HIGHWAY CHILD CARE & EARLY LEARNING CENTRE
OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU
Your child’s enjoyment is our number one concern.
Each of our team will take personal responsibility to ensure that your child has an enjoyable experience at our Centre.
Please let us know if anything is wrong as we will endeavour to fix it for you, or if we can do anything to make your
child’s experience more enjoyable. We hope you and your child enjoy your time with us.
NEWSLETTER October 2019
NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR
Hi everyone, the end of the year is fast approaching and before we know it we will be celebrating together at our end of year party! Coming up at the end of this month we have our annual Parent Evening where we invite you all to join us and share in the stories and research projects that your children have been a part of over the year, we look forward to seeing you all there……
Photo day was a great success with fantastic weather and we look forward to receiving the photos back for you within the next couple of weeks.
In the previous newsletter you would have noticed that we had a new staff member joining our team, unfortunately her circumstances have changed and now she is moving house so is unable to join us. Over the next 2 weeks Abida will be working with the Toddler room team whilst we continue to find another skilled educator to join us.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Friday 4th Oct Space Week Begins
Sunday 27th Oct Diwali begins
Wed 30th Oct Parent night (This is the new date)
Monday 11th Nov National Recycling Week begins
Wed 4th Dec End of year Celebration/Party
Professional Development
Jess T and Judy are travelling to Reggio Emilia in Italy for an intense study trip to continue on our journey of research into re-imagining childhood. The principles of Reggio Emilia are a focus for research across our organisation as we unpack and reflect on our practices and pedagogy within our service. During this study tour we will gain more knowledge and understanding of the Reggio Emilia approach & the principles of Reggio Emilia. Having opportunities to visit infant toddler schools in Reggio will give us first-hand understanding and insights into the relationship between children, the schools and the town. We look forward to bringing back new understandings and knowledge from this experience and sharing our research within our context here in Salisbury, moving forward in continuing our journey of research in our community.
Staffing
Vlora is on holidays from 7th Oct to the 11th Oct – Loan and Kelly will be working with the Preschool team during this time. Marie will be on holidays from 21st October to 8th November – Loan and Desirae will be working with the Toddler team during this time. Kylie is on Long service leave from 28th October to the 29th November – Loan and Desirae will be working with the Preschool team during this time.
Did You Know?
We are pleased that everyone is using our friendship carpark! Please remember the car park must be locked at 5.45pm, so if you arrive to collect your child after 5.35pm then please park in the side street.
This will support us in ensuring that NO cars are locked in the carpark and our educators are not waiting at the carpark for cars to be moved.
Entomology Project
Why butterflies are beneficial to the environment
You might not like caterpillars eating plants in your garden, but without them we wouldn’t have butterflies. Butterflies do more for us than just adding colour and beauty to our gardens. Here’s a few of the ways they help the planet:
They pollinate plants
Butterflies are attracted to bright flowers and need to feed on nectar. When they do this their bodies collect pollen and carry it to other plants. This helps fruits, vegetables and flowers to produce new seeds. The majority of plants need pollinators like bees and butterflies to reproduce.
They’re an indicator of a healthy environment
A garden that attracts butterflies will also bring native bees and birds. All play a role in increasing biodiversity – the variety of plants, animals and micro-organisms and their ecosystems.
Unfortunately for butterflies, they are also an important — though low-level — member of the food chain. They’re a food source for birds, spiders, lizards, mice and other animals. Caterpillars are also eaten by bats, birds and other animals.
If butterfly populations diminish, the impact is felt higher up and can affect the entire ecosystem.
Because butterflies are so sensitive to habitat and climate change, scientists are monitoring them as one way of observing the wider effects of habitat fragmentation and climate change.
Parent Commitee
Please come and see Jess if you are interested in joining us to form a new committee.
Sustainability
We all love food, but we also throw away one out of every five bags of food we purchase! Australians throw out $8 billion dollars of completely edible food each year, which is equal to 345KG per household. This doesn’t include the estimated 20-40% of fruit and veg discarded before it even reaches store shelves as it doesn’t meet consumer and supermarket cosmetic standards! However, ‘times, they are a-changing’ and you can be part of the low waste, local food movement, each person can make a difference to lowering food waste.
What can I do?
It’s time maximise our menus and minimise our waste; here are a few points to get started:
1. Shop smart – know what’s in the fridge and pantry and plan meals. Make a list before you shop and stick to it. Buy the funny looking produce that tastes just as good.
2. If it cannot be eaten by you alone, have a friend over for a meal, preserve it, feed it to someone’s backyard chickens or compost it.
3. Visit a farmers market, get local produce sold for its taste, not asthetics, and meet the producers face-to-face.
You waste life when you waste good food
– Katherine Anne Porter
BABIES ROOM
It has been another exciting month in the Under 2s; we have been utilising our amazing loose parts resources to create many investigation ideas with our children.
