L.Buset Early Childhood Consulting

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Take time to honour those gifts you bring each day for the children and families! We need you educators/child care workers. Happy ECE/Child Care Worker Day!

When was the last time you got to play? Like I mean REALLY play?

Can you think back to your most favourite play memory? Were you outside making forts with sticks and random things found in your space? Were you with the neighbourhood kids running around? Maybe you were dancing on the deck at your Nonna's house dreaming of becoming a radio host one day. How was that for you??

Did you feel that excited feeling in your tummy, did you have a smile that you could feel stretching your face it almost hurt, or did a calmness overtake your body that felt like home? Maybe.

Maybe you just can't remember because it's been so dang long and we've disconnected from that part of us that felt safe to play. Sometimes its a hard thing for us adults to encapsulate.

But what I do know is that if you spend time with children they will whole heartedly invite you into their world, which is naturally driven by play, joy wonder and curiosity.
The beauty of play is you don't have to be perfect and can come as you are. There is no "right time, or place" no prerequisites, no agenda and often no previous experience required. And if you are wanting to get to that feeling again, I invite you to take some time to watch children and wait for the invite. Children, they have a beautiful ability to foster a sense of belonging through play.. and can most certainly exert strong leadership skills and tell you what to do if you get stuck !

Try it, maybe your smile will be so big by the end you will want to come back for more.

Educator wellbeing has dramatic impacts on our pedagogical approaches, and as a result outcomes for children. We think we are holding it together, but when we're dysregulated we are not able to provide coregulation for children. During times like these, people call me! The most requested calls for coaching I receive go something like this………
 That child’s behaviour is driving me nuts, how do I stop it?
 My co-worker doesn’t do their share in the preschool room, can you make them see it?
 That parent has it out for us, nothing we do is ever good enough. What policy can we implement?
 My parent board is disengaged and I am left doing all work, what is the point of having them here?
.. we’ve all been there and what I love about this is the honesty! As Educators it’s so important to understand ourselves so we can parallel that practice for children. So, YES PLEASE tell me exactly what you think is going on ……….but you may be surprised after we work together, it’s often never about the things ↑
Reflecting on the past years doing this… all of these muddy waters we’ve worked through with educators, the questions about being about others, or the organization, or the environment… have always come back to YOU.
And when we start from that place, as a human being it allows us to see the bigger picture and then we can delve deeper into some of the original questions you started out with. Which may not end up being the root question or concern after all.
And I am here for it!
It’s one of the most favourite parts of my job. Mostly because the educator teams I work with feel seen and heard, leave the sessions with new insights, a plan of action, reflections and moments of clarity, better team cohesion or new perspectives.
Children are mirrors for us, sometimes we can use a little support seeing the reflection.
What do you do, to support wellbeing for yourself as an educator?

"Our children are a gift, created from a gift, and as they venture away from home, they are our gift to the world". Unknown ----- Isn't that beautiful?

As educators, we are trained to come into this care and learning journey with children through relationship, connection and wonder! We have this amazing opportunity to co-create experiences together, seriously how lucky are we? We assume competence of children and families as they come to us with so much insight, experience and heart. There is no reason this perspective should stop when things get really damn hard. Right?

But it does. A lot. I've experienced it, you may have, and many others.

When the "helicopter parent", the child who bites or the family that swings in late and forgets the snow pants, mitts and hat arrives....do we act from an agenda or are we genuinely curious and open to supporting?

We may create assumptions about families, about children and also about ourselves with some sort of force that blocks out all other nuances in the world around.

Almost like following a script and agenda, we begin to implement the "strategy" or give the article and recommendation and do the things in hopes it will fix something. Without ever wondering, connecting and looking deeper.

Then here we might be, in a spot where everything we are doing doesn't even align with those values above...everything we once believed in.

SO now what??

We rethink, we collaborate, we read, we gain new knowledge, you reach out for support. We slowly find the ways back to our core values, pedagogical approaches and begin to look within. Just like educators do.

And we remind ourselves that our job as educators is never to "fix" children and families but be a witness, a facilitator, knowledge broker, support, guide, resource and countless others.

So, the next time when things get hard. The family is late, there are no snow pants and the "helicopter parent" asks for yet another accommodation , WE THROW THE AGENDA AWAY, the script and we ask a question without forcing a fix.

We leave that to those brilliant mechanics. Those folks- they fix things for us. Like a broken car door lock, which by the way I need to get fixed stat!

Nothing turns our field more passionate than being thought of as” workers” who "take care of the day" at DAYCARE. Personally, I'd love to do away with this term because frankly it doesn't scratch the surface of the care, connection and intentional learning opportunities early years professionals offer children every.single.day.
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The word has expired. The term daycare was used to describe early learning and child care back in World War II when the government first created subsidized “daycare”. Do we not think its time for an update? The purpose, intention, and the quality has drastically improved since that day in age… so why not the language? Why has it been so disjointed since?
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Here is my invitation to you. The next time you say it, or hear some one else refer to childcare as daycare, remind yourself of this;
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“Here is my opportunity to shift perspective and make change” and from your heart and mind share what it is we do, who we are and where we spend our days! I am a early years professional that spends my days connecting, caring and providing engaging learning experiences for children to explore.
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Is it JUST semantics? Why yes, yes, it is. But don’t forget, the words we use are powerful and often connected to our values. I mean, maybe it’s just me but if I were to have a redo of the past 20 years in our field and referred to myself as a daycare worker, working in daycare vs an early years professional working in early learning and care environments-I really think my trajectory in the field would have been a dead end, and my passion.
It just does not describe what we should be providing anymore.
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As we can see in today’s world……semantics SURE has the power to change a perspective. But good news, we always have that chance to shift it. Your turn, pass it on.

Hi! My name is Lindsay and I am a mom to my daughter and also an Early Years professional that's worked in the field for the past 20+ years.

I've worn many different hats from ECE, to Resource Consultant, College instructor and worked in Children's Services in Municipal Government and Licensing and Quality with the Provincial Government. But being a mom, by far has by far provided me with the most insight and best pair of glasses to look at REAL LIFE through. (lots more about that to come)

My why for staring my business, has a lot to do with seeing families and educators continue to build on their capacity. We are ALL so full of goodness. We all have so much in us to give to children and be for children. But sometimes we get stuck in the muck. the weeds. the place where we aren't really moving anymore. Inviting others to come in and support is like GOLD. Trust me, I practice what I preach here. I love my people too!

There is just something about seeing someone in their own power and living it out. WHY wouldn't you want that for everyone? Especially those of us who CARE for children???

That's my goal here, to use a collaborative, non judgmental approach while working with you to uncover what you want to grow.

Maybe that's in your career as an early years professional, maybe it's you as a educator team, or perhaps you on your parenting journey.

If you are curious, check out the services tab at the top or message me directly for a free 15 min discovery call... happy to connect! 🤝 Please like and share my page, I appreciate it.