Mulberry Bush Montessori, Nature Kindergarten & Forest School

As the summer draws nigh, so too does the end of some of our children's Mulberry Bush Montessori days & early year's journey with us "where little people think big!"

For parents of children, who this time last year were considering their child's school start the same year & gifted them an advantage additional year with us, the overwhelming positive benefit is just how much better prepared their children are emotionally, as well as socially not just for school - but for life.

The responsibilities & resilience our children assume & have to show in the different situations once in formal statutory education & throughout their lives - is a LOT.

We want each of our children to be able to weather life's storms with a bit more ease without being worn down by them.

The key is building their resilience in the early formative years & sometimes that takes a bit more time for some children.

Resilience isn't about "toughing it out" in silence or suppressing our struggles. It is a skill set we consciously work on bringing out ourselves & our children when they're will us throughout the day, every day they are with us.

The Seven Ingredients of Resilience are internal resources we draw upon & further develop with ourselves & our children;

🧷 Emotion Awareness and Regulation:
Creating a safe space for all of our children's feelings - happiness, fear, and sadness - while helping them navigate them when they're feeling overwhelmed by giving them the language.

⏸️ Impulse Control:
Guiding a child by giving them simple ways to pause before they act, directing them in situations they might find tricky with love & kindness toward themselves and others.

✅ Realistic Optimism:
Reminding the child in a situation they find challenging of their words & language about what is actually happening & what they might do to better deal or cope with the situation & being ready to step in if necessary.

🤸🏽Flexible Thinking:
Observing the child when challenges arise & offering help with words as to what might be the possible outcomes dependent on the actions they take. Letting them know there is usually a "Plan B."

🔋Self-efficacy:
Instilling in a child, the quiet belief that they can effect positive change as a result of their decision, action & intervention. That sometimes it is about "feeling good" (self-esteem) & sometimes it is more about knowing how to master the path ahead.

💟 Empathy:
We encourage, build & preserve strong loving social bonds with & throughout our children. We know from studies that even one enduring relationship in early years with a caring adult who is a positive role model, can help a child navigate significant hardships in later years.

🪽Reaching Out:
That additional year in early years, gives our children more chance of the confidence they need to establish as they learn to know who they are individually- to take "horizon-expanding" risks & because of the way they learn in the Montessori way, they see & understand failure as a signpost for learning rather than something to be feared.

So ....... a moment for reflection for parents of children whose birthday falls in December, January or February of the year they enter school & won't quite yet be five.

Which one of these might need a little more energy poured into it just a little bit longer?

Resilliance grows in small, measurable steps & together we can support your child to be "filled" up.

References:
Reivich, K., & Shatté, A. (2002). The Resilience Factor.

K. Reivich and J. Gillham, “Building Resilience in Youth: The Penn Resiliency Program.,” Jan. 2010, [Online]. Available: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ886218

J. J. Cutuli, J. J. Cutuli, T. M. Chaplin, J. E. Gillham, K. Reivich, and M. E. P. Seligman, “Preventing Co-Occurring Depression Symptoms in Adolescents with Conduct Problems The Penn Resiliency Program,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1094, no. 1, pp. 282–286, Dec. 2006, doi: 10.1196/ANNALS.1376.035.

J. E. Gillham et al., “School-Based Prevention Of Depression And Anxiety Symptoms In Early Adolescence: A Pilot Of A Parent Intervention Component,” School Psychology Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 323–348, Oct. 2006, doi: 10.1521/SCPQ.2006.21.3.323.

ERIC - EJ886218 - Building Resilience in Youth: The Penn Resiliency Program, Communique, 2010 Psychologists have been studying resilience since the 1970s to understand what enables individual to meet developmental milestones despite serious risk factors. Although early research used terms like

"Children fall in love with the Earth through their senses and through play, not through learning facts."

Louise Chawla

At Mulberry Bush Montessori, Killearn - our children's Forest School & Nature Kindergarten experiences throughout the week, bear witness to this.

Direct childhood experiences and mentoring are key elements in adults' actions to benefit the environment - Children & Nature Network Childhood experiences associated with care for the natural world: A theoretical framework for empirical results Direct childhood experience and mentoring are key elements in adults' actions to benefit the environment The focus of this research from Dr. Louise Chawla is on those factors that contribu...

💦 Keep safe doing water activities at home with your children! 💦

Splash Safely at Home Downloadable Resources FREE resources to help educate everyone about water safety at home.

This is a positive message of hope for those of us in the Early Years working with the under 5's.

In 1949, Maria Montessori looked back on fifty years of work and shared a powerful secret: she kept going because she was absolutely certain that we can make the world a better place.

At Mulberry Bush Montessori Killearn, we believe that too!

Sometimes the work we do as Early Years Educators or parents, feels like an uphill battle.

We see obstacles in our way, or we feel like we are starting from scratch.

Montessori’s life proves that when we focus on the potential of the child, when we follow the child, we find the strength to keep building, to keep going doing what we do.

Together, with our parents & families - we are working toward that brighter future she envisioned.

♥️

This campaign highlights a critical issue facing our sector — not a difference in roles, skills or commitment, but a system-wide funding inequality

We do the same job.

Fact;
• We are paid less.
• We get half the Scottish Government funding per hour than councils for the same job.
• Not fair.
• Not equal.
• Not following the child.

Time for change.

The facts & figures speak for themselves.....

Mulberry Bush Montessori Killearn is proud to be part of this campaign for fairer distribution of the Scottish Government's Early Years funding for our families & settings.

There is strong evidence showing that:

• Early years investment improves outcomes for children
• It supports parental employment
• It delivers long-term economic returns

To help amplify who private service nursery providers like Mulberry Bush Montessori in Killearn, are, what we do and how extensive our reach in to Scottish family life is, this demystifies who we are as a sector & exactly what we do.

We are vital components to childcare in Scotland & integral to providing care for our working families in all local authority areas across Scotland.

Your support for our sector keeps the backbone of this country, our working parents - in jobs & able to juggle both family & working life.

We work as a team, with you, around your children with expertise & love.
❤️

We look forward to seeing as many of our Mulberry Bush Montessori families join us, for what will be a smashing local Sunday morning out. 💚

Come see us & enrol your child to ensure they experience & enjoy our local, off site Forest School & wild local base camps as an important aspect of their pre school life. There's nothing else quite like it!
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These are some super Montessori inspired activities to do with your children as SPACE continues to be a current focus of their interest.
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April 14 is Look up at the Sky Day! You'll find lots of great astronomy activities and resources here: https://livingmontessorinow.com/montessori-monday-montessori-inspired-astronomy-units/