The theory of “loose parts” first proposed by architect Simon Nicholson in the 1970’s has begun to influence child-play experts and the people who design play spaces for children in a big way. Nicholson believed that it is the ‘loose parts’ in our environment that will empower our creativity. ‘Loose parts’ are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials.
We are always looking to continue to add ‘loose parts’ in our play spaces to encourage children learning. So if you think you have any materials you think would be help us extend our ‘loose parts’ for example cardboard, wrapping paper, pine cones, flowers, sticks, leaves, shells, sticks or cups we would really appreciate an addition to our play enquiry.
As the colder weather starts to leave us we are waiting to see if the butterflies will return to our environment to lay eggs on the milk weed bushes provided inside the butterfly house.
So while we are waiting we have been carefully looking after the plants in the butterfly enclosure to make sure that they are in perfect condition the encourage them to come back.
We are hoping that the butterflies with been back soon so was can continue our curiosity and investigations with our entomology project.
This relates to learning outcome 4. Children are confident and involved learner’s .Provide sensory and exploratory experiences with natural and processed materials and provide resources that encourage children to represent their thinking.
Jasmine, Amanda, Bronte & Jayanti
TODDLER ROOM
The children in the toddler room have been practicing alongside their educators on building both their social skills and teamwork skills. To establish these precious life skills, we have been implementing a variety of activities and learning experiences that encourage the development of these skills. These have included group puzzles, loose part experiences and outdoor play-based learning activities.
The toddlers worked together as a team to help retrieve items from the yard.
We have also implemented a fun, social activity with all the families and children in our room. His name is Travelling Ted. Some of our families have already been fortunate to have Ted come and spend some time with your families at home.
Travelling Ted spends time with Isla
Every family in the toddler room will have the opportunity to take him home. Ted became a favourite member of our group and all of the children love to care for and play with him so after much discussion we decided to begin this excursion program for ted and the children to support our learning curriculum. The idea is to help us learn more about the families in our room and build the connections with each other across our community. It has been fun to see all the activities that our families experience on the weekends, and we look forward to seeing lots more of these in the near future.
We have also had a visit from the Dentist on Thursday September 5. This was a great opportunity for the educators to begin intentional teaching activities with the children about dental care. This has resulted in discussions about brushing our teeth, which foods are good for our teeth and which ones are not so good, as well as what happens when we visit the dentist.
We celebrated The Full Moon Festival with the children. This is a significant date for the Vietnamese culture. As a Centre, we recognised this significant date by decorating and displaying lanterns, as well as feasting on a delicious lunch of stir fry noodles and spring rolls.
In the coming weeks, we will be celebrating Space week. This will allow the children to learn about space and experience some educational, fun and creative learning around the theme of space and the solar system. We are all looking forward to sharing this learning with you and your children and cannot wait to see what creations we will be making.
With the warmer weather approaching, we ask that all children abide by our sun safe practices. Please ensure that your child has a hat that can be worn at childcare and are wearing clothing that offers adequate protection from the sun while at childcare.
Zahra, Iqbal, Marie, & Madelyn
PRESCHOOL ROOM
In September we welcomed spring and the children started to notice the differences in our outdoor environment. ‘Look the leaves are growing.’ Bryce said, as he sat beneath the vines with his friends. With blossom, leafs and new bugs emerging our outdoor environment is gradually changing and we are enjoying the warmer sunny weather. With this warm weather we have been outside a lot and with this come more activities such as exploring our new sandpit trucks and having fun on the climbing equipment.
We have had the pleasure of outdoor reading on our new Yarning Mat, watching Jeff’s drone that he had brought in to show us and practising our balancing with the walking stilts.
Upcoming October is jam packed with events as we have Photo Day, celebrate that start of Diwali and host Parent Night. Photo Day is on the 1st of October.
Diwali is the festival of lights and is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, some Buddhists and people from around the world. For Diwali the Pre-school children will be celebrating this festival by enjoying meals with twinkle light centre pieces during lunch meals, we will be decorating the Pre-school room with different twinkle lights and looking at how people from around the world celebrate Diwali. Parent Night is on the 16th of October and the Pre-school Team will be presenting the different projects that the children have been doing over 2019, this is also a great opportunity for you to talk with us and to read through your child’s learning folders. We can’t wait for October as we continue to watch our environment change and welcome the warmer sunnier weather.
Vlora, Kylie, Brittany, Masooma, Sheridan & Loan
FOOD AND NUTRITION
Children & Allergies
Ninety five percent of children’s allergies are to milk, eggs, wheat, soybeans, seafood, nuts and peanuts (which are legumes).
Studies have shown allergic tendencies are inherited. If one has an allergy there is a 30 to 35 percent chance of the child developing an allergy.
When both parents are allergic there is a 50 to 60 percent chance each of their children will be allergic as well.
Even if neither parent is allergic, there still remains a 10 percent chance the child will inherit allergic tendencies.
