We are excited to let you know that Mucky Munchkins Childcare Ltd has partnered up with Mini Minds UK to incorporate the Mini Minds approach which focuses on the wellbeing of children. We are now a Partner of Mini Minds Matter UK, joining with other Partners across the country and overseas. This is a new adventure for us all and we are excited to see what it brings.
This introduction will provide you with some information about the approach:
Since Covid 19, many professionals working with children and their parents have noticed the impact this has had on young children. Overnight their world was turned upside down. Some children were taken away from an Early Years setting that felt familiar, where they had made friends and felt safe and secure, to being at home with parents all day with little or no contact with other children of their own age.
There had been no time to prepare children for this sudden change of routine, they were just expected to adapt. This was challenging enough for parents/adults to accept, yet somehow, we all expected children to be resilient and just get on with it. The importance of Early Years is vital for children to build their prime areas of development, to be able to communicate and express themselves, to be able to share and take turns with peers and play alongside others and be physically active using gross and fine motor skills, ready for school.
As parents juggled caring for children, alongside managing workloads, under different levels of stress, children’s learning and development was frozen in time. Those early experiences crucial for developing neural pathways were not readily available to every child.
This is why the Mini Minds approach was launched.
‘We would like to recognise this setting for their enthusiasm and commitment to young children and their families. This Nursery has provided amazing testimonials from parents in regards to the outstanding care they provide. Each year they grow from strength to strength as they continue to partner with Mini Minds Matter. Congratulations Mucky Munchkins”
Julie is a qualified Teacher and Nursery Owner with over 25 years’ experience in the Education Sector. She has run her own business, successfully, for the past 18 years, looking after those children in the Early Years sector. In 2020, during COVID, she noticed a marked change, with more anxious parents, children and staff and embarked on developing a growth mind-set curriculum. Julie wanted to carry on the great work she had already been doing for the past five years, implementing mindfulness into her settings, but also to reach more children and families through a dedicated program of support and resources.
Mandy is a Qualified Paediatric Nurse, with 30 years’ experience in Health and Social Care and has worked during the past five years as a Health and Wellbeing Specialist, with children and families from Education settings and Social Care to bring mindfulness, relaxation and emotional wellbeing to a wide range of children who were identified as needing this.
Julie and Mandy’s combined experience, passion and drive has led to the development of the book Mini Mindful Moments with Wellasaurus and Friends, which will form part of a series, to offer a fun way to start building mindfulness practice into each day with children.
If parents understand theirs and their child’s brain, in this easy and fun way, then they can start to understand why they feel a certain way, why they react to certain things and how they can change unwanted reactions, emotions and feelings in themselves. By calming their mind, using the daily affirmation and meditation, they are on the right track to a happier and healthier life, building towards a growth mind set.
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