Child and Educator Well-Being

Facilitated By: Alexa Rae Schiefer

In a work environment marked by consistent challenges, exhaustion, and overwhelming moments, the early years' sector can feel heavy on the heart. It's time to discover how to shift and re-establish a connection with our workplace. Join this workshop to explore what compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma look like so we can work to get unstuck from their effects.

Facilitated By: Kelly Ferguson, Registered Dietitian with Southwestern Public Health and Ginette Blake, Registered Dietitian at Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU)

Are you struggling to navigate how to provide nutritious foods in your early years setting while balancing your food budget? Or maybe you are struggling personally to manage your grocery bill? Join us as we work together to brainstorm and discuss different strategies to save money without compromising nutrition or taste.

Facilitated By: Minaa B., MSW, LMSW

Join us for this three-part series where Minaa B. (keynote speaker at Only One You) will address stress and burnout and provide attainable tips for the recovery process.

Burnout 103: The Power of Healthy Habits & The Tools You Need to Manage Stress & Burnout Managing

Burnout is not a one-shot approach. Instead, it requires intentionality and awareness of triggers that induce feelings of stress in the first place. This workshop will give individuals a rigorous amount of tools to help them build healthy habits and manage stress and burnout in their everyday lives, personally and professionally.

Facilitated By: Minaa B., MSW, LMSW

Join us for this three-part series where Minaa B. (keynote speaker at Only One You) will address stress and burnout and provide attainable tips for the recovery process.

Burnout 102: When Burnout Disrupts Your Mental Health

Burnout can lead to mental health-related issues such as anxiety and depression, impacting employee performance and overall quality of life. This workshop will provide education on depression and its link to burnout and help individuals recognize how it has impacted their mental health.

Facilitated By: Kelly Ferguson, Registered Dietitian with Southwestern Public Health

Food is a big part of our lives; it's a topic of conversation, a point of celebration and a way to connect with one another. It is important to recognize that how educators talk about food and bodies in early years can profoundly impact children's lifelong relationship with food. Join us as we explore food neutrality in early years settings and how to help children become food explorers, engaging with and enjoying a variety of foods.

Facilitated By: Minaa B., MSW, LMSW

Join us for this three-part series where Minaa B. (keynote speaker at Only One You) will address stress and burnout and provide attainable tips for the recovery process.

Burnout 101: Identifying Signs of Burnout & Strategies to Mitigate Stress in The Workplace

Burnout is the primary cause of poor workplace engagement, employees quitting quietly, and lack of job satisfaction. When chronic stress goes unaddressed, individuals become more susceptible to experiencing burnout. This workshop can help individuals recognize the signs of chronic stress and burnout, and provide strategies for stress management.

Facilitated By: Minaa B., MSW, LMSW

Minaa B will share information on the most important aspect of our mental health: our nervous system. Through this workshop, we can learn about the body's stress responses and explore various techniques and practices that can be incorporated into daily life to promote positive mental health and reduce stress.

Facilitated By: Dr. Tina Bonnett

This recording is of Dr. Tina Bonnett's session called, Cultivating Secure Spaces to Probe the Complexities of Care.

This event was made possible by funding from the Province of Ontario, City of London, Middlesex County, Elgin County, and Wellness Together Canada. This opportunity brought the London-Middlesex-Elgin early years systems together to reflect, learn, grow, and celebrate the invaluable contributions early years professionals make each day in service to children and families across our regions.

Facilitated By: Mike Masse

This recording is of Mike Masse's session called, Take Care of You Too: A Guilt-Free Guide to Self-Care.

This event was made possible by funding from the Province of Ontario, City of London, Middlesex County, Elgin County, and Wellness Together Canada. This opportunity brought the London-Middlesex-Elgin early years systems together to reflect, learn, grow, and celebrate the invaluable contributions early years professionals make each day in service to children and families across our regions.

On June 12th, 2023, Mike Masse facilitated “Mindfulness Self Care” at Boler Mountain. During this session Mike debunked myths surrounding mindfulness and shared some helpful hints on how to incorporate mindfulness into our daily lives. Later, at the system-wide professional learning day, The Courage to Care, Mike revisited mindfulness and feelings of guilt when prioritizing your well-being.

We recognized the importance of continuing these conversations and sharing Mike’s expertise with all of you. Mike has graciously created sweet and short videos to introduce mindfulness to you.

These short, engaging videos are designed specifically for early years professionals. The intent of this video series is to provide one practical technique (biweekly) that anyone can incorporate into their daily life to best help support you and help you handle your individual stressors, thoughts or emotions.

A downloadable document to support adults in discussing cancer.

Nankind has developed Cancer Conversations with your Kids so parents with cancer can speak with their children about their diagnosis in language children can understand. It is designed as a guide to help you have this delicate conversation with the goal of reducing your child’s fear and anxieties.

Facilitated By: Zainib Abdullah, MSW, RSW, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Wellnest

This session will introduce, or reintroduce participants to the basics of attachment theory and the neurobiology of relationships. Zainib will share with us the impact of unmet attachment needs and inner child healing as one of the antidotes to healing these young wounds. The session will invite participants to engage in both meditative and reflective practices to facilitate an embodied and experiential sense of healing.

Facilitated By: Lisa Cranston, Self-Reg Learning Facilitator with the MEHRIT Centre

Do you feel that the past two years have been unusually stressful for early years professionals? Have you found yourself putting more energy into “putting out fires,” and “managing behaviours” at the expense of energy you’d like to have for building positive relationships with children and engaging in their learning? Then this session is for you!