It is important that parents recognize the signs and symptoms of food allergies, as well as their childs specific needs. Allergic reaction can range from a minimal (runny nose) to severe (Anaphylactic shock).
Symptoms indicating a food allergy are: diarrhea, hives, coughing, headaches, swelling, rashes, vomiting, irritability, colic, shock, wheezing, runny or stuffy nose.
This months Recipe
Spaghetti sauce & Meatballs
Spaghetti sauce
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 tspn olive oil
800gm can chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
½ tspn basil1/2 tspn of oregano
1/8 tspn pepper
Method
Saute onion in olive oil over medium heat
Cook until onion is translucent
Add garlic & cook for additional minute
Stir & bring to boil.
Reduce heat
Cover & simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Meatballs
453gms ground turkey/ chicken
1 tspn onion powder
Pepper to taste
1 tspn garlic powder
1 tspn parsley flakes
Method
Preheat oven to 160°C
Combine all ingredients in a bowl
Roll mixture into 1 inch balls
Place on baking dish and cover with sauce
Bake for 20 minutes
Serve
Lynn & Janet
Health Notices/News
Daylight Savings survival tips for families
The switch to and from daylight saving time can be tricky for many of us as we have disrupted sleeping patterns. There can also be the frustration of trying to convince children to go to bed when they repeatedly insist, ‘But it’s still day time!’ Dr Liora Kempler, a psychologist in insomnia, maternal and infant sleep from Sydney-based sleep specialists Integrated Sleep Health says it’s much easier to delay our sleep than it is to advance it. Going to bed early does not necessarily mean going to sleep early.
“So, it’s much easier to start preparing for the night, in the morning. Step one should be waking up early – and if you’re really brave, waking your baby up early too – and getting lots of morning light. Even if the weather isn’t very inviting, outdoors in cloudy weather is far brighter than indoor light, so where possible, get some morning sun for at least 20 minutes as early as possible,” says Dr Kempler. “This will suppress your melatonin (hormone required for sleep) and help shorten your circadian rhythm, bringing the onset of the melatonin marginally earlier than what it would on a normal night. Of course, step two is to do lots of busy activities so your children get nice and tired. That way, they may be more inclined to nap slightly earlier as well, if they’re still napping.”
Transition in daily increments before the change
Dr Kempler says the next step to remember is that metabolism has a rhythm as well, so don’t forget to shift your babies’ meals earlier too.
“With night time, be sure to remember that babies don’t know the time, they only know how they feel, so keeping their regular pre-bed routine is very important, and shifting bedtime slowly will make the transition as smooth as possible. This means shifting by approximately 15 minutes every 2-3 days until you’re sleeping and eating in the right time zone.”
Dr Carmel Harrington, who is Managing Director of Sleep for Health and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Children’s Hospital Westmead says if your children normally go to bed at 7pm and you’re trying to make them go to bed at 6pm, that’s not going to work because their level of alertness is going to make it very difficult.
“That’s why the first week of summer time is so difficult because it’s very hard to bring forward our body-clock rhythm (circadian rhythm),” Dr Harrington says.
“So make your child’s bedtime 10-15 minutes earlier but also make everything a bit earlier – for example, have breakfast earlier, in the same way we get used to jetlag. We can get used to that one hour over 4-5 days before the switch so we don’t even notice it when it occurs. “
Dr Harrington says one mistake parents tend to make during the daylight savings switch is expecting your child is going to go to sleep at 7pm because that’s the time they usually go to bed. “If you put them to bed at 7pm as always, it’s only really 6pm to their body clock so they’re going to be wide awake. So there’ll be oppositional behaviour and that’s difficult, as well as being annoying to the parent and upsetting for the child. “Also when the child wakes up the next morning, it’s essentially one hour earlier and if you don’t plan it, they’re actually getting one hour less and they’re going to be crankier or poorly behaved. So we have to recognise it’s due to sleep deprivation or not getting the sleep they need.” And what should parents do in the lead up to the end of daylight savings? Just do the reverse of what you did leading up to the beginning of the time change and slowly ease your child back into the new time.
So why is the change such a big problem for us? Dr Kempler says most of the issues that come with time shifting are the discrepancy in understanding. “We, as parents are tired so for us to go to bed early is easy and a gift. However, we need to know what is reasonable to expect of our children, and asking them to go to bed an hour early out of nowhere – when they probably haven’t eaten much dinner since they’re not hungry yet – is not really fair,” says Dr Kempler. “If we can set realistic expectations of ourselves and our families, there’s no real reason why there should be any problems aside from short term mild sleep deprivation from waking up early to get to work and commitments, when we may not have gone to sleep an hour earlier, but this should subside within a few days.”
“As far as a medical impact, this really only comes from frequent shifting of sleep patterns such as in the case of shift workers. However, one hour once per year is harmless.” (www.firstfiveyears.org.au)