GEKA Bentleigh

Supporting Children to be Resilient and Adaptable

Amelie Llorca, Early Childhood Teacher 

"Parents and teachers will need to remain alert, observant, adaptable and responsive to ensure our young people can thrive as best they can to a range of challenges.” 

This line sets the tone for the beginning of any year. Whatever the environmental circumstances the educational team is here to work in partnership with families and the community in the best interest of children. 

We noticed separation anxiety in some children, but it was mainly anxiety from the carer side. As we reinforced with parents, their children are in a safe environment and the first term is about settling in and created connections. 

To do so, we will help children become emotionally literate and foster their ability to self-regulate their emotions. The resilience project and the GEM (gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness) is a great tool to help us achieve these outcomes. 

We also noticed children coming into kindergarten with good fine motor skills, engaging in solitary play and seeking guided activities. At times, some found it difficult to choose what to engage with in an open environment with so many resources available to them, or to initiate a conversation or play with others.  

We foster children’s sense of agency by doing a walk through the room and explaining to them that they did not need to ask to join in dance or to take something off the shelf. We will keep fostering this throughout the year. 

The set-up of the room and planning of experiences, fosters collaboration, healthy sense of self and prosocial skills, such music and movement, pretend play, getting to know one another games. 

“There will be impacts on social-emotional development for all young people.”  

We believe our team has been adaptable and responsive in its curriculum and everyday practice to the concern and gaols of carers. From our collaboration it was evident that the emphasis is on wellbeing and developing social skills. 

So far, we are amazed at how resilient and emotionally strong children are, and their willingness to connect with others. Even the shiest children have created a secure relationship with at least one educator and a special peer.  From our professional readings about the impact of Covid-19 on children, and after observation of our 3 to 5 age group, we underestimate children emotional resilience and adaptability.  

Experiences such as climbing trees, using swings, riding on billy carts or exploring the use of authentic tools and equipment such as using real spades to dig in the mud patch or providing wood work experiences using hammers and nails, so that children gradually develop the ability to build self-confidence and independence, learn about themselves through resilience and persistence, understand consequences and make safe judgements about risks in stages. 

As educators, it is our role to create these opportunities for children to take safe risks by providing safe, secure, well planned and supervised environments for them to explore. 

However we need to ensure children have a clear understanding to rules on what is safe and unsafe play.  It’s therefore the importance of promoting these skills earlier to set them right through life, particularly in vulnerable stages such as their teen years, so let’s give them the life skills to be prepared!