Lisa Cranston will share proactive ways to build relationships and effectively engage with young children in early childhood settings. She will introduce us to Shanker Self-Reg:registered: and show how it provides knowledge and strategies that can help early learning professionals support children and their families as well as reap the benefits of self-reg for themselves.

Facilitated By: Sophie Malouin, Yoga Teacher & Mentor

Join this Community of Practice where we explore and reflect on all areas of self-care and personal wellness, from the emotional, to the psychological, to the social, physical, and professional too.

This month, we will get clear on what we want 2023 to be! We will be welcoming the delightful Sophie Malouin who will guide us through her personal intention and goal setting process.

Most people set goals from a place of deficiency and lack. But it turns out that the intention behind our goal is just as important as the goal itself. Sophie will share, from her own experience, how to set goals that actually excite and empower you rather than fill you with dread and disappointment. Together, we will claim how we want to feel by setting a powerful intention for the year ahead and then create a plan to make sure that actually happens.

Self-care is a personal journey and one that is ever changing. We want this to be a space where we can continue to grow in health and well-being together, making our self-care a habitual priority and not an after-thought.

Let's have our most aligned year yet!

Facilitated By: Dr. Kristin Neff, Ph.D

Our first instinct when we fail, suffer, or feel inadequate may be to criticize or to judge ourselves—but there is a better way to get through life's hardships. A way that enables us to achieve our highest potential and lead more contented, fulfilling lives. And that's through self-compassion. Join us for a very special virtual opportunity with Dr. Kristin Neff, author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself and co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.

Facilitated By: Rebecca Higgins, MSW, Mental Health Educator

In this session, Mental Health Educator and author, Rebecca Higgins, introduces us to writing as respite. Through various writing prompts, you will be invited to consider writing as a tool for reflective practice, as a safe place to put hard things, and as an opportunity for creative expression and play.

No writing experience required, just paper, a pen, and an open heart and mind.

Facilitated By: Minaa B.

This is a recording of the introductions and keynote presentation from the system-wide professional learning day Only One You: A Be Well-ference for Early Years Professionals on October 24, 2022.

Everyone has habits, but some of our habits are not beneficial to our well-being. Healthy habits create room for self-care and self-care can happen anywhere you are, even in the classroom. During this workshop, you will learn the difference between habits and routines, the science behind what it takes to create healthy habits, and tools and strategies that will help you practice work-life harmony to better support your mental health and well-being.

Facilitated By: Liz and Mollie

This is a recording of one of the two virtual afternoon presentations from the system-wide professional learning day Only One You: A Be Well-ference for Early Years Professionals on October 24, 2022.

In this engaging and informative session, Liz and Mollie will give participants tactical tips for how to build resilience, successfully navigate big feelings, and practice self-compassion during times of uncertainty.

Liz’s poignant illustrations sprinkled throughout the presentation bring the content to life. The actionable advice will be applicable to those in a broad range of roles, including those who work alone or with others.

Facilitated By: Jasmine Bowie

This is a recording of one of the two virtual afternoon presentations from the system-wide professional learning day Only One You: A Be Well-ference for Early Years Professionals on October 24, 2022.

This session is perfect for people who seek to release- be it stress, or emotional blockages. Through deep intentional breathing, we’ll increase our capacity to feel more connected to our body, inviting in lightness, ease, and joy. Participants are welcome to bring a blanket, earphones, and a journal for a small amount of reflective writing.

Facilitated By: Gwen Kostal, Registered Dietitian from Dietitians4Teachers

What if there was a safer way to talk about food with children?

This was an opportunity for our Early Years community to explore new perspectives in a safe and welcoming partnership starting with Dietitians4Teachers and continuing on with Ginette Blake, Middlesex London Health Unit Public Health RD, and Strive. Gwen gently opened a conversation about changing how we talk about food and bodies in Childcare and Early Years settings.

Prioritizing mental health can be difficult, but it is important for our families and ourselves. Here is some helpful information and resources.

It is no surprise that parents and caregivers are also feeling anxiety when faced with supporting their children through these difficult times!

This workshop helps us understand childhood anxiety as a necessary building block of adaptation; an essential gateway to a child’s creative engagement with the world around them. It provides helpful guidelines for navigating these challenges while maintaining close, supportive relationships with the child. Parents and educators will gain knowledge about how to support children by giving them the tools and skills needed to take on anxiety adaptively. This approach allows the child to experience a sense of mastery and competence as they learn to unfold their anxiety with confidence.

Facilitated By: Allison Preyde, Anova Public Education Coordinator

The trauma-informed approach is relevant for anyone who works with children and families, as we never know who has experienced trauma in their lives. Trauma, a normal reaction to an abnormal situation, is unique to the individual, and trauma-informed care shifts the approach from “what is wrong with you?” to “what happened to you?”.

In the Self-Reg framework, resilience is not simply a trait within individuals. It consists of personal awareness and resources that develop within supportive relationships and communities. What’s more, resilience is not just about bouncing back from challenges, but more about our overall health, well-being, relationships and being able to use these and other resources to come back to calm and energy balance after dealing with stressors of all kinds.

Topics included are:
- Self-Reg starts with the self: looking after our own well-being and resilience so that we are able to lend our calm and support those we care for
- Anxiety: Understanding and reframing anxiety related to the new daily realities of life and work during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Self-Reg: How Dr. Shanker’s process for enhancing self-regulation by understanding and dealing with stress can enhance caregiver resilience in the face of various challenges
- Reflecting backward and forward: What have you learned in the past that will help you in this situation? What has changed? What do you need to learn?
- Energy and exhaustion: How can Self-Reg help us maintain and restore the energy we need to connect with and support children and adults in the face of current boundaries and demands?