naps is something they talk to parents about, and from those discussions, they work together on a plan to help the child adjust.
You’re having a baby! Congratulations! It’s such a thrilling time! But it can also be intimidating, stressful and overwhelming thinking of all things you need to think about and prepare for, before your child even arrives.
Or perhaps you have that sweet child, and while many take a leave of absence from work after baby is born, at some point families have to make the decision if and when they will return to work. That’s when you have to look at early learning and care for your children. Overwhelmed? We’re here to guide you and make life just a little bit easier.
There are several options. Consider what early learning services are nearby and how far you’re willing to travel to drop-off and pick-up. You could even do it during peak hour traffic to get a better idea of how long it might take to get to these locations.
Check out the websites dedicated to listing early learning services such as Starting Blocks, Australia’s free government website dedicated to early childhood, the National Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) national register or sites like Careforkids.com.au – which share services by location, including pertinent information such as assessment and rating outcomes, what each service offers, contact information and more.
Then, visit websites and start making some calls and book tours. That will be the best way for you to get ideas on philosophies, curriculums, learning and play environments, and they can answer any questions you may have.
Early learning and care providers in Australia have strict educator-to-child ratios, which is for the safety and benefit of both children and their educators, but that can mean spots fill quite quickly in each age and development learning environment, and in high-demand areas, waitlists can fill up quickly. However, don’t let us scare you, many high quality services have spaces available when you need them.
While this sector is thrilled to be able to allow more parents to continue or join the workforce, that does mean demand will be higher for quality early learning and care.
Start early. Contact the campus you’re interested in to see if there is indeed a wait list. Ideally, get names on wait lists at least six months to 12 months before you need care. Often, services will be considering what spots are available for the next year toward the end of the year – October to December. That doesn’t mean if you need care in May that you’re out of luck, but for busy services, thinking of the first of the year as a start time might be realistic. Sometimes, families get their unborn babies on wait lists just to be sure. At Little Scholars, if this is the case for your family, we’ll contact you about one month after your due date to see where your family is with thinking about care for your new addition.
Visit the service before joining the waitlist. Most early learning locations offer tours, you just need to book them in advance to avoid disruption and guaranteeing someone will be able to provide you the time you need to get a feel for the service.
Keep in contact with the service to see how your child is progressing on the wait list.
Some services offer places to families who have been on the waitlist the longest. Some may place internal families first, meaning families who already have a child in their care and are adding additional children. Some services may have a strict “first-in, best-dressed” approach. It’s worth asking what the policy is.
In early learning, a “ratio” refers to the comparison between the number of educators and the number of children they are responsible for supervising, essentially showing how many children each adult is looking after at a given time; it’s a crucial aspect of ensuring children’s safety and wellbeing in an early childhood setting, with different age groups often having different required ratios depending on their developmental needs.
The ratio for our children is as follows:
These ratios adhere to the requirements of the National Quality Framework.
The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is a government initiative designed to help families manage the cost of early learning. Your child’s time in care is charged as a daily fee by the service, and the government may cover a portion of this cost based on your individual circumstances. This is known as the subsidy.
You can apply for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) even before enrolling your child in early learning, in fact as long as your child has a birth certificate, you can apply. You then have 13 weeks to activate your CCS with an early learning service. If that time lapses, you can go online to reactivate it.
We have a helpful webpage dedicated to everything you may need to know about CCS!
The benefits of placing small children in early childhood education are numerous. Early learning can help babies develop social skills, motor skills, and cognitive abilities. Because of course, learning doesn’t start when a child begins school, it begins at birth!
Social development
Babies can begin forming connections, learning to share, and developing early communication skills in a supportive environment.
Motor development
Early learning settings provide safe opportunities for babies to explore movement, such as reaching and grasping. These experiences help strengthen motor skills, with research suggesting that babies who engage in active exploration may reach developmental milestones earlier.
Cognitive growth
Exposure to a variety of learning experiences supports cognitive development. Studies indicate that children who participate in early learning programs may develop stronger cognitive abilities compared to those who do not.
School readiness
Early learning helps children prepare for kindergarten by teaching them to follow instructions, interact with peers, and adjust to time away from their parents.
Academic success
Research shows that early education programs can contribute to improved academic achievement in children.
