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Connecting Generations

Since July the kindergarten children from Cire have been lucky enough to visit the Estia Health Aged Care Facility. As part of their experience, the children got to complete different activities to engage with the residents. They have painted artwork for the art show, played games, completed puzzles, been hands-on making threaded necklaces, worked together on craft activities, they sang songs, played musical instruments and had a chat. The residents even got to show off their favourite songs and share their memories with the children. Guiding the children through their past times and experiences was a highlight for them with the children eager to learn more.

On one of the excursions to Estia some of the children had made cards for their newly found friends, it was on this day that one of them was having a very special birthday, Elsbeth was turning 94. The children were able to celebrate with her and her friends by singing happy birthday and joining in on the fun. It was a joy to see Elsbeth have so many little friends celebrate her big day.

It’s wonderful to observe the two groups of people becoming more comfortable and open with each other, learning to communicate in different ways. There was even an animal resident that was a big hit with the children, a fat cat called Elle. She meandered her way through the centre collecting hugs and pats as she went. The children learnt that Elle the cat’s role was to make the residents feel calm and make Estia feel like home.

The interactions that have occurred have been simple and easy going, there has been some small talk, discussions of how to play games and what each other enjoys doing; some even mentioning what they had liked when ‘they’ were in kindergarten. One of the residents told me,

“It was so lovely seeing the children when they visited, they bring life back into my heart and I smile so much when they are here”. Resident of Estia Health Aged Care Facility

Through this exchange, the children have had the opportunity to connect, develop and experience what it means to have respect and to care for people of all ages and abilities.

We look forward to further developing our relationships and are excited to be working towards a fun Christmas concert for our new friends, with the possibility for them to attend our end of year graduation ceremony.

Thank you so much to the Estia Health Aged Care Facility for the having our children come and visit.

If you would like to find out more about our Cire Children’s Services kindergarten program or would like to come to the centre for a tour contact 1300 835 235.

 

Help Little Feet Take Big Steps

Cire Services is launching a new approach to help support our community programs. Our first initiative is Gumboots Supported Playgroup.

Launching Tuesday 25th October, Cire Services will conduct fundraising and donation activities to contribute to the longevity of our community programs. Our new Support Cire page enables people and organisations to make financial donations and receive an invoice for tax purposes. Our first campaign supports the Gumboots Supported Playgroup. Cire campaigns will be developed to further enhance our educational and support services.

Gumboots Supported Playgroup is run by Cire Services in Yarra Junction and is a free, relaxed, quality playgroup where children learn through play. The program supports children’s development and learning; is facilitated by a qualified early childhood educator and helps improve educational outcomes for all children. This is achieved through the provision of high quality playgroups in the Upper Yarra region; where children experience a range of educational activities and parents are assisted to support their child’s learning.

Gumboots Supported Playgroup is solely supported and funded through the Upper Yarra Community Enterprise. This financial assistance is greatly appreciated and we seek ongoing donations to ensure the program grows and benefit more families. Gumboots rely heavily on donations to support playgroup programs for families with young children.

Your donation will help us maintain our services in the Upper Yarra region – our kids can’t thank you directly, but know you’ve made a big difference to little lives.

Kindergarten – a child’s garden

Take a moment to imagine the kindergarten world: letters, numbers, and stories, sharing blocks, puzzles, play, paint and play-dough. Imagination and creativity fills the air. As you talk with your child about their day and celebrate their best effort on the work they do, remember that kindergarten is a “child’s garden.” Many times the process is more important than the product, and learning is accomplished by doing, touching, and experiencing.

Kindergarten has many benefits and plays an important role in your child’s educational journey, these include:

  1. Social skills, like how to play with other children in a calm, sharing and rewarding way
  2. Self-awareness and respect for others
  3. Emotional skills, for example understanding their feelings and considering others
  4. Language, literacy and numeracy skills, such as reading stories and counting objects
  5. Participating in group activities, such as talking, drawing and making things together with other children their own age
  6. Making new friends
  7. being exposed to new ideas and concepts

You can find out more by visiting the Victorian Government Kindergarten Benefits webpage.

Bush Kindergarten 

A Bush kindergarten is a type of preschool education for children held outdoors in the natural environment. In many forms of weather, children are encouraged to take the lead in playing, exploring and learning in a natural environment.

