Did you know that clay is not only a fun material for children to play with but also incredibly beneficial for their development?
What’s fantastic about clay is its open-ended nature. There’s no right or wrong way to play with it, giving children the freedom to explore and express themselves. Whether they’re rolling it into balls, flattening it into pancakes, or creating intricate sculptures, each action reveals something unique about them. It could be their level of focus, their creativity, or even how they approach problem-solving.
Benefits include:
These are all important skills for children, especially as they prepare to move into formal education. The benefit of using clay is that it’s a natural, moldable medium that can be used as a cement, an adhesive and even a paint.
Paul R White, an American clinical social worker, has been using clay as a therapeutic tool for over 30 years. In his book, CLAYtherapy, he talks about how clay play can naturally facilitate meaningful conversations between children and adults. He developed numerous unique aids and techniques that have assisted him in teaching children to cope with stress, express feelings and to solve problems, including through the use and manipulation of clay. White also presented a paper on clay therapy to the World Congress of Child Play Therapy and Child Psychotherapy in London, England.
He has used clay in his practice as an ice breaker, as an aggression reliever and as a primary tool in treatment.
In his book, White says “Through mutual clay play, a conversation between child and counselor automatically emerges. Dialogue doesn’t have to be forced or fabricated, but happens naturally when the counselor is revealing, demonstrating and teaching this dynamic and engaging clay process and the child is asking, learning and experiencing his or her own trial and error. This manner of interaction links the adult with the child through a hands-on, verbal, nonintrusive, problem-solving counselling process.”
Lisa Terreni, a senior lecturer in early childhood education, also champions the use of clay. She believes it gives children another language for expressing their thoughts and ideas.
“From many anecdotal observations of children using clay I feel strongly that, apart from teaching young children the physical skills required to use the medium successfully to create three dimensional artworks, using clay gives children another language for expressing their thoughts, ideas and emerging working theories about their world,” she said in a blog post for Early Arts.
Marvin Bartel, a professor of art at Goshen College in the United States, says in a blog post on his website that ‘clay is so fascinating that some children work for long periods without any adult motivation to maintain their interest. It can be a great way to extend the attention span of some children.’
According to experts from Pennsylvania State University, children will show many parts of themselves through clay experiences:
One of the lesser-known but incredibly important benefits of clay play is muscle development. When children manipulate clay, they’re actually engaging both fine and large muscles, which is crucial for their physical development.
Anxiety
One study in Iran aimed to examine the impact of clay therapy and narrative therapy on reducing anxiety levels in pre-school children. The study involved 30 kindergarten children who were divided into three groups: 10 in the clay therapy group, 10 in the narrative therapy group, and 10 in the control group. The study found significant differences in anxiety levels among the groups. Both the clay therapy and narrative therapy groups showed a reduction in anxiety compared to the control group. The clay therapy group had a mean score of 3.63, and the narrative therapy group had a mean score of 2.83, both of which were significantly different from the control group’s mean score of -0.71. However, there was no significant difference between the clay therapy and narrative therapy groups in terms of anxiety reduction.
The study concludes that both clay and narrative therapies are effective in improving self-esteem, school performance, and sociability of the children, as reported by the parents.
Psychosocial Wellbeing
Another study out of Kenya, looked at how clay play supported children who lost access to schools during the pandemic, affecting children’s right to education and their psychosocial wellbeing.
The study, published in the East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, looked into the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and how play, particularly with painting and clay modelling, can be a therapeutic and educational tool. The paper argues that these forms of play can help children cope with the stresses and traumas induced by the pandemic, while also promoting cognitive and social learning.
The study argues that play with art forms like painting and clay modelling can be powerful tools for cognitive and social learning. They can also serve as therapeutic activities to counter depression and violent behaviour. Activities such as clay modelling and painting are described as non-serious activities that free the mind and are excellent for expression. Clay is described as a malleable material that can be easily manipulated, while painting offers a colourful medium for expression.