Little Scholars and most early learning services will suggest to parents that they enrol their children at least two days every week in care. Why? Nearly a quarter of Australian children start school without the foundational skills they need in areas like communication, social skills, emotional wellbeing, and physical health.
Attending for at least two years, with a minimum of 15 hours per week, is linked to better literacy and numeracy outcomes that persist into adolescence. High-quality early learning also supports secure attachments with educators, helping children settle and understand routines, and engage more actively with peers.
In our learn and play studios, At Little Scholars, we provide tailored, age-specific early learning and childcare across four key stages: nursery, toddlers, pre-kindy, and kindy. Our expertly designed programs cater to the unique needs and developmental milestones of each age group. Our children learn through play, reflected through our dedicated early learning curriculum.
We understand the bonds young children have with their parents or caregivers. There is no denying that it may not be a smooth process, but we encourage parents to remember all the benefits children gain from attending early learning. Research also proves that having a child in care doesn’t negatively affect the bond with his or her main caregivers.
If you have a little ones who you think may struggle with separating from parents, check out our blog post: Tips and tricks for dealing with separation anxiety
If you as a parent are struggling with feelings of being away from your baby, we have a blog post for you in which we spoke with a clinical psychotherapist for her suggestions: Children aren’t the only ones who deal with separation anxiety
We very much welcome you to chat with us if you or your little one are or may deal with these feelings. You’re not alone and we can support you both through this transition.
If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we have an open door policy and we invite you to talk to your educator, educational leader or campus manager any time.
Little Scholars offers you and your child the very best facilities, resources and early educational, play-based programs available, which are underpinned by the early years learning framework. Our belief is that through quality education and care for children we can also encourage, assist and support the entire family.
Our dedicated team of educators are committed to the individual needs and interests of children and their families, and thus we encourage and welcome family input and involvement.
We aim to be like an extension of your family and are very relationship-driven. We support nurturing relationships between our educators and your child, the relationships your child has with the other children who attend, and we value our relationship with you as the parent and other family members. So book a tour today to get started!
Do you have a child who’s struggling with separation anxiety, especially at when being dropped off at school or early education? Perhaps they’re going through a developmental milestone that makes them need Mum or Dad a bit more than before. This is common starting around six months of age, peaks at 14-18 months, then can happen again when your child hits preschool and school-age. Or maybe your child is new to our service or has recently transitioned studios. The transition from home to early education is a milestone for both children and families. Separation anxiety can even happen for children who’ve been in Little Scholars for a while. It can be hard moving into a new studio where she or he doesn’t yet know new routines, where things are kept and spending time with different educators with different ways of doing things can be overwhelming for the child. This is all normal.
If you’re at a loss on how to make things easier on your little one, and yourself, we have some ideas.
Acknowledge and validate their feelings by saying something like “I know goodbyes can be hard, but I always come back. I will see you later today. I love you.” Give a big hug, a smile and a wink.
Then at home, if your child is old enough, have a chat about why she/he is having a hard time at drop-off, and think about what you can do to alleviate it. Ask him or her what make things easier. Perhaps it’s including a comfort toy, blanket or family photo. Maybe you each have a special bracelet that you can touch when you’re missing each other. Make a plan for something special together when you pick him or her up, like a walk or playing a game together, which will give your child something to look forward to through the day.
If you’re preparing your child to go to early education or school, it’s best they understand what their days will look like. So the conversation could look something like ‘we’ll all have breakfast together and get ready for the day. Then we’ll get in the car and first we’ll stop at Little Scholars. I’ll walk you in, give you a big hug, and you’ll go off to have a day of play while I go to work. When I finish work, I’ll jump in the car and come right over to pick you up, then we’ll go _____” These conversations may have to happen several times for it to sink in.
Also, if you’re pondering signing your child up for early education, this is why we offer play dates to children newly enroled but yet to start – this allows them to begin to become familiar with their new educators and studios.
Remember, you can always chat with your educator or campus manager about how to help. We’re always available, and we’ve been through this before, we can offer ideas or reassurances everyone will be OK!
We also know separation anxiety can be a two-way street, especially for new parents, or returning to work after maternity leave. Don’t forget we have our Little Scholars app so you can see pictures of your child, and be reassured that if there were tears from your child, they likely didn’t last long and they’re busy having fun and learning while you’re at work.
