Wagga Families & Children Services Expo 14.11.13

Wagga Wagga Families & Children Services Expo 14th November 2013 will be a wonderful FREE event for the whole family.  From 3pm - 6pm, to balance your late night shopping, many exciting activities and information that services are going to provide will keep visitors to the expo engaged and entertained. Even dinner can be covered if you purchase your sausage sizzle from the Sunrise Rotary stand! 
The preschools from around the area are also invited to provide a stall.  St Luke's Preschool will ensure some colourful faces with their facepainting, Kapooka ECC will be threading with recycled materials.  The local RDA will have a few ponies available for rides and for petting.  Live entertainment includes Pete the Plumber who, through song and action explores the water cycle.  Local Li'l Melodies Kindermusik classes, Mina's dance troupes and Divine Wellbeing Yoga experts will be on show throughout the afternoon, ensuring sound, colour and sensory experiences for all.   
Check out the blogsite www.waggafcexpo.blogspot.com for updates, information, and how to be involved.

Dubbo training opportunity - Autism Spectrum Conditions and Domestic & Family Violence

Julie Grey, Region Domestic Violence Coordinator for the Western Region NSW Police Force has written to invite you and your colleagues to an inaugural, 'never-even-thought-about-before', training opportunity, that will address a huge gap in knowledge & service delivery for a growing number of community members.  The training  will address the association between Autism Spectrum Conditions and Domestic & Family Violence. It is fully catered, FREE, and, attendees will receive a certificate - that will be relevant to professional ongoing education and training requirements.

Fanatastic tools for managing challenging behaviours

One of the most useful websites regarding challenging behaviours is aptly www.challengingbehavior.org.  Please take some time to peruse and you are guaranteed to find information that will be of benefit to your preschool. 

Wagga Wagga Families and Children Services Expo 2013

The Wagga Wagga Early Childhood Intervention Coodination group, in conjunction with FamiliesNSW and Wagga Wagga City Council are proudly hosting a Family and Children Services Expo in the Civic Theatre Precinct on Thursday November 14th 2013. 
We are inviting all services who support families with children aged 0 – 8 years host a stall and provide an activity for this community event. This includes local Preschools and Early Childhood facilities.

 

Visual Supports

Using visuals can sound easier than it often is.  Several blog posts here have highlighted the DVD which is a terrific resource for showing the uses of visuals.  It can still seem daunting when you consider your own environment, the children you want to use them with*, and how to get the ball rolling - in a visual way!  KU ISA have just released a wonderful insert in their most recent Inclusion Matters publication that explains WHAT many of the visuals aim to achieve.  There are also some tips on HOW to use visual supports as well as useful resources.
 Click here to read the article, and I would urge you to share it with all who work with you in your early childhood setting.  Please also post any comments, suggestions, anecdotes or questions.  We'd love to hear how you are using them and if you have noticed any communication and social developments as a result.

 

Refer also KU Inclusion Matters 2nd Edition 2013.
*NB: You can use visuals to support communication with ALL children.

Hear our Heart Ear Bus is only a beat away!

Hear our Heart is a truly inspirational example of how people power combined with a real community need can make a difference. www.hearourheart.org

The Hear our Heart Ear Bus Project, started as a direct result of identifying a great need in a small, but spread-out community.  Being somewhat remote, access to Ear, Nose and Throat specialists is often as remote a possibility as the location.  In 2011, two passionate Dubbo women joined forces with the Dubbo & District Support Group for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired to raise awareness and support for families whose children suffer from Otitis Media.  This ear infection has four strains, the most common is also known as glue ear.  Otitis Media effects 1 in 3 children, but if left un/misdiagnosed can have long lasting effects on health, behaviour, and overall social and learning development.  What is Otitis Media? (NB:  the traits can also appear similar to ASD) 

Free holiday fun in Culcairn and The Rock

Intereach are providing some wonderful alternative school holiday experiences.

All welcome to the free ART IN THE PARK

The Rock:  10.30am - 12pm Wednesday 25th September 2013

Recreation Ground, Wilson Street, The Rock

Culcairn: 10.30am - 12pm Wednesday 2nd October 2013 Jubilee Park, Olympic Highway, Culcairn

Activities include:  painting, games, playdough, books, building, craft. 

Relax, Kids.....

Over a recent weekend I attended a terrific Relax Kids  training in order to become a coach for adults and children in the techniques as identified by Marneta Viegas.  The course was attended by primary school teachers, parents and councillors (8 of us).  The Relax Kids Method provides a 7 step structure of Dance, Play, Stretch, Feel, Breathe, Believe and Relax (ref.  www.relaxkids.com).
We went through these seven steps at length and looked again at benefits and aims for each - of particular relevance:

Weekly Question - How do you make 'reflection' a cool tool?

A problem shared is a problem halved:  a reflection shared is a step towards inclusive practice!  What mechanisms do you have in place to enable quality reflection?  Are there barriers?  How are they overcome?  Listed below are a number of discussion prompts for this blog and the early years education community.  Your reflection could be the start of another.  Use the comments section to participate.

Orange, NSW - Communication Essentials for Disability Support Workers

“COMMUNICATION ESSENTIALS” for Disability Support Workers
The Care Governance Unit at CareWest will present 4 workshops between September and December 2013 on the theme of communication.

Weekly Question: SCAN Numbers for 2014

Are you a an eligible state-funded preschool, occasional care, multipurpose centre or vacation care service? 
Are you located within the Orana Far West, Central West or Riverina Murray regions?
Do you have an indicator of anticipated numbers of children with additional needs who will access your service next year (2014)? 
Let’s use this as a starting point to list expected requirements – resources, building modifications, staff changes, support aides, training and professional development.  I will mediate the responses, so don’t worry – if you’d like to remain anonymous, I can ensure that happens.  If you’d like to respond privately, please email Kim Gray kim.gray@cw.org.au or me, Sara Stockman sara.stockman@cw.org.au.  

Ability Technology

Dr Graeme W. Smith from Ability Technology recently presented two iPads and More workshops in Albury. 
Graeme provided the attendees with an immense amount of information regarding the varied and diverse possibilities for technology and how mixed abilities can access and make use of the world as a result.  His insight provided us with a better understanding of 'what's out there' and how to make informed decisions about what would be relevant and most useful for our varied environments. 

Socialising and Communicating Outside the Box

Joy Lubawy is a local early childhood professional, a mentor in the field and the host of a wonderful facebook page and website.  She has authored a number of resource books that have supported so many in the early childhood sector.  Many of you will have been to see Joy speak, or even had Joy into your service to provide insightful information and begin the dialogues that lift early childhood educators professionally and emotionally.  www.jnpconsulting.com.au
Joy recently shared the article below by Nancy Rosenow in which a child has a chance to explore and construct in a nature-based outdoor environment.