The study suggests that these art-based activities should be integrated into the curriculum, especially for children aged four to six, to enhance their psycho-motor and creativity development.
Fine Motor Skills
An Indonesian study investigated the impact of constructive play with clay on children’s fine motor skills. The small study by researchers from STKIP Kusuma Negara included two groups of 11 children each, one as the experimental group and the other as the control group. The study used test observation techniques for data collection and employs both descriptive and nonparametric statistical analysis. The results indicated a significant difference between the two groups, suggesting that constructive play with clay positively impacts children’s fine motor skills.
In the study, the authors highlight the physical aspects of working with clay.
“Working with clay fosters large muscle and fine motor control. Clay is fairly resistant and will need to be kneaded and worked to make it pliable. Children can stand or sit while using clay. Standing provides the advantage of a whole-body muscular reaction to the clay. Hard clay provides solid resistance the child must overcome. This will involve using the shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers. Playing with clay develops large muscles and fine motor control because the clay is quite resistant and kneaded to make it soft.”
The benefits of clay play in early childhood development are supported not only by expert opinions but also by a growing body of scientific research. From fostering creativity and social skills to enhancing both fine and large muscle development, clay play serves as a multifaceted educational tool.
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When you think of childcare, you might not necessarily think of early education, but that’s precisely what Little Scholars is doing; providing high calibre early education for the critical first five years of a child’s life, and at the same time, changing society’s perception of what childcare, or early education, is.
Little Scholars has always considered itself as a leader in the sector, but we elevated the quality of education with the addition of Susan Cooper, our group pedagogical leader one year ago.
Pedagogy is a form of teaching strategies in the practice of educating. It’s the techniques, strategies and approach taken by educators to let learning and development to take place. Pedagogy refers to the interactive process between the educator, the learner and the learning environment and provides reason to the design of learning spaces, materials, and resources on offer. Pedagogical leadership supports educators in relating their pedagogy to content knowledge and educational theories.
My aim is to support educators in entering the child’s world, enabling them to reflect on their practices and build capacity to support the child’s development.
– Susan Cooper, group pedagogical leader for Little Scholars
In the year since Susan joined us, she’s gone above and beyond to support our educators. Through her pedagogical leadership, Little Scholars has raised the benchmark of its overall quality of teaching, and recognises that providing children with strong foundations for ongoing learning and development is underpinned by a strong pedagogical practice. She inspires educators to employ new approaches to their teaching against up-to-date research, has helped translate the Little Scholars values and principles into practice and has without a doubt increased the quality of experiences and interactions across our campuses.
But the role was daunting at first, according to Susan.
“Having come with approximately 16 years’ experience in having been in varied roles across the sector within early childhood, my love of sharing knowledge and inspiring others drew me to apply to this role,” Susan says. “My experience in playwork allows me to see the true value in children’s play, the need to create spaces and support the learning and approach to working with children to support and facilitate play in its true essence. What really resonated with The Scholars Group and my own personal values and beliefs, was placing children as the core and central to all that we do.
“I see myself as an advocate for children’s rights, being the voice for many and striving to excel toward quality outcomes.”
The group pedagogical role is focused on mentoring and guiding teams in their practices and challenging new ways of working, to support innovative curriculum ideas, while supporting children’s learning across all Little Scholars campuses.
“I found the team to be so supportive and receptive to change, which has allowed me to share my vision, passion, and skillset,” Susan says.
With Susan’s support, our Deception Bay campus was rated exceeding against the National Quality Standards (NQS) in late 2022. A thrilling result, but not without a lot of preparation. Susan guided Nat, the campus manager, and her team, in the Assessment and Rating Process.
“It was critical that the team worked collaboratively toward a shared goal. This involved building strong relations with the team to build trust and mutual respect. This partnership saw me engage with all stakeholders, while we worked toward targeted goals and worked through evidence-based data to the exceeding themes,” Susan says.