Related links:
If you’re the parent or guardian of a child under five, you’ve probably observed some lies at some point during their young life.
That’s normal and dare we say, developmentally appropriate. We didn’t say it’s OK, but it’s common! Your child isn’t headed for a life of crime and incarceration, so you can now let out a sigh of relief. And there are certainly things you can do to help lead your child to a more honest way of communicating!
But from a developmental perspective, a blog shared by Early Childhood Australia confirms that lying in young children is rarely cause for concern.
From the ECA blog: “lying is often one of the first signs a young child has developed a “theory of mind”, which is the awareness others may have different desires, feelings, and beliefs to oneself. When a child misleadingly claims “Daddy said I could have an ice cream”, they’re using this awareness of others’ minds to plant false knowledge.”
Children can start lying by the time they start stringing sentences together, between the ages of two and four. The tales they tell may get more elaborate from the age of roughly four and up, as they start to understand what may be more likely to be believed, as their understanding of how others might think and interpret what they say gets more sophisticated.
But the reason behind the lies could also be far less sinister than you think it might be.
Perhaps, your child is just looking to be seen. It might be that they’re feeling invisible to you, and to really get your attention, to get you to make a big deal out of something in their lives, they need to make their story bigger. It can be easier for adults to think their problems, concerns and issues are so much bigger and more important than a child’s, but important to whom?
Interestingly, research has found that while almost all children lie at some point, they also have a pretty clear understanding young that lying is wrong. Kay Bussey from Macquarie University, found that children as young as four years of age rated ‘lies about misdeeds as being very bad and that the liar would feel guilty for telling such a lie. Furthermore, they rated this type of lie more negatively than other types of lies and even misdeeds themselves.’
So, children not yet school-aged do understand right from wrong, yet they do it anyway.
How might a parent react to this that would be an effective way to tamp down the untrue stories children sometimes tell?
One way to approach children lying, according to Jess Vanderwier, an American psychotherapist, is to come at it with curiosity and compassion.
Vanderwier’s strategies include:
Finally she says when your child tells the truth, especially in difficult situations, praise them for their courage and honesty. Noticing their honesty can encourage more truth-telling in the future.
Sometimes children lie or keep secrets to hide serious issues, such as experiencing harm or witnessing harm to others. For instance, children who have been abused by adults or bullied by peers might lie because they fear consequences or feel unsafe speaking up.
If you suspect your child is lying to protect someone or themselves:
Creating a safe environment is key to encouraging honesty and addressing any underlying issues. This is something that should be done all the time, not just when honesty is questioned.
Please know children’s safety is paramount to us. If we at Little Scholars suspect a child is being harmed, we have a duty of care to and will report it.
Teaching children emotional awareness, in themselves and recognising emotions in others, is an important part of children’s growth and wellbeing. Understanding emotions is also not something ingrained, and not necessarily an easy thing to teach or grasp, especially as these small humans’ brains are rapidly developing in all areas.
In children, all kinds of changes are happening at the same time, and some areas, such as children’s language skills, develop before their self-regulation skills. This means that while your child may have a broad vocabulary, they still may not be able to put into words how they’re feeling. A toddler’s capacity to regulate their emotional state and emotional reactions can affect everyone around them, and can carry on to academic performance, long-term mental health, and their ability to thrive in a complex world.
Helping children to identify and label emotions is an important first step and something Little Scholars focuses on in our educational programming. Small children do not yet have the vocabulary to identify feeling words like angry or frustrated, or have the skills to “read” facial cues or to interpret body language.
Even the littlest Scholars are learning emotional intelligence by communicating how they feel, according to Jodie, a lead educator in the nursery studio at Deception Bay.
“If a child is expressing an emotion or a behaviour, [we question] is it because they need something from us? ‘I can see you’re feeling sad, how come you’re feeling sad?'” Jodie says. “If we begin to speak to the babies about what they’re feeling, information I’ve learned from [child psychologist] Justin Coulson, it will relate to five things, either them being hungry, angry, lonely, tired or stressed. It’s often one of those things that will cause big emotions.
