Emily Clarke in Ballarat, Victoria | Education

Emily Clarke

Locality: Ballarat, Victoria

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25.01.2022 These are such worrying statistics for our beautiful hometown of Ballarat. Tonight we kick off the first Peaceful Kids class for Term 3 and I have 6 boys enrolled! The highest number yet. This makes me hopeful that the next generation of boys growing up in Ballarat will have a much better understanding of the importance of good mental health. We need to continue to work to erase the stigma of talking about the health of our brains! We happily tell people when we have a cold or a headache or sore muscles from the gym. Why cant we talk about the fact that sometimes our brain isnt well either? It really is no different to any other part of our body. #mentalhealth #areyouok? #suicideprevention

25.01.2022 What a great initiative from the Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre. Indoor pools can be so over stimulating for children with sensory needs. This provides a great opportunity for children to develop a positive relationship with water and play.

25.01.2022 Meal times can cause a lot of anxiety for both children and parents! If you have a fussy eater and you would like some support, please check out the workshop below. You are able to take younger children along as they will have activities for them as well as providing morning tea.

24.01.2022 As we are beginning to spend more and more time indoors, I thought Id share a great initiative beginning on Monday! The Body Coach is going to be holding a P.E class for children at 9am every morning through his YouTube channel. A perfect time for you to get 30 minutes to yourself as you begin the day or you could even join in with your kids. Subscribe to his YouTube channel to begin on Monday.

24.01.2022 This beautiful woman was a participant in my last Peaceful Parents course. Amanda Im so proud of you for going and carving out that me time for yourself. This program looks amazing! Congratulations!

24.01.2022 Happy birthday to Blossomtree Psychology! In my Well-being role at school and externally with Peaceful Kids I always recommend Blossomtree to parents who are seeking psychological support for their children. They are fabulous!

23.01.2022 Week 3 had us learning about the Amygdala. We learnt about its important role in the brain and how we can be more in control of it, especially if its making our heart beat too fast, too often! We read the picture book Hey Warrior and made our own brain replicas complete with an amygdala and the pre frontal cortex.

22.01.2022 My last Peaceful Kids class for the year (and for the foreseeable future!). This class was just amazing. So much growth, so respectful and so understanding of each others needs. I was blown away by what they brought to the group each week, wise beyond their years!

21.01.2022 Deep belly breathing in action! In our first session we love to practise nice deep belly breaths using a stone. Watching the stone gently move up and down helps us to focus on deep breaths, helping us to slow our heart rate down and find a place of calm.

20.01.2022 A beautiful Spring day to finish our Term 3 group. I cant believe the progress this group made! Some found it very hard to leave Mums side in week one and today they were getting dropped out the front and coming up the stairs with confidence. A very fun group to work with!

19.01.2022 Bookings open at 10am this morning!

18.01.2022 A beautiful illustration by Felicia Chiao. What number are you at today?

16.01.2022 This little girl sums up the new Peaceful Kids group tonight! I could tell the nerves were rippling through their bodies as they entered the room but they gave their parent a quick kiss, held their heads high and came in and found a mat. New people, new environment and new challenges but they all gave it 100%. (How awesome is this girl by the way! )

16.01.2022 What a great reminder. There is no schedule! This applies for the big things like when to have a baby or if you should have bought a house by now. But it also applies to the little things, like should my child be reading by now or should I be exercising 3 times a week? We are on our very own individual schedules. What works for each of us is perfect. (So if that means staying in your PJs a little longer this morning then thats a-okay! ).

15.01.2022 My kids brought back something special from Mildura yesterday. Gastro! I apologise but todays Peaceful Kids class will be cancelled. I have emailed all participants but have posted here in case emails arent checked today. Thanks for your understanding!

15.01.2022 Its that time of the year again! New adventures about to begin for lots of little (or big!) people! Here is a post I wrote last year to support you all on those first big days.

14.01.2022 Attached is the flyer for the upcoming Peaceful Kids class beginning in Term 4. Bookings will open at 10am on Saturday 31st August. Just a reminder that I will be taking a break in 2020 so this is the final Peaceful Kids class for the time being. I will be opening up 10 places for this class.

14.01.2022 A special Play School edition

13.01.2022 Any of these familiar below? Im missing my supports, miss seeing my own parents and my mum friends. Weve been travelling along ok but tonight my son cried and cried because he couldnt go for a play and kick the footy with his street friends. Hang in there everyone. On the other side of it we will appreciate everything so much more. Stay safe.

13.01.2022 A little note to let my lovely followers know that after Term 4 I will be taking a break from running Peaceful Kids classes. Working within a primary school as my normal job and offering classes after hours there too means I am at a point where I feel am seeing more of other peoples children than my own! I need to practise what I preach and be more present with my own kids and family for a little while and hopefully I will be back again in the future for more PK classe...s. I am hoping to still offer Peaceful Parents next term. In Term 4 I will be offering 10 places for this final PK class. The class will run from 5pm-6pm on a Wednesday evening at the Healthy Hub. Bookings will open on Saturday 31st August and the class will begin on Wednesday 9th October. Thank you for all your support in making Peaceful Kids such a success over the past two years!