Strong knowledge of theory and pedagogy underpinned the quality outcomes, according to Susan. Another great achievement Susan says, was the team being ranked 3rd out of 3,126 early learning centres across the state.
“My role is to take an active role in the development of pedagogy in the early childhood context. I primarily work alongside teams, across our 13 campuses to provide the opportunity to share pedagogical practice, leading knowledge to research and child development,” Susan says. “Not only does pedagogy inform direct work of teaching, but also the more indirect work of leadership. This develops a community of practice, where professional educators can share ideas and knowledge and engage in peer learning.”
“Little Scholars has always been a leader in our field, due to our commitment and passion to the early years. With the addition of our Group Pedagogical Leader, the effectiveness of our educational program and practice has been elevated to a level we didn’t think was possible,” says Jae Fraser, founder of Little Scholars.
“In Susan’s role she is supporting and mentoring the team to influence children’s learning by fostering family engagement, ensuring fidelity to the Little Scholars curricular philosophy, using data to evaluate the effectiveness of our learning program, and exceeding standards established to optimise learning effective environments,” says Jae. “We couldn’t be happier with the results of this new role just after one year, and we are so excited to see the future.”
Susan’s goals for her role are simple: to continue to strive toward excellence, raising the benchmark in early childhood and placing children at the forefront of everything Little Scholars does.
“I take great pride in the relationships I’ve developed, the partnerships I have established, creating a safe space for the children and educators I work with,” Susan says reflecting on the past year. “Our impact is significant, and I’m thrilled to witness the progress in both the children and educators. I feel grateful to be part of such meaningful work, knowing that we’re making a real difference in the lives of these children.”
At Little Scholars, we have four pillars that underpin everything that we do at Little Scholars – for our children, families, educators, and our community.
As part of our annual awards, we have four awards dedicated to those Little Scholars’ values – learn, grow, inspire and contribute. This year, while our award-winning educators certainly personify all four pillars, but with their unique special skills and achievements, we’ve declared one clear winner for each pillar.
Ellissa at our Ormeau Village campus was named winner of the Pillar Award in the Learn category because she stepped up to become a lead educator, and she is happy to keep learning from her peers and further her education in the sector.
Ellissa is finishing up her studies with her Cert III, then she’ll be moving onto her Graduate Diploma.
From her submission: Ellissa has stepped up into her Lead role during last year and we have watched her grow from assistant to well-deserved Lead and take charge in her space, leading her colleagues while taking feedback on board and striving to excel.
Ella’s experience as a parent with a child at Little Scholars was actually the reason she became an educator herself! Ella is the recipient of an Inspire Little Scholars Pillar Award 2023.
Ella’s nomination
Ella is an educator with the Little Scholars Deception Bay campus, which recently was assessed Exceeding under the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care.
In Ella’s nomination to us, it said, “Ella is an inspiration for all in the Deception Bay community. We had some outstanding feedback from the department through our assessment and rating process. Before the process even started, the assessor had mentioned the passion and authenticity observed in Ella’s interactions with our children, families and community. In the assessor’s words – ‘she could sit and watch Ella all day long.’ From one of Ella’s colleagues, ‘the educator she is, is who I aspire to be in my future teaching career. She is strong, but also so caring to each individual child.’
Jackie is an educator at Little Scholars Ashmore campus. In her first year working for us, she was nominated for a Pillar award!
Jackie’s nomination
Campus manager Elise said, ‘Jackie is our jack of all trades! Jackie fits many hats at our campus. From driving the bus to being in the studios to going on vacation care, she wears her many hats with a smile on her face. Her bubbly nature and willingness to help the team wherever needed is admirable. We appreciate her dedication and consistent contribution to the campus.
Aleisha has remarkable attributes and we’re told her growth as an educator has been propelled by her enthusiasm to contribute, learn and inspire her team and go above and beyond not only for children, but families as well.