“They’re obviously not able to completely communicate with us on what their needs are. I’ve learned not to ask the children what they want, but what do they need?” she says. “Maybe they’re feeling hungry and frustrated, so offering them an apple could work, where they can get some of that anger out through crunching. Maybe they’re feeling tired, but they need a little more comfort first. What other feelings are they feeling?”
At our Burleigh campus, children and educators have feelings chats as part of their morning routine. In the Toddler studio, children ask their educators questions such as ‘why is she angry?’ providing a great opportunity for further conversation. Educators support the children in understanding their emotions through discussions as part of their morning routine.
“During the morning, we will sit down for our morning meeting [with children] so when we come inside, we’ll ask how they’re feeling, they’ll express how they’re feeling – happy, sad, ‘good’, and throughout the day we’ll do activities and they’ve gotten really good at recognising and showing those emotions,” says Sasha, lead educator in the Toddler 2 studio. “It’s crazy to see how much they can take in and understand.
“It’s harder for some of the younger ones [to grasp], but we still try to get them involved by asking ‘how do you think that person looks in the photo?’ or ‘how could we make that person feel better?’ and get them to try to understand how others may be feeling,” Sasha continues. “They’re getting really good at being able to understand their own emotions, and we try to support them in how they can support themselves if they are feeling sad, or feeling overwhelmed and need space. Next year they’ll be learning more about how others feel and how we can help them.”
Raylene, an educator in the senior kindy studio at our Yatala campus, says the benefits of exploring emotions, all emotions including the hard ones, allows children to not only identify them but develop the skills to go through them.
“One child mentioned that she would cry all day if she couldn’t see her mummy again. Mr J mentioned that he gets angry when he can’t find his treasures. Mr T doesn’t like when Mummy drops him off etc which led to a discussion about developing strategies to cope with these emotions when they occur. [It’s] so powerful. Mr J said that he could take a big breath and then think about where he put his treasures. Miss K said that she would give her sister a big hug if she couldn’t hug Mummy. Mr T said he could come with Miss Ray,” says Raylene. “Ensuring educators create opportunities for children to communicate their feelings and then giving children the tools to not only identify them, but develop strategies to manage them, rather than saying ‘you’re OK’ is the power moment.”
Tori, an educator at the same campus agrees.
Jodie is right. Research shows that children who learn how to understand emotions in themselves and others are better able to regulate their own responses to strong emotions. Helping children to identify and label emotions is an important first step, and this is supported by the Early Years Framework in helping children develop a strong sense of identity.
Further information
In recent years, news headlines have frequently highlighted the challenges surrounding men’s mental health, and the troubling rates of violence and suicide among men. While these stories are not representative of men overall, these issues don’t emerge overnight. They’re often rooted in childhood, shaped by how boys are taught to understand emotions, handle challenges, and connect with others. While these statistics are concerning, they also present an opportunity. If we start now, we can nurture a generation of boys who grow into kind, empathetic, and resilient men. If we encourage sensitivity, respect, and emotional awareness from an early age, we can help our little boys become the well-rounded, compassionate adults our world needs.
Raising both sexes present different challenges for parents, but really it’s a very individual approach to each child to ensure they’re learning to become kind, respectful human beings.
Traditionally, little boys have been taught to “man up” and avoid showing “weakness” by expressing emotions. This can be deeply isolating, leading to feelings of loneliness or frustration, and in some cases, acting out through belittling or bullying those who are more open with their emotions. In fact, a recent international study found that Australian teenagers experience bullying at the second highest rate among developed countries. The good news is that bullying numbers are showing a downward trend, suggesting that shifts in attitudes are making a difference.
By encouraging young boys to embrace and express their feelings, as well as having awareness of them in others, we can cultivate environments that support kindness and empathy, helping them build respectful relationships and healthy ways to cope with emotions. This approach is essential for raising well-rounded, compassionate individuals who understand that true strength comes from being open, understanding, and kind to themselves and others.
At Little Scholars, we believe strength comes from vulnerability, showing and sharing the range of human emotion, and understanding and displaying empathy rather than ignorance.
Our goal is to provide a secure and trusting environment in which all children feel a sense of belonging. We support children to form positive relationships with peers, educators and their environments, while recognising and maybe improving their existing relationships with their family and community.
