Toys seem like an inevitable by-product of parenting. If your home teems with too many must-have fad items, toys, or gizmos that ever caught your child’s fancy, you’re not alone.
Now there is good news for parents who fear their children’s play areas resemble a toy store: A new study from the University of Toledo in Ohio suggests “an abundance of toys present reduced quality of toddlers’ play.” Having fewer toys can lead a young child to focus and engage in more creative, imaginative play, according to the study, "The influence of the number of toys in the environment on toddlers’ play” published in the journal Infant Behavior and Development. Fewer toys, it turns out, result in healthier play, and, ultimately, deeper cognitive development.
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Professionalism starts with you seeing yourself as a professional. ECW is encouraging education and care practitioners to speak up about the expertise within our field. We are working with you to gain the professional recognition you deserve.
Early Childhood Behavioural, Diversity and Family Specialists. Creating harmony for children and families who want to thrive, and renewed connections and pathways in relationship with their Early Childhood Services that encompass respect, empathy, resilience and value for all. What is ‘school readiness’?‘ School readiness’ is a measure of the knowledge, skills and behaviours that enable children to participate and succeed in school. Parents sometimes think that school readiness means being able to read, write and do basic maths before starting school. But this isn’t the case! School readiness is about the development of the whole child – their social and emotional skills, physical skills, communication skills and cognitive skills. Children cannot thrive at school if they haven’t developed the skills to manage things like getting along with other children, following instructions, and communicating their needs. Research shows that children who start school when developmentally ready to learn tend to do better in school – and it sets them up for further success later in life. Small Green Steps is a cost effective ONLINE sustainability membership program for early childhood and family day care services. The 40-step program is completed by the organization as a group and has been designed to provide you with all you need to embed sustainable practices across your service and provide children with an appreciation of nature. There is no time frame to complete the Small GREEN Steps program - the program is completed at your own pace to meet your own deadlines. A place for parents and educators to celebrate play in the lives and learning of infants and toddlers. Let the Babies Play is an offshoot of the Facebook page Let the Children Play. Why? Because babies deserve their own page! Let's respect infants and toddlers as the phenomenal learners, scientists, communicators, relationship builders, intrepid explorers of the world and uniquely individual human beings that we now know them to be. Commonly known as Australia’s ‘queen of common-sense’, Maggie Dent is an author, educator, and parenting and resilience specialist with a particular interest in the early years and adolescence.
Maggie’s experience includes teaching, counselling, and working in palliative care/funeral services and suicide prevention. Maggie is an advocate for the healthy, common-sense raising of children in order to strengthen families and communities. She is a passionate, positive voice for children of all ages. Now an in-demand writer and speaker, Maggie is a regular contributor to Fairfax's Essential Kids website and Teachers Matter magazine. She has also appeared on commercial and ABC radio around the country and on TV programs such as The Daily Edition, Sunrise, Today and news. Maggie is the author of nine books, and a prolific creator of resources for parents, adolescents, teachers and early childhood educators. She is the proud mother of four wonderful sons, and an enthusiastic and grateful grandmother. If we are serious about providing our youngest children with the best future, then we really should stop 'faffing' about. Let's start doing it so right we can not be ignored. Children are the future of this world, they are not OUR future, we will leave them to it when we 'pass', as we all will. If we want to leave a society that is compassionate, respectful, honest, trusting and not greedy. Free to choose their own direction without harming others. Then we must get on with it - and ensure our youngest are given the opportunity to develop those traits. Can we do that - with the right determination, OF COURSE WE CAN. We need to join together those who are committed to doing it, avoid embracing the trendy and settle down to focussing on encouraging and developing staff teams to recognise their importance in the role of learning enablers, motivators, encouragers and NOT teachers. Open ended resources are the essential ingredients that give children those opportunities. Descriptive and not prescriptive opportunities are essential. Risk and challenge without adult inhibition. If we concentrate on this rather than converting this to curricula, programmes, packages, exams, monitoring and avoid having to have tags that become products (or platforms to products) training courses or conferences we stand a chance. So I am beginning to think that a loose affiliation of places and people that are doing this would be a good idea. Fancy joining in - EMAIL me at [email protected] who knows (and don't make geography an excuse) www.internationalplayiceland.com/blog/great-nurseries-do-not-teach-anything-they-encourage-enable-learning
Who are we and what do we do? BEST Programs 4 Kids are a team of dedicated, passionate and highly skilled professionals in mental health, well-being and the art of flourishing. We specialise in developing effective social and emotional well-being resources for kids, parents, educators and mental health professional that are fun and speak the language of kids . And because every kid needs an adult who will help them to learn these skills, we also train parents, teachers and health professionals in how to get the BEST outcomes. We are represented internationally and when our programs are applied at the class and whole of school level, positive change abounds! We provide:
Philosophy Our Service’s statement of philosophy will guide our interactions with children as follows: Our philosophy is based on the National Quality Standard for Early Childhood Education and Care and School Aged Care with emphasis on the Rights of the Child. Collective Family Day Care is committed to providing a service that meets the needs of the community by providing Flexible Quality Education and Care for children in a home based environment. Collective Family Day Care’s philosophy is a belief that children learn and grow through play and that we the facilitators are providing the opportunity along with families. We believe that children have a right to choice, freedom of belief and are capable and confident learners and that CFDC can support each child through encouragement and understanding individuality. We believe in working in partnership with parents and families and recognise that they are the child’s main nurturer and teacher and have the right to be involved in making decisions affecting their child. We embrace a holistic approach to care and education and focus on children’s physical, personal, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing as well as cognitive aspects of learning and recognise that children learn through their interactions, relationships and experiences with others. We are inclusive and welcome the richness cultural diversity brings to our service. We recognise that with it come amazing opportunities for children to learn about the world around them. We welcome and support children from all family circumstances, cultural and religious backgrounds and levels of ability. We value and respect Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures as part of our history. We believe the environment is the third teacher. Providing a safe, secure, supportive, and a thoughtfully set out environment allows children to extend their own learning and take their play in the direction of their own choice which can only lead to better outcomes. We believe in the importance of being part of a community where respectful relations between children, families and educators are modeled daily and that it will provide children with an environment where they will feel safe, secure and supported and have a feeling of self-worth; and that it is a model of respect they can take with them into the future. At Collective Family Day Care we believe it takes a village to raise a child, and our family daycare service is a big part of that village for the children and families. Collective Family Day Care is committed to providing a service that meets the needs of the community by providing Flexible Quality Education and Care. |
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