I have been an educator since the end of January 2020. Prior to this, I was a trainee at Little Scholars Nerang since September of 2018 studying my Diploma.
Aleisha’s nomination
Aleisha at our Nerang campus was named winner of the Pillar Award in the Grow category because she’s grown from a trainee at the campus just a few years ago to now full time lead educator, her gentle touch, her willingness to inspire and help others, she was a clear choice for campus manager Renee.
Aleisha is no stranger to accolades, she won Educator of the Year – Peer Choice twice previously. Little Scholars was her first employer in her early childhood education career!
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
We are excited to welcome Susan Cooper, our new group Pedagogical Leader for Little Scholars School of Early Learning.
Susan will support educators to guide and influence children’s love of learning by fostering family engagement, ensuring fidelity to Little Scholars curricular philosophy, using data to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning program, and ensure we are exceeding standards to optimise learning environments and prepare children for successful futures.
Through pedagogical leadership, Susan hopes to raise the benchmark to overall quality of teaching and recognises that providing children with strong foundations for ongoing learning and development is underpinned by a strong pedagogical practice.
Pedagogy is a form of teaching strategies in the practice of educating. It is the techniques, strategies and approach taken by educators to let learning and development to take place. Pedagogy refers to the interactive process between the teacher, the learner and the learning environment and provides reason to the design of learning spaces, materials, and resources on offer. Pedagogical Leadership supports educators in relating their pedagogy to content knowledge and educational theories.
Susan’s primary role will be to provide leadership to pedagogy and support educators in relating their pedagogy to content knowledge and educational theories. Susan will be working across the 13 Little Scholars Early Learning Campuses mentoring and coaching our educational leaders to implement curriculum delivery. Susan will inspire educators to employ new approaches to their teaching against up-to-date research, which will shape the quality of experiences and interactions across our campuses.
Susan has worked in the Early Childhood Sector for more than 16 years and has extensive knowledge in the field of Pedagogical Practices. Having worked in many fields within the Education sector, from operating a family day care, to being an educator within long day care sector as well as outside school hour care services, through to management and leadership.
“To take on this role is exciting as I can share my passion, influencing pedagogy approaches and practices and place emphasis on children’s play to promote continuous child development and quality outcomes for children,” she says.
Susan is passionate about advocating for children’s rights and is a firm believer of a child-centred approach and that the quality of interactions between adults and children play a fundamental role in stimulating early learning.
According to Jae Fraser, founder of Little Scholars School of Early Learning, pedagogical leadership is about leading or guiding pedagogical practice, supporting Little Scholars educators in their work with children and families, and translating the Little Scholars values and principles into practice.
Why do our children sometimes express some big bursts of negative moods after they come home from a seemingly fun day at childcare? This could be due to after school restraint collapse. Meanwhile, you expect them to come home happy and excited to tell you all about their day of crafts, books, playtime and outings, after all, you often get reports that your child was an angel all day. But when he or she comes home, that angel seems to have taken those wings and flown away, being replaced with something not so angelic.
Some child experts call it ‘after school restraint collapse’, and it seems to happen because children hold it together all day in childcare. Children use a lot of energy being well-behaved, following direction, sitting still, retaining information, and all of this without their primary attachment figures, their parents/caregivers. It can also simply be that some children meltdown because they are tired or overstimulated. Wanting to learn more about Little Scholars and how we deal with these big emotions? Contact us today.
This leaves your child’s best opportunity to release their emotions when they get to a safe place, their home. Those emotions can take the shape of crying fits, whining, screaming, disrespect or physically acting out to parents or siblings.
“I always say to parents, ‘do you have a best friend, someone you let all your emotions out when you see them? You are this to your child and when they see you after a big, busy day at Kindy, it all comes out,’” says Libby Kissell, a lead educator with our Redland Bay South campus.
“Rest assured they had an amazing day, but they let it all out when they see you because YOU are their person, their safe zone.”