Part of building and maintaining these relationships means teaching children to recognise the range of emotions within themselves and in others. This in turn builds empathy, understanding and respect for others. We do this in a variety of age-appropriate ways to support children’s emotional development. From understanding what the various feelings are, understanding how they feel, how to see these in others, as well as mindfulness practices to deal with harder feelings when they arise.
To get an understanding of some of the potential reasons for what’s happening in males, what we can do now, we spoke to Dean Cooper, the program manager for White Ribbon Australia, a not-for-profit global social movement working to stop men’s violence against women. The organisation’s mission is to strive for a society where all women and children are safe. November is White Ribbon Month in Australia, we encourage you to visit the White Ribbon Australia website and contribute if you can.
Dean also happens to be the proud dad of two little boys, one of whom is pictured with Dean in the top photo and attends Little Scholars. We’re thrilled to have Dean’s expertise on this important topic.
I design programs for high schools and workplaces on domestic violence (DV), masculinity, respectful relationships, consent, etc. Secondary to my role at White Ribbon Australia, I am an ambassador for the innerBoy app which is an app assisting men to heal from trauma and get support for any mental health challenges they are facing.
Well, originally I wanted to play Rugby Union professionally, however that didn’t work out, so I studied criminology and undertook a career in corrections, conducting assessments on people who committed offences of all kinds. I began to focus solely on working with men and fathers who used violence, and about seven years ago I started facilitating men’s behavioural change programs for men being released from prison for DV offences. Quite alarmingly, what I learnt was a lot of behaviour I engaged in within sporting environments, such as sexist jokes, violent chants, and street harassment on nights out, actually made their way into these programs, and condoned or supported a lot of problematic beliefs these men who were using violence had. It was my full circle journey to realising that not all disrespect leads to violence, but all violence starts with disrespect. I’ve decided to stick with this work and found a passion for it as I think it’s important that those who are being disrespectful or choosing to use violence receive counter narratives from culture to say these behaviours aren’t okay.
I am passionate about the role men play in shaping children, especially boys, and have a desire to see every father role-modelling safe and respectful behaviour. I truly believe safe, engaged, and present fathers can positively impact our future generations and are the solution for the social issues we see today. Unfortunately, what I’ve learned in this work is that a lot of men either didn’t have positive role models growing up, or look around at music, TV, movies, pornography, social media, etc. and have no mainstream examples of what positive, safe, and effective fathering looks like. It’s my passion to create spaces for men to learn what fathering means and how we role model respect, equality, and safety.
There isn’t much at such a young age that we can ‘teach’ in that formal sense. Children will learn from observing so it’s important we role model more than try and teach. I’ll just provide my own strategies.
One thing I am trying to personally do is role model accountability. If my son says something like ‘that makes me sad’ or ‘I don’t like it’ if I am playing, or implementing a boundary I try to talk to him about why it upsets him and validate his feelings. I also role model saying ‘sorry’. Likewise, with my wife I make a purposeful attempt to apologise for things and role model what it’s like to get it wrong and change my mind. It’s crucial to show we don’t always have the answers, we are going to make mistakes, but we can always acknowledge our impact and make amends.
I try to hold myself proactively accountable as well. As adults, we know when we haven’t done our best work. If we are distracted on our phone when our child tries to engage us, or if we snap at them for not doing something we asked, or if they are talking and we interrupt with something else. We can proactively hold ourselves accountable, I try to say ‘son, when you were talking then I realise I wasn’t fully listening and I am sorry, what you have to say is important and I recognise by not listening I didn’t show that.’
“I also believe we play a huge role in teaching our boys to regulate their emotions. We seem to be better at comforting girls or more accepting of their emotions. In terms of our boys, we need to shift from correction to connection.”
Another, ‘I’m sorry I yelled before, it’s my responsibility to stay calm and I didn’t do that, it wasn’t my intention to make you upset but I realise it did, I am sorry for that and next time I am going to do better.’ If I see my son be unkind to someone in the playground or at kindy drop off, I try use those moments to ask him what he thinks the impacts were and how we can make amends. For example, ‘I saw when you took those two toys and didn’t give one to Johnny. Look at Johnny now, does he look happy or sad? Johnny looks sad and I think it’s because he doesn’t have a toy, can you help me find a way for Johnny to have a toy too?’ and layer that in with an apology for not sharing. Taking those steps to encourage my son to see the impact they have on others, be comfortable with reflecting on what they’ve done, and how to repair. That’s how we start to shape kind, reflective, and safe boys.
