Anthony Semann: Hi, I'm Anthony Semann. And I'm joined by Kelly Goodsir, who is an early childhood trained teacher and consultant who works internationally and in Victoria. Kelly, thanks for joining us.
Kelly Goodsir: Pleasure.
Anthony Semann: The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework, known to many of us as the VEYLDF, recognises wellbeing as a core component of the life of children. It positions wellbeing from birth as both a prerequisite and an outcome of learning and development for children.
Anthony Semann: And I'm really excited that we're talking about the relationship between wellbeing and a three-year-old funded kindergarten program. Kelly, can we start by talking about the link between wellbeing and children's learning and development?
Kelly Goodsir: Sure, I think positive wellbeing is well-researched in terms of its links to positive success for children that go on to formal schooling and later on in life. I think it's important to sort of encompass the idea of what wellbeing is and, whilst it's quite complex, I think that it's broadly speaking made up of our mental, our social, emotional and our physical health. So we take all these things into account, we have a particular emphasis on what it means for us as a teaching team, as we're working with three-year-olds in particular, and how we can be responsive to these aspects.
Anthony Semann: It's really heartening to see that connection between various aspects of wellbeing, but I'm really drawn to the fact that you talk about the team having a focus on children's wellbeing, which really is critical, isn't it, to early childhood practice and pedagogy within a three-year-old kindergarten program?
Kelly Goodsir: Yeah, I think it's important that we see the child beyond the classroom, and for me that means that we consider the partnerships that we have with families and the interconnection between wellbeing, children's homes, their community life and the wider world, and those influences on children as well.
Anthony Semann: The Raising Children's Network defines wellbeing in a very broad term that encompasses children's wellbeing, their self-regulation and also their attachments to people, place and other things. Kelly, why is it really important that educators and teachers focus on the wellbeing of three-year-old children who attend a kindergarten program?
Kelly Goodsir: Good question. I think there's a range of thoughts I have around that. The first thing I think of, though, is three-year-olds are really forming a view of themselves. They're starting to consider, Who am I?, What influence do I have? What matters to me and how do I shape the world around me? And in this context, I think it's particularly significant our responsiveness as a teaching team to children's emotional health and their social wellbeing as well.
Kelly Goodsir: So whilst learning is best recognised along a continuum, there are some things that we do know about three-year-olds and their type of play and how they approach things and this can really help inform our response. So one of the things I often think about is the emerging capacity three-year-olds are showing us around their emotions, recognising their feelings, labelling their feelings and expressing them. And this is particularly helpful in social situations for children. They're beginning to understand what it means to care or empathise for others whilst also thinking about meeting their needs as well.
Kelly Goodsir: And they are particularly concerned with playing with others and those play entry skills and getting along with others, sustaining play.
Anthony Semann: There are many transitions that would take place within a three-year-old program. I'm wondering if we were to suggest the top three things that people should really focus on to make transitions within that kindergarten program smooth, what would you say they might be?
Kelly Goodsir: Yeah, look, I think mealtimes, when we group children for mealtimes or if we have a relaxation program or we have a period of time in the day where we group the larger group together for discussing a project or ritual that we might come together for. For me those three times, and all of those often involve a pack up time. So they can be triggers, they can be a time where it can be a really great time of community. But also maybe we need to think more about the specific strategies we use.
Kelly Goodsir: So perhaps there's an opportunity for less announcements and we might approach children and smaller groups and let them know what's happening. We might make spaces in our classrooms for preserving ongoing work, for example, that children can come back to. We might offer photographs of children that might be placed on work that's still ongoing so that we all know who's been working here and children can come back. I think these sorts of strategies really help build children's self-esteem and their self-worth in terms of acknowledging what's important to them.
Anthony Semann: Finally, Kelly, I'd like to talk about some of the behaviors that we would typically see in a three-year-old kindergarten program and what educators and teachers can do to support children's engagement in experiences and routines as part of those expected behaviors.
Kelly Goodsir: I guess if we go back to what we know about three-year-olds and that they have a desire to play with others, I think the act of social skills particularly arises certain behaviors where we might notice conflict or disputes happening at regular intervals throughout the day. I think this provides a beautiful opportunity for a teaching team to act as co-constructors and facilitators with children around agreements and even those play entry skills for
Updated