Young children haven’t yet developed the essential brain wiring or had the necessary life experience to be able to calm themselves down from big feeling states, which is why they experience such frequent meltdowns. They know they can do this at home because they’re in a place where they’re loved and supported.
Your child is loved and supported by our team at Little Scholars, talk to us if you’re struggling and we can think and discuss how to make things easier for your little one.
“As an adult, we come home from a big day at work and we just want time to ourselves to zone out and not have to think,” says Holly Medbury, an educator from our Stapylton campus.
“We might even get annoyed if people want our attention, kids feel the same, but often have difficulty expressing it. Children are little people with big emotions, they too need some time to ‘chill out’ or a friend to be there and hug, with no expectations. It’s just reassurance for parents out there that they are doing an amazing job and providing useful strategies to help children cope with their big emotions.”
You can send them to their centre with a comfort toy or blanket that they can reach for when they need it. You could also send them with a picture of their family, or a note in their bag telling them how proud you are of them and how much you love them
Spend an extra five to 10 minutes with them before they start their day at Little Scholars. Just a few connected minutes with your child can make a significant difference in their day
Have a conversation with them on the way to childcare or when you get to their centre that focuses on what they can look forward to after you pick them up later, maybe that conversation looks like, ‘When I come to get you, would you like to go to the park or go pick out some new books to read at the library?’
Bring a snack for the trip home, sometimes hunger can be distracting for them and can stir up emotions.
When you pick them up, maybe all they need is a big reassuring hug. Maybe they need quiet. Maybe they’d like to tune out to some music they enjoy for a few minutes. Maybe they need to relax on a park bench or burn some energy at the playground. Follow their lead and take some time before asking questions about their day.
Again, feel free to talk to your educators about what’s happening at home. We have an open-door policy and we’re here for you. Your child’s educators, after spending time with your little one, may have specific ideas on how to help your child or can try to dedicate some quality time with your child to help them relax and feel cared for.
By understanding a little better why there are strong feelings coming from your child after a day of childcare, you are better armed to handle after school restraint collapse or even moderate reactions before their start.
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Are you a parent racking your brain trying to figure out how to get your little one to stop hitting, biting, or pushing other people?
The good news is, it’s really common. The bad news for you is, it’s still your child doing it and you have to deal with it.
For babies, this is a way to explore the world through cause and effect. Besides teething, babies bite to see what you’ll do. If you laugh, they might try it again to get the same reaction. If you get mad, that baby might be fascinated by your reaction, not quite understanding facial reactions and meaning.
For toddlers, they may have seen other children do it. They might do it because they’re angry, upset, hurt or excited and don’t have the means to express it differently.
Both babies and toddlers could be pushing, biting or hitting because they feel overwhelmed, bored, overtired or hungry.
No matter why your child is doing it, it can be frustrating and embarrassing for parents. But know that it’s not about you. It’s not your failure as a parent. When we think our child’s behaviour with us is a reflection on ourselves, we bring a lot of baggage with our response.
Now’s the time to manage it calmly.
“I like to explain to parents that these kinds of behaviours aren’t usually appropriate, but are age-appropriate and can come from a place of frustration in children,’ says Claire, an educator at our Nerang Campus.
“Biting is common around the age where children are beginning to learn how to talk and can’t quite get the words out and are frustrated.”
It is important to ensure when you are guiding a child’s behaviour to label the behaviour and not the child, Claire says. Telling them they’re being bad or naughty isn’t effective, and it isn’t likely to change the behaviour. Remember, every child is good. They are learning everything, including regulating and dealing with emotions and impulse control.
Claire also recommends not projecting your own feelings about your child’s negative behaviour. For example, try not to make statements like ‘Stop it, you’re making Mummy sad’ or ‘Look what you did!’ Try to remember that your child is learning empathy, so putting shame or guilt on their actions won’t fix the negative actions.
So how do you respond?
Stay calm. Your emotions can set the tone for how to bring down a heightened moment. By yelling or immediately punishing, you’re giving that undesirable behaviour attention. It’s also modelling explosive reactions, like what you as a parent are trying to adjust.