At least once a week, I try:
1. Admit a mistake I made
2. Share what I learnt about that mistake
3. Ask for help.
This is how we mark ourselves as a psychologically safe person. If we can role model getting it wrong, learning from that, and being willing to accept help, we role model that we are a safe person to hold accountable, we’ll treat their mistakes with empathy and understanding, and it’s okay to make mistakes. If we can mark ourselves as safe people by role modeling this, then we normalise recognising the impacts we have on others and repairing those. I just never want my children to hide something from me because they felt like they couldn’t tell me. I don’t want them to say ‘I made a mistake don’t tell Dad’ and instead say ‘I made a mistake I have to tell Dad.’ That’s the goal.
I also believe we play a huge role in teaching our boys to regulate their emotions. We seem to be better at comforting girls or more accepting of their emotions. In terms of our boys, we need to shift from correction to connection. Again, I think we need to role model this and talk about when we are frustrated, sad, disappointed, happy etc. I speak with a lot of dads who openly state at times they’ve been sad or angry, their children will ask ‘Daddy, are you okay?’ and they respond ‘Yeah, I am fine’ when they really aren’t. Children are these perfect little emotional barometers and what we actually do in that moment is not protect them from any negative feelings, but lie to them and tell them their sense of emotions was wrong. Instead, I try and role model ‘Daddy is feeling sad right now, thanks for noticing and asking if I am okay. When I feel sad I like to find an activity that makes me happy or find Mummy and give her a big cuddle.’ It’s important we teach boys to recognise their emotions, deal with them, and implement strategies to cope.
Physical affection is so important. As a guy growing up I always heard about this ‘tough love’ approach to parenting and the whole ‘just wait till your Dad gets home’ disciplinary role we were supposed to play. In my career, I’ve worked with a lot of men who have poor emotional regulation or traumatic backgrounds and they all report a lack of being told they are good enough and to be embraced. We do some exercises in prison groups where the men outline what they wish they had more of as children, all of it comes back to being told they were of value just as they were, and wishing they were shown love more.
At Little Scholars, we feel strongly it takes a village to raise a child, and we’re very proud to be a part of your child’s community as she or he grows and learns about the world. All of our little scholars learn about emotions in a number of age and developmentally-appropriate ways. It’s a very important facet of our early educational curriculum, supported by the Early Years Learning Framework.
We aim to provide a safe and secure space in which they grow and thrive. To ensure we’re doing this, we’re constantly working to improve our knowledge and practices. Our educators regularly take on professional development that helps them understand and guide children through not only their letters and numbers, but their emotional and social growth, on topics like developing mindfulness practices in their studios, developing frustration tolerance even more specific learnings such as trauma-informed practice.
Of course, ensuring children’s safety is paramount, and our educators are also regularly trained and updated on Child Protection Policy and procedures.
If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we have an open door policy and we invite you to talk to your educator, educational leader or campus manager any time.
Little Scholars offers you and your child the very best facilities, resources and early educational, play-based programs available, which are underpinned by the early years learning framework. Our belief is that through quality education and care for children we can also encourage, assist and support the entire family.
Our dedicated team of educators are committed to the individual needs and interests of children and their families, and thus we encourage and welcome family input and involvement.
We aim to be like an extension of your family and are very relationship-driven. We support nurturing relationships between our educators and your child, the relationships your child has with the other children who attend, and we value our relationship with you as the parent and other family members. So book a tour today to get started!
At Little Scholars School of Early Learning, we’re dedicated to shaping bright futures and instilling a lifelong passion for learning. With our strategically located childcare centres in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, we provide tailored educational experiences designed to foster your child’s holistic development.
Let us hold your hand and help looking for a child care centre. Leave your details with us and we’ll be in contact to arrange a time for a ‘Campus Tour’ and we will answer any questions you might have!
Let us hold your hand and help looking for a child care centre. Leave your details with us and we’ll be in contact to arrange a time for a ‘Campus Tour’ and we will answer any questions you might have!
