COVID_19 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: A MESSAGE FROM CATHERINE LEE

KINDNESS_GRATITUDE_CONNECTION

"There are aways many times when we reflect on our philosophy and pedagogy and right now is one of those times.  This global pandemic has seen many of our children staying at home; many of our families working from home; many families becoming unemployed and some of our children continuing to play and learn at preschool each day.  

 This has been a provocation for me and my Educational Team to reflect on kindness, gratitude, connection, and staying true to our philosophy.  We have opened our hearts even more to our children and families to support them during this very challenging time.  And as we have found more ways to celebrate gratitude, we too have found more joy in teaching and sharing our lives with our children and families.  

 One of our acts of kindness was inspired by how the pandemic was impacting and restricting our children's and families' freedom to enjoy their neighbourhood.  In NSW, Australia, public playgrounds are closed and families are only allowed to move around their neighborhood to exercise. I became very aware that during the 2 weeks school holidays our gorgeous nature-filled outdoor learning environment would be empty of children.  So with careful planning, I invited 2 families a day to play and exercise in our playground.  This supported their connection to the preschool and provided our children and their families to have a morning or afternoon outside their homes, knowing they were safe and not breaking any rules. Our families have told us that this very simple act of kindness meant so much to them.

   

Although now my days are filled with more policy writing and implementing new procedures to ensure the safety of my team, children and their families, I am so privileged to be able to continue to teach each day.   This brings me great joy, especially during this time.  

Loris Malaguzzi's words are always in my heart - "Nothing without joy". 

Catherine Lee

Director/Nominated Supervisor and Early Childhood Teacher  

The Point Preschool

Oyster Bay, Sydney

Australia

Our vision is to continue the dream of the Oyster Bay parents who originally built the preschool to create a preschool that nurtures and values children and brings families and communities together. Proudly providing high quality, not-for-profit, community-based early childhood education since 1956.

We acknowledge the original custodians of this land, the Dharawal people and their language and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the community.

Kindness from a distance

 We are so delighted to share this post from these Yeshiva University business students...

Kindness from a Distance is a movement started by four Yeshiva University business students, Maia Dori, Tali Goldman, Atara Rolnick, and Pamela Abraham in an effort to spread kindness and positivity during these difficult times filled with uncertainty and fear. This account was made with one goal in mind, to spread as much positivity and kindness during this time of isolation as possible. They wanted to spread positivity through doing small acts of kindness for others, in order to bring people closer together during this time when we are all apart.

A hashtag was started, #kindnessfromadistance, to allow people to share their acts of kindness with one another. Additionally, people can send their kind acts and be featured on the Instagram page. This helped inspire people to do other kind acts from a distance and gave them new ideas! This Instagram quickly blossomed into a kindness community filled with engaging dialogue among followers and cheerful daily stories filled with inspiring quotes. Please check us out on Instagram @kindnessfromadistance and send a picture of you doing an act of kindness if you would like to be featured on our page!

https://www.instagram.com/kindnessfromadistance/

Here are some ideas for kind acts you could do from a distance... 

 

 

 

 

Please check us out on Instagram @kindnessfromadistance and send a picture of you doing an act of kindness if you would like to be featured on our page!

We hope you will take time to contribute to this group, you could also use their hashtag on your instagram posts #kindnessfromadistance 

https://www.instagram.com/kindnessfromadistance/