A calm, firm response could look like ‘Hitting/Biting/Pushing is never OK. I won’t let you hurt your brother.’ If the behaviour continues, a follow-up ‘I’ll move your brother over here to keep everyone safe.’
This sets and actions the boundary for behaviour. Once everyone is calmed down, that’s a better opportunity to teach coping skills, according to Sarah, an educator in our Senior Kindy studio from Deception Bay.
“Calm approach, sometimes for the older children, they need that time to themselves let them have their rage in a safe way, of course. There is no point in trying to get them to calm down when they are in the state they are in. It’s best to wait and then talk to them once they are ready,” she says.
If you feel your child is old enough to have a conversation about what happened, you could follow with, ‘You seem to have a hard time not pushing, I wonder why that is?’ If they tell you what/who is bothering them, you could tell/make up a similar story and tell them how you handled it. By modelling a response to a negative feeling, parents can help children understand and regulate their emotions.
Brooke, a Schoolies educator also at our Deception Bay campus also suggests asking the child what they need in that time can help.
“Every child is different and an approach that will work with one might not necessarily work for another or might not work every time which makes things difficult,” Brooke says. “I feel like asking the children what they need in that time is a big thing in diffusing a situation, because some children could want the space, where others may need a hug to feel safe and secure.”
Hayley, an educator also at Deception Bay in our toddler studio, agrees how the situation is dealt with is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
“I would say it would depend on the situation, age group and other factors,” Hayley says. “If it’s a child that’s not going to stop, I would then definitely redirect either to a different activity or to someone that they feel more comfortable with. For example, say it’s a child from the Senior Kindy room who’s just moved up to the Kindergarten room, you could ask them, ‘hey would you like to go see (previous educator)?’ if they say yes, it removes them from the situation, and it’s the child’s choice too.”
“I also like to give them a choice when redirecting so, ‘hey I know you’re frustrated, would you like to go run outside or do you want to do some painting?”
Some experts also recommend trying to fight the impulse to force your child to apologise. Children need to focus on learning to regulate those emotions, if you’re asking more of the child by forcing an apology, it’s likely to make them more frustrated or ashamed, and they won’t do what you’re asking, and certainly won’t feel like they’re being seen. They will learn apologies in time, but we don’t want them to think ‘when I’m sad I should say sorry’ but rather ‘when I’m sad I should think about what made me sad, take deep breaths, count to 10.’
However, it’s still important for your child to understand that other people have feelings too, so you could say, rather than forcing an apology, ‘Let’s see how we can make him feel better.” By involving your child in the resolution rather than ordering them to do something, you’ll likely see better results.
“Praise your children when they are doing something positive, even on the days it feels like all they have done is bite or hit,” Claire adds. “Soon enough they will be chasing the positive reinforcement and be replacing the negative behaviours with more positives.”
Guiding positive behaviour is a goal of Little Scholars by creating a safe environment for the children within our studios.
“This is guided by John Bowlby’s attachment theory,” explains Chloe, an educational lead at our Redland Bay South campus. Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers have a tremendous impact that continues throughout life.
“Every morning upon arrival, we create a warm welcome space for the children to be dropped off to. Once the children feel a sense of belonging within their learning environment, they are able to venture off and participate in the day’s learning.
“Respect and care are important parts of our day-to-day curriculum and is embedded in our learning by educating the children on their emotions identifying how they feel through use of conversation and cues, and guiding them in strategies that can assist with the way they are feeling,” she continues. “With these embedded practices, it helps to eliminate those rough behaviours.”
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“ Loose parts play ” is an architectural concept from the 1970’s currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity in the early years learning curriculum framework. This development is enjoying burgeoning popularity in childcare centres and kindergartens across Australia. Early educator are choosing to embrace ideas of empowerment, creativity and self-directed learning. We believe that children are never too young to engage their minds through play, and we love seeing little people imagining big ideas!