“Imagine a place where the carpet changes every day, the ceiling is a myriad of different colours, light, shadow and movement. The feelings and movement completely surround you, sometimes breezy, sometimes cold, others warm. Unexpected wonders fly by, sometimes full of colour and sometimes full of noise and movement. If we really want children to thrive we need to let their connection to nature nurture them.” Claire Warden Educational Consultant and primary advocate for nature play.

UYCH Bush Kinder program is based on our beliefs of:

  1. Children having uninterrupted time to play in natural environments with open-ended materials allows them to engage in a range of activities that foster their development and learning, encouraging them to become flexible thinkers, develop self-confidence and independence.
  2. Children develop strong connections with nature and sustainable practices, developing a deeper awareness of the impact the environment can have on them and future generations.
  3. Through play in a natural environment, children are able to learn through their own curiosity and willingness to explore their surroundings, becoming involved learners they develop a stronger sense of achievement when completing tasks and making new discoveries. This helps children to have a more positive sense of them, giving a stronger sense of identity and enhances their self-esteem.
  4. Physical skills are enhanced and developed in natural outdoor settings that provide multiple affordances through natural and open-ended materials. This allows for children to increase the coordinated functioning of the central nervous system, aiding in balance, control of body movements, dramatic gains in motor coordination as well as supporting connections between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex which supports thinking, memory, planning and language.
  5. Children are provided with opportunities to develop risk assessment skills through play in the natural environment. Through this play, children are able to engage in challenging experiences that acquire confidence, achievement as well as an awareness of limits and boundaries.
  6. The play is child initiated and is based on their thoughts and ideas. This form of play is used as a platform for intentional teaching by educators and allows for children interests in the natural world to be continually explored and built upon with the children being active participants in their learning and development.
  7. Through the bush kinder program, children are able to develop attitudes and dispositions about the natural world as well as each other. Social development is enhanced through children being provided with opportunities to explore their thoughts and ideas with their peers, developing relationships with others based on respect for individual identity.

The bush kindergarten program scaffolds the children’s understandings of our local history, Australian folklore and Indigenous culture. It enables the children to engage in outdoor spaces with plants, trees, rocks, mud and water to invite open ended interactions, spontaneity, risk taking and a connection with nature.

If you would like to know more about UYCH kindergarten programs click here.

Renos and revamps for the Children’s Centre

You could recently mistake the UYCH Family and Children’s Services Mt Evelyn centre for being like a scene from the Block with all the renos and revamps occurring.

After recently being lucky enough to receive a grant from the Yarra Ranges Council to renovate the main bathroom facility for our toddlers and kinder children, works were well under-way throughout June to revamp, freshen up and re-create a new, more functional bathroom and change room. This particular bathroom had been in serious need of remodelling for a while now, so the council came out, got our ideas and hopes, and created a bathroom with their tradesmen that educators and children alike are loving. The new look and extra storage have already got educators making plans on how to make the most of what we have been given.

UYCH and the staff at the Mt Evelyn children’s centre would like to thank the Yarra Ranges Council for their generous contributions and Urban Maintenance Systems for their practical knowledge in helping us get a new bathroom facility, making our centre even more fantastic.

Our garden and play area also received a revamp with fresh new soft-fall being installed in the bottom area of the yard. As many parents with children in the older rooms know, it had been getting steadily muddier out there for a while. Now while mud play is great for children, under climbing equipment we need the soft-fall to meet regulations and keep everyone safe.

We had over 20 metres of dirt and mud removed by bobcat driver Simon from Dinkin Dirt and replaced with lovely new soft-fall, making the garden area feel so much more fresh and renewed. Shane was quite the attraction while he was there, the children were fascinated with his machinery and his work. Even the builders going in and out for the bathroom renovation didn’t get as much attention as the bobcat digging out the yard. When Shane started in the morning, children were trying to get a look out of our sleep room windows just to check out the new garden area. As the older children moved to their rooms they wanted to be outside at the fence watching. Shane did a very good job and had it finished before lunch, which meant more time for our children to check it out and play. Thank you to UYCH management, maintenance and Shane from Dinkin Dirt for re-creating our lovely yard area.

If you’re looking for a fantastic local children’s centre for long day care or kinder, visit click here for more information or contact 9736 1918 for more information.