An Early Childhood Journey

In this episode, Zoe dives into the crucial topic of sleep in early childhood education, exploring how sleep routines in childcare settings can impact young children’s development. Sleep can often be a point of concern for parents, especially when balancing home routines with the care environment. Zoe breaks down how Adeona approaches sleep and rest times, ensuring children get the rest they need...

On this episode of the Adeona podcast, Tracy and Zoe discuss all things relating to common day-care illnesses. Learn more about Adeona’s sick children policies and procedures for handling illnesses and exposure at our centres, as well as how you can help prevent the spread of illness in your child care centre.   This episode covers: Exclusion periods, policies and procedures for common childcare i...

Why is outdoor play a vital component to a child’s development? On this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast, Tracy and Zoe are joined by Rebecca from Nature Play QLD to discuss the importance of outdoor play in nature.   This episode covers: What is nature play and how it benefits children How families can expose their children to outdoor nature play Nature play activities, ideas and downloadable...

When we’re in a new environment, we never feel as confident to be who we are. Oftentimes we feel nervous or feel like we lack a sense of belonging and as a result it can take us a while to warm up and engage in what’s going on. That’s why when working with children during transitions, we want to ensure that period of change is as smooth and comfortable for them as possible, so they can feel a sens...

As children develop their communication skills it’s helpful to know what is appropriate and what might need addressing. On this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast, Zoe is joined by professional speech pathologist Claire Mayers who gives practical advice about all things relating to communication in the Early Years, and how to develop these vital skills through interactions with your child on a d...

On this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast, Tracy and Zoe discuss how to navigate the holiday season with children and families, the importance of advocating for your child’s voice, passive toys, and how we can respect our children’s boundaries. The holidays can be a wonderful opportunity to see loved ones, catch up with family and spend time with friends. That’s a lot of interactions and potent...

On this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast: An Early Childhood Journey, we discuss the importance of self care, support and mental health as a parent and care-giver, as well as practical tips for reaching your inner calm.   What is self care? Self care refers to the ways and techniques we each can employ to look after ourselves that benefit our physical, mental and emotional well-being. Self car...

On this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast: An Early Childhood Journey, we discuss the need for co-regulation with significant care-givers in the lives of children and how this helps children build the vital skills necessary in order to self regulate. We offer practical advice on what co-regulation can look like and examine the importance of entering into interactions with your child in a calm a...

While biting is completely normal behaviour, it is one we have to address—left unaddressed things are going to escalate. Children learn a lot in the early years, particularly through their feet and their mouth, so it makes sense why children would experiment with biting. There can be a number of reasons why a child might bite and some of these include: Biting as a sensory experience or for relief...

In this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast: An Early Childhood Journey, Tracy and Zoe are joined by Chris and John from The Fathering Project to talk all things Dads. Adeona introduced The Fathering Project to its centres in 2020. Chris and John discuss the goals of this national organisation and why engaged fathers matter to young children, as well as practical advice on how fathers can build p...

Acknowledgement of Country by Cecelia Wright from Cultural Inclusions. On this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast: An Early Childhood Journey, we’re joined by Cecelia Wright from Cultural Inclusions. We discuss why it is important to prioritise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in our day-to-day lives and how families can incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspec...

Prosocial behaviour in the form of sharing, helping, and cooperating is the hallmark of social competence throughout childhood. Teaching pro-social behaviour is achieved through responsive care and consistent boundaries. We’re born with a genetic disposition toward certain things, then it’s the nurture that people provide that switches on parts of our personalities. This is why it’s so important f...

At the kindergarten age, children have really begun to develop who they are as a person with strong identities. At this stage, they start to fill their knowledge with the rest of the world, which leads them to look externally to themselves. Our goal in kindergarten is to encourage and support that excitement and curiosity of the external world. Likewise, in this age group, their social understandi...

When is the right time to start toilet learning? What are the main things you should be looking out for? What signs might your child be giving to let you know they’re ready? And how should we deal with accidents or setbacks?  There are 3 main things we should look out for before we consider beginning the toilet learning process: Bladder capacity and muscle control Cognitively children n...

On this episode of the Adeona podcast, we wrap up our 3 part series on emotional health by shining a light on the emotions of children and how we can employ proven strategies and techniques to manage them. The way we deal and cope with big emotions is often hardwired into us from an early age. In moments of stress, we become more reactive and we resort to what’s been hardwired in our brain,...

On this episode of the Adeona podcast, we’re delving deeper into the mechanics of emotional learning – the physical and biochemical development that supports, and is crucial to, emotional development. What’s actually happening in the brain, how much does it develop in the early years and why is it important to understand. Through understanding how the brain works and how the diff...

What is emotional learning, emotional knowledge or social-emotional learning? What does it mean in the early childhood education practice and how does it relate to the life of the parent? It’s easy to see and understand the physical development of children over time, but often times it can be difficult to see or understand the emotional development of our children. When we think of emotional...