10.01.2022 Teachers! Check out this little giveaway for you all from the lovely Ellen at The Silly Brain.

10.01.2022 Keeping a close eye on their glitter jars

10.01.2022 This afternoon I was invited to speak to all the trade teachers at Federation University. For many of them it was their first introduction to Mindfulness. I spoke about the amazing physiological and structural changes that take place in our brain from practising this vital skill. One of the older trade teachers asked is it too late for me to start practising now?. A great question. It is never too late. It only takes 8 weeks of Mindfulness practice for the size of your amy...gdala (your stress response centre) to shrink, it can help with breaking a smoking addiction, within two weeks it can improve your focus and attention by 16 percentile points, it increases the grey matter in your brain, the list goes on. MRI scans are now confirming what Buddhist monks have known for centuries; Mindfulness is the key element for stress reduction and happiness. We brush our teeth to combat decay, we exercise for cardiovascular health, we wear glasses to support our eyesight, we have facials to maintain good skin. But what do we do to preserve our brain, arguably more important than any of these other body parts? Its never too late to begin! For more research findings: https://www.forbes.com//7-ways-meditation-can-actually-ch/

09.01.2022 Can relate to each!

09.01.2022 By far everyones favourite week of PK! Week 6! Tonight we made calming glitter jars. I have written my recipe below. A great idea for teachers is to make a class set. The shop in the Bridge Mall next to the Capri cafe have fantastic little plastic jars, great for a whole class. We keep them in a container at the door of our Prep classroom and after lunch students come in, take their jar and lie down for some deep belly breaths before learning time. These jars help represent... our busy mind when our amygdala is turned on and our thoughts are overwhelming us. We give them a good shake and then practise deep belly breaths while we watch the glitter slowly settle to the bottom, clearing our mind of the busy thoughts at the same time. Ingredients: Warm water Glitter Clear Gum Glue (I get mine from officeworks) Directions: I let children pick their glitter and tip it into the empty jar. We then add a really good squirt of clear gum glue and then add the warm water and stir it all together. If you want it more floaty you can add more glue at the end. How much glitter is up to you!

08.01.2022 Here is a great little list that might inspire some self care for your whole family this weekend. Perhaps each person could pick one thing to all do together? Happy Friday!

07.01.2022 Could those parents who have enrolled their child for Term 4 please check your email inboxes. I have sent an introduction email prior to beginning this week. Thanks to those parents who have already sent back the questionnaire. Looking forward to meeting your children on Wednesday!

06.01.2022 What a brilliant cartoon by Common Wild! This was created in response to a recent cartoon by Leunig about mothers (yes just mothers, not fathers!) loving their phones more than their children. Theres a time and place for everything but I think if youve finally got 5 minutes to yourself to stop and scroll through insta/find a recipe/pay a bill/text a friend then all power to you. #nojudgement

06.01.2022 All 10 places for next term are now sold out! Thank you so much to those who have booked their children in. I cant wait to meet them all in Term 4.

05.01.2022 This a lovely thought to reflect on. What are we doing with our lives and what are our children learning from watching us?

05.01.2022 With the talk of impending school closures due to the Coronavirus I thought Id share a very helpful schedule if you do happen to find yourself at home with your kids in addition to the school holidays! A consistent routine is so beneficial for kids, especially during uncertain times where they may also be feeling quite anxious. From a teachers perspective, maintaining daily reading is also important. We often find children fall back a little over the summer break so if w...e find ourselves having another extended break this year it will be important to try and include some academic time for our kids, so as not to undo all the hard work theyve put into their first term at school. Who knows what the future will hold for us all! If I end up at home for a month with my own kids Ill definitely be using this schedule so I dont go crazy! Credit: Jessica McHale Photography

04.01.2022 Just a reminder that bookings open tomorrow at 10am for my Term 4 Peaceful Kids class. It will be held on Wednesdays from 5pm-6pm at The Healthy Hub. I will be taking a break from PK following this class so get in quick to avoid disappointment. 10 places available. Bookings open at 10am via https://www.eventbrite.com/e/peaceful-kids-2019-term-4-prog

03.01.2022 As a parent and teacher Im so excited to be following this page! Jess is absolutely amazing and I am always recommending her to our parents at school. She has created a new page with advice, articles and thoughts on all things parenting. I highly recommend you pop over and give her page a like.

03.01.2022 RUOK Day is on tomorrow. Its a really important day, particularly for our local Ballarat community. Children are never too young to be taught how to ask someone else how they are and how to help that person if theyre not doing ok. We used this resource in our Prep classroom yesterday and I encourage teachers and parents to have a look through it to help shape your conversations about what RUOK day is all about. #RUOKDAY https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com//RUOK_School_ToolKit_2

03.01.2022 This is something I wrote a few years back for our school newsletter. I still read over it about this time every year to remind me to slow down and savour the days that are to come over the festive season. A Mindful Christmas Christmas is my favourite time of the year. I love everything about it. But some years it seems I am so busy getting ready for that one day of the year that when it finally arrives it all passes by so quickly and theres a sadness that another Christm...Continue reading

02.01.2022 Is anyone elses children ready to go back to school? By the end of the holidays my kids are very ready to be around children their own age again. Check out this printable that can be used to motivate siblings to be kind to each other. I think if I turned it into a game or a challenge my son would be right into it! (#competitive) If you havent heard of Big Life Journal check them out and subscribe for free printables like this. They have some great Growth Mindset resources! Thanks Sallee Carter - Find Your Happy for sharing!

01.01.2022 Worries! Tonight in Peaceful Kids we explored the worries that bother us each day. We talked about how they make us feel, how they can stop us from enjoying our day and how we can try and tame them. We learnt that bringing our brain back to the present moment by taking deep belly breaths can help to stop the worries in their tracks.

01.01.2022 For any of my Melbourne followers, go and give this page a like! One of my friends is beginning her own Peaceful Kids classes in Melbourne! Yay Cant wait to follow along with this page!