An Early Childhood Journey Adeona Family

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 illnesses
How a childcare’s sick policies, procedures and guidelines are developed
The average illness amount for children in care and how long it takes to build up that immunity
The policies and procedures in place to prevent the spread of germs and illness in an early childhood education centre
Why child care services give a time limit for sick child pickup
What parents and caregivers can do to help prevent the spread of illness in childcare centres
 
How Our Childcare Health Policies are Determined
Our policies regarding illness, exclusion periods and how we manage certain illnesses within the service is dictated by the Staying Healthy document, which is produced and updated annually by the NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council). Likewise, we work closely with our Public Health Units who are managed by Queensland Health.
 
How We Manage & Prevent Illness
We follow a range of policies and procedures at Adeona to help prevent the spread of germs and illness, which are all informed by government sources and Queensland Health.
This includes the frequent cleaning and sanitizing of carpets, rugs, door handles, surfaces, and high-touch places. Likewise, if children are seen with a toy in their mouth, immediately after that child is finished with that toy it gets picked up and put in a bucket to be sanitised.
Additionally, if an early childhood education centre has more than 3 cases of gastro, that must be reported to the public health unit. The public health unit then performs an investigation, which includes working with the service to track which rooms the illnesses are in to ensure correct hygiene procedures. The public health units then advise the centre to help work through those processes, which often results in the service being advised to increase exclusion periods from 24 to 48 hours to ensure no one is returning while still contagious.
 
Helpful Links
Infection Control in Childcare Settings
Staying Healthy 5th Edition: Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services
Public Health Units 
Thank YouWe’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions about anything we discussed in this episode, please feel free to reach out – tracy@adeona.com.au.
 
Our Early Childhood Education Centres
Coorparoo | Mitchelton | Noosaville | Mackay

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 sheets
Free form creativity and earth art with nature’s loose parts
How to encourage children during independent play in nature
How Nature Play QLD supports the community, families, early childhood centres and schools
Why unstructured play is so important to a child’s development
 
What is Nature Play?
Nature Play QLD (a program of Outdoors Queensland) is a non-profit organization working with families, communities, education centres, schools and a host of community partners. 
Specifically, Nature Play QLD is founded on the understanding that unstructured, outdoor nature play is fundamental to a full and healthy childhood.
Above all, their aim is to increase the time Queensland kids spend in unstructured play outdoors and in nature. For example, they support nature-based play all over Queensland in a wide variety of ways, including:
Participation programs
Advocacy and research
Events and workshops
Extensive resources for families and educators
 
What are the benefits of outdoor play?
Outdoor free play is vital for the holistic development, overall learning and wellbeing of children. How do we know this?
Well, research shows that experiences in nature fundamentally support key pillars in a child’s development. These include a child’s physical and mental health, resilience, creativity, and emotional intelligence.
Likewise, engaging in nature play supports cognitive, social and emotional development, as well as instilling a lifelong awareness of the environment.
 
Where to find Nature Play QLD
You can find Nature Play QLD on their website, or via their social channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
Thank You
We’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions about anything we discussed in this episode, please feel free to reach out – tracy@adeona.com.au.
 
Our Early Childhood Education Centres
Coorparoo | Mitchelton | Noosaville | Mackay

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 sense of belonging in their new environment. Our goal is to give children a sense of agency so they become confident contributors within their space.
 
Episode Summary
In this episode of the Adeona Family Podcast, Tracy and Zoe discuss the importance of smooth transitions for children in different contexts, particularly from home to care, between different rooms within the childcare service, and eventually from childcare to school. They emphasise the significance of creating a sense of belonging, safety, and security for the children during these transitions. They outline the steps taken at Adeona’s early childhood education centres to facilitate smooth transitions, such as orientation visits, building relationships between families and educators, and providing support through the process. They also touch upon the importance of engaging with schools and preparing children for the transition to school from childcare, emphasising qualities like resilience, social skills, and the ability to seek help as key indicators of school readiness.
They discuss the use of various tools such as the Reflection of Learning document, Transition Statements, and engaging with schools to ensure that the child’s needs and strengths are effectively communicated during the transition. This episode emphasises the significance of these transitions for both the children and their families, and highlights the various ways Adeona supports families throughout this process. They underscore the importance of open communication between educators and families to ensure a successful transition.
 
What are transitions in childcare?
The physical movement from one space to another. This can be transitioning into care for the first time from the home environment, transitioning from one early childcare room up into the next room, as well as transitioning from early childhood education into school.
 
Why are transition times important in the early years?
Safely navigating transitions in the early years is crucial to a child’s healthy development and wellbeing and can lay the foundation for a future of learning and better outcomes. Likewise, children are able to grow, develop, and learn best when they are feeling safe, secure, and a sense of belonging.
 
Key takeaways from this episode
Adeona’s transition process, the resources we provide, and how we ensure both parent and child are comfortable
Transitions between rooms
Transitions from childcare to school environment & how we work with local schools to aid in that transition
Our approach to school readiness
How transition statements are prepared and how they work
 
Thank You
We’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions about anything we discussed in this episode, please feel free to reach out – tracy@adeona.com.au.
 
Our Early Childhood Education Centres
Coorparoo | Mitchelton | Noosaville | Mackay

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 daily basis.
 
Key takeaways from this episode
The different ways you can approach teaching your child important communication habits
What to expect developmentally at certain ages
When to address a stutter
How to correct mispronunciations
How to help a fussy eater
The importance of reading to your child at a young age, and
What steps you can take to see an allied healthcare professional
 
Thank You
We’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions about anything we discussed in this episode, please feel free to reach out – tracy@adeona.com.au.
 
Our Early Childhood Education Centres
Coorparoo | Mitchelton | Noosaville | Mackay

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 potential new faces for your child to take in.
The RIE perspective teaches us that in order for children to build strong positive relationships with people they need to have regular and consistent contact. This means that it’s normal for children to be apprehensive when meeting and greeting family members and friends – especially those they haven’t met before or those they haven’t seen in a while.
This holiday season it’s important to be mindful of how we approach gatherings, how we navigate our child’s relationships with family and friends, and remaining conscious of what it’s teaching them about consent and autonomy over themselves.
 
Related Episode
Co-Regulation and why it’s important in caregiving
 
Thank YouWe’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions about anything we discussed in this episode, please feel free to reach out – tracy@adeona.com.au.
 
Our Early Childhood Education Centres
Coorparoo | Mitchelton | Noosaville | Mackay

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 care involves ways to fill our bucket and build capacity within ourselves so that we can help build capacity in others, especially as care-givers and families.
However, it’s important to remember that your self care is going to look different from someone else’s. Whether you’re extraverted or introverted or whatever the case may be, it’s about finding what works for you. And it can be difficult to put yourself first as a parent or care-giver or even find time for yourself, but ensuring your basic needs are met and filling your own cup is vital, particularly when it comes to achieving anything in relation to emotional regulation with a child.
 
Reach out for help
Family and Child Connect
13 FAMILY (13 32 64)

Lifeline
13 11 14

Beyond Blue
1300 224 636

 
Related Episode
Co-Regulation and why it’s important in caregiving
Our episode on co-regulation really sets the stage for “Why Self Care is Vital for Parents and Caregivers” as you can’t be calm with others if you are in a state of stress or dis-regulation. 
 
Thank YouWe’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions about anything we discussed in this episode, please feel free to reach out – tracy@adeona.com.au.
 
Our Early Childhood Education Centres
Coorparoo | Mitchelton | Noosaville | Mackay