Loose parts play is effectively ‘junk drawer play’ but on a much larger scale. It involves all the bits and bobs and odds and ends of life that adults struggle to find multiple purposes for.Children, however, are the masters of imagination and creativity. With supervision and the slightest adult facilitation, they can turn what we would see as a pile of rubbish into a wonderland. Secret tunnels, magic portals, precious gemstones and buried treasure take their place alongside makeshift transportation, musical instruments and construction vehicles.No idea is wrong. No idea is too big or too small or out of place. Everything can shift and change and flow with the reversal of expectations and the removal of ‘rules’. It’s this very concept of a positive sense of self that links loose parts play directly to the Little Scholars philosophy of learning.
Loose parts play is a revolution for the burgeoning development of a child’s thinking processes. Our educators do not tell children ‘how’ to do things, only that they may do what they like. This means that sometimes materials are used in ways that adults would not have expected. This subversion of expectation creates a dynamic in which the children are in charge and they are permitted to let their imaginations run wild, forming a vital part of their early learning curriculum.
Learn more about Loose Parts Play by downloading this guide by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.
Our centres provide a wide variety of materials for loose play learning. We check every item for safety (no loose nails or splinters etc). From there, the learning is at the direction of the child. You might find the following items in a loose parts play environment. We encourage parents and carers to add anything they feel might be suitable for this wonderful explosion of delight and design.
Little Scholars are an innovative educational experience for children in their early years.
Contact us today to discuss your child’s enrolment. We give your child more than just supervision.
Our centres provide creative and intellectually stimulating activities for early learners of all ages. Give your child the very best during this important developmental stage.
The decision to enrol children in a reputable, high-quality childcare environment is no longer just to do with the working life of their parents. Increasingly, it’s become an active choice for fostering child development, socialisation and the gathering of real-world practical skills that will positively impact a child’s future academic pathways.
Good early learning and pre-school programs encourage babies and toddlers to become active participants in the world around them. A kindergarten program school transition that follows a set of academic standards, supported by carefully chosen resources and highly-trained staff, has statistically demonstrated increased levels of numeracy and literacy by the time children reach formal schooling. Early childhood care that is lovingly and thoughtfully crafted to ensure best possible outcomes for children provides them with a stepping stone into their primary school education (and beyond) that may not be possible if they were taught purely in a home environment.
”{Childcare} offers long-lasting social, economic and academic benefits for kids and their parents. Studies have shown that children, including babies and infants from the ages of 6 months to 4 years, benefit from the {childcare} environment, including its quality instruction, structure and social lessons.”
– 6 Benefits of Daycare for Young Children, The Childcare Advantage.
Not only is child development enhanced by attending childcare but securing children into an excellent childcare and kindergarten environment can also increase the social support network for parents themselves. The ability to speak to, empathise and make connections with like-minded parents not only provides children with weekend play-date opportunities but the parents themselves are given a much-needed social lifeline.
The Raising Children Network offers parents a glimpse at typical child development milestones. As with any resource, these should be read as a guide instead of a prescriptive map of behaviour.
Many of these milestones can be developed at a greater rate by engagement with highly trained childcare professional educators supported by an innovative and exciting early years learning program. Little Scholars prides itself on delivering the utmost care to the young people who attend its centres across South-East Queensland.
Babies will be encouraged to develop their movement, vision, speech and language and social behaviour through a gentle, compassionate early years program.
Toddlers will work on their emotional development under the watchful eye of trained educators. Their speech development, cognitive leaps and play-based learning will be encouraged through a curriculum designed to promote each child’s abilities.
Children embarking on their kindergarten program will be presented with a range of activities, including key extra-curricular involvement, that will allow them to be learners who question and interact with the world around them rather than passive engagement.
If you’d like to know more about how Little Scholars benefits child development and learning, book a tour today to see our unique curriculum in action.
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!
