Skip to main content
4 minutes reading time (823 words)

July 2017

News from the office

Happy greetings to all our families,

We hope you have been keeping nice and warm during these winter months. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new families, who joined us recently. We hope your child's journey will be fun filled, memorable and valuable.

NAIDOC

  We were very busy lately organising activities and participating in experiences for the NAIDOC week. All the work is displayed throughout the center, so please take a minute to admire the children's learning about Indigenous culture of our country.

Gardening

On the 30.06.2017, Scarecrow and Angela have visited us from Karma Kids Grow. They taught us how to plant and look after sprouts and the garden, supporting children to become excited about growing environment. Children were encouraged to play with things found in nature and to enjoy the outdoors. They also supplied resources that allow them to incorporate sustainable behavior in play, such as gardening tools. Interacting with children and stimulating ideas related to sustainability that complement what they are doing. We had so much fun, and they will visit us again soon.

Revolution Learning

  On the 26.6.2017 Belinda and Gecko from Revolution Learning spent some time teaching our children playing didgeridoo to them. They believe that "music soothes the Soul, frees the Spirit, and lets our Heart Sing! Music is Unity in Diversity; it is the expression and language displaying the richness of cultures and is a universal language. We absolutely love the sounds of Nature and the instruments that come from the Earth, in particular using didgeridoo, drums and flutes to create peaceful meditative sounds to relax."

Piptree Choir

  I would like to inform all our families, that Miss Lydia and Miss Yu mei (Sophie) formed a 3-year-old choir, and they practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11.45am to 12.15pm. Miss Lydia conducts the group, and she will teach them techniques of raising and lowering the tone of voice and breathing while singing. So far, children show a lots of enthusiasm and confidence in involvement and learning.

Our Curriculum

The Piptree Curriculum is based upon five principles;one of them is Emotional Intelligence. Emotional self-regulation is a major part of emotional intelligence, and is a person's ability to manage their experience and expression of their emotions. With lots of time and practice, a child can improve their capacity for emotional self-regulation. We can see that by the age of 4, a child may implement strategies to combat disturbing stimuli, like when they cover their eyes or ears when they are scared or hear a loud noise.

Older children can consistently use more complex strategies, which can be split into two categories: strategies, which tolerate the problem or those, which aim to solve the problem.

All of these strategies are a part of emotional intelligence, which encompasses awareness, understanding, and the ability to express and manage their emotions. However, the importance of academic achievement is fairly well known, emotional self-regulation has been largely ignored, but we will not ignore it any more.

Research has suggested that emotional intelligence may be twice as strong a predictor of long-term success, then IQ. Children who are able to show self-control, a particularly important piece of emotional intelligence, are able to engage more in pro-social behaviours and accomplish their goals. A particularly powerful study showed this, by testing them, and then following up with the same people 30 years later. Self-control predicted success better then IQ did, and the children who showed greater signs of self-control were healthier, made more money, and were less like to have criminal records or alcohol related problems.

Emotions are not an inconvenience, but rather a piece of human evolution that serves a purpose. The first piece of emotional intelligence is awareness and understanding emotions.

Sadness is capable of slowing us down, in both thought, and motor activity, allowing us to reflect, and take a closer look. Anger speeds us up, mobilising intense energy, allowing us to sustain energy when "fighting." Emotions need be respected, and reflected upon.

In a recent policy statement, the American Academy of Paediatrics advised parents not to use technology as a way to calm or pacify negative emotions, because the use of media could lead to problems with limit setting or the inability of a child to develop their own emotional regulation.

We can see that that emotional intelligence is important, but how do you boots your child's emotional intelligence.

1. Be aware of your child's emotions

2. See emotions as an opportunity for connection and teaching.

3. Listen to and validate their feelings

4. Label their emotions, and help you could develop an awareness of their emotional expression

5. Help your child problem solve with limits. All emotions are acceptable, but not all behaviors are appropriate. Limit their expression to appropriate behaviors.

Sometimes the steps of emotion choosing happen quickly, and sometimes not. Patience is the key, but note that not all the steps need to be followed in one interaction!

Keep smiling, Natasa :)

0