Mindfulness and Purpose in Early Childhood Education

  You get out of the car to walk into your program and tears are already in your eyes.   You're tired and frustrated and you haven't even gotten in the door yet. You go through the morning drop off on autopilot, holding back snarky comments before you catch yourself staring around the playroom as if everything in front of you is just a rerun of a movie you've seen a hundred times before. When the children start arguing or try to show you their latest drawing, you can only muster up enough energy to grimace and redirect them back to play.   You just don't have the patience for this anymore. What is Burnout? The World Health Organization characterizes burn out as: A sense of exhaustion or depletion Mental distance, negativity or cynicism about work Decreased effectiveness in the workplace However burnout is defined, it all comes down to your tank is empty.   You simply don't feel 'it' at work anymore. What are the Signs of B...

  Ideas from Alannah Teed – College ECE Teacher As educators we know how important emotional development is to children and how early experiences are a good indicator of their mental health later in life. As contributors to the early experiences we strive to ensure that children are engaged in positive and strength building experiences. We also know that children react to stressful events in a different way than adults and that they are far more tuned into stress in others and their environment.   We may see changes to children’s normal behaviour as they return to us in our classrooms.   There may be more expressions of frustration or anger, on the other hand we might see children being less engaged and reserved.   How do we help these children and keep the 2m distance?   Do we need to think outside the box or is our box already full of resources? Let’s look at the basics. 1.        Make time for each and every child, every ...