Mindfulness and Purpose in Early Childhood Education

  DECLUTTER YOUR MIND If you want to clear your head of noise, you’ll need to sit quietly and maybe listen to some brain food (concentration music or sounds) A quick internet search will yield a vast array of music streaming. Allow thoughts to filter through your mind.   Don’t stop any of them or let them damn up and clutter your mind.   When you try and stop your thoughts, you lead yourself into mind loops where your thoughts end up on a treadmill, and soon you’re reliving, rethinking, and second guessing the past, present, and even the future. To clear your head, you need to let your thoughts flow in and out until your mind is clear. Think of your mind like a river and your thoughts are water.   Clearing head noise is a watershed where the water flows in and out, leaving calm, peaceful, and a restful stillness behind. WHAT IS A SOUND BATH? A sound bath, according to a Very Well Mind , is a meditative experience where those in attendance are “bathed” in ...

  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 Laura Fowler Massie at Calm Kids Yoga Holding Space - Role of the Educator Creating a loving environment for the children in our care is both an honour and a privilege. Cultivating a sense of inclusion, respect and friendliness supports and develops healthy social and emotional development. Through the practice of mindfulness & yoga educators can create spaces where children, all children, feel competent, safe and welcome. It is with great care and thoughtful intentional safe spaces emerge. It is from an accepting and open heart that educators are able to hold these safe spaces and welcome the children in. Teacher as Student Learning is a two-way street. As educators we are continuously learning and evolving. Remembering that each of us, big and small, are unique and bring something very special to this world. Each child has lessons to teach us if we are open their lessons. Through careful listening, thoughtful observation and with an open heart, we can 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 ...