The Lasting Impact on Children's Transitions to Bigger Settings

Season #4 January 28, 2025

The Lasting Impact on Children's Transitions to Bigger Settings

Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Big Hearted Podcast!

This week, we're continuing the deep dive into slow pedagogy—and trust me, if you haven’t quite got it from the last two episodes, there’s still plenty more to unpack! This time, I’m focusing on the lasting impact slow pedagogy has on children, particularly when they’re transitioning into bigger environments—whether that’s moving from family day care into preschool or from early childhood settings into school.

I share a story about the time I was thrown into a chaotic preschool room, where children were wild, boundaries were non-existent, and the whole place just felt out of control. It took three months of slow, intentional change to turn things around, and it was a huge lesson in how much children need rhythm, trust, and space to just be.

In this episode, we talk about:

Why doing less actually gives children more
How over-scheduling leads to dysregulated children (and burnt-out educators)
What happens when we stop trusting children—and ourselves
Why frustration and mistakes are essential for learning
How slow pedagogy sets children up to handle bigger transitions with confidence

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by trying to plan all the things or worried that children will be bored if you don’t entertain them, this one is for you. We’re shifting perspectives and letting go of that pressure.

Oh, and don’t forget—Helicopter to Hands-Off is launching in March! If you want to dig deeper into what this actually looks like in practice, make sure you jump on the waitlist so you don’t miss the details.

5 Ways to Help Children Transition with Confidence Through Slow Pedagogy

Stop filling the space – Children need time to settle into play, problem-solve, and figure things out for themselves. Step back and observe before stepping in.
Trust the child – They are more capable than we give them credit for. Give them time and space to test their limits, work through frustration, and build real confidence.
Let go of the idea that "more" is better – Five structured activities a day will only lead to exhausted children (and an exhausted educator!). Real learning happens in the in-between moments.
Embrace boredom – Boredom is where creativity starts. If a child says, "I'm bored," that’s not your problem to solve. That’s an opportunity for them to find their own spark.
Create a strong rhythm – Predictability helps children feel secure. When they know what’s coming, they don’t need to rely on constant external stimulation to feel settled.

Direct Quote from Me:

"The more we do for the children, the less they do for themselves. We've swung this pendulum so far in one direction that we no longer trust the children. But deeper than that, we no longer trust our own ability. And rather than sit in the uncomfortableness of going, hang on a second, am I doing the right thing? We fill the space with what we think needs to happen. And we then buy into the notion that we need to provide more for the children."

Social Media Quote:

"Slow pedagogy isn't about doing less—it's about giving children more time, more trust, and more opportunities to truly learn."

Links & Resources Mentioned:

Helicopter to Hands-Off Workshop (3rd March) → Book Now

Episode Transcript

The Lasting Impact on Children's Transitions to Bigger Settings
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[00:00:00] Hello. Hello and welcome to this. Week's big hearted podcast where I continue. Breaking down the benefits of slow pedagogy, just in case you haven't got it from the last two. Uh, podcasts. There are many more reasons to come. My friends. Uh, and the more I look back on my time, the more I realize that that's the natural way that I lent. Towards as an educator. Um, Remind me to tell you the story of when I took over a preschool room, um, or when I was put in charge of the preschool room, because it speaks directly to the idea around slow pedagogy.

Uh, so that's what I'm going to be talking about today is the lasting impact on children. And particularly the lead up to transition to, uh, going into a larger service, whether that be from your [00:01:00] service into a preschool or from your service into school. Uh, so that's what we're going to be talking about in this week's podcast.

So setback strap, you listening gear on friends and let's get right into it.

Hello, hello and welcome to the Big Hearted Podcast. My name is Victoria Edmond and I am your host. Our aim here at the Big Hearted Podcast is to nurture a community of heart centered educators to change the perception and delivery of early childhood education and care in Australia and ultimately around the world.

We want you to be inspired by our guests and the topics we bring to you to think of new ways of being as an educator. We want you to feel a sense of belonging via this podcast so that you can engage any time of the day or night in any place that suits you. We want you to become an educator that delivers education from the heart as [00:02:00] we believe this is how we create great change within our world.

So join us as we discover new ways to inspire each other here. On the big hearted podcast

Okay. So what I want to talk about is having that idea that. Slow pedagogy, even though you might feel like you are doing less, you are actually providing more, you are providing an environment where children. Practice the skills they have the time and the space to practice and make mistakes and practice and make another mistake and practice and so on and so forth and so forth.

So. This is the. Guts of what we've got to get to because the more we do for the children, the less they do for themselves. Uh, and [00:03:00] I cover this massively in helicopter to hands-off so that we'll be launching in March. So I very highly recommend that if you want to get right into the nitty gritty of what this actually looks like, that you make sure you register for that.

You can jump onto the wait list and then you'll get all of the information regarding when that goes. Uh, live when you can watch it. So. We've we've we've we've swung this pendulum so far. In one direction that we no longer trust the children. But deeper than that, we no longer trust our own ability. And rather than sit in the uncomfortableness of going, hang on a second. Um, am I doing the right thing? We feel the space and we fill the space with what we think needs to happen. And. We [00:04:00] then buy into the notion that we need to provide more for the children.

We need to be. Creating this experience and that experience. And I remember years ago I had an educator join our service and she was with another service and came over to us. But she was like, I actually don't even know if I want to continue in family daycare. I'm completely and utterly burnt out. And when I asked her. What she was actually doing. She was providing upwards of five experiences a day. She was. Doing science experiments and movement dance, yoga.

There was cooking. There was an excursion. If she could do it, then they'd come back in. Uh, in the afternoon. And then they would do painting and all these massive things that she had to prepare and organize and be ready for. And she was exhausted. She was [00:05:00] doing this five days a week and I was like, mate. How do you come up with all the ideas to do like. That's insanity.

No wonder you're feeling burnt out. And when we started looking deeper. The children were displaying. Science because she had children that had some pretty full on. Um, behaviors going on. And so she made the mistake of trying to, um,

Alleviate some of the issues she was experiencing with the behaviors, but actually what it did was created more because the children never had time to just be.

And so what happened was she had a couple of boys and they were wild and it felt like there was no boundaries. But what it was was they had all of this pent-up. Energy creative energy that they weren't able to explore and redirect [00:06:00] themselves because they were constantly being moved into something else. So I know a lot of us have fallen into that trap too.

And having all these different stations within our services and setting things up in the small world play. And how do I get the children to keep all the small world play on the tough tray? Babes. That's meant to be moved. It's meant to be taken away. It's meant to be used elsewhere.

Yeah. And if you're doing it with food and you don't want food in your house, then if you need to set up a small world place, set it up outside.

So it doesn't matter. It can be washed or use the blower to move it on, uh, or, or let the little birdies find it in the afternoon, whatever. But this idea that we have this idea, and we think that it should be played like that and used like this and kept in this one little spot. Completely and utterly goes [00:07:00] against all of the developmental domains and schemers that we know. Uh, how children play and we know that they are. Trying to fix my microphone developmentally normal. We've come so far in this direction that we no longer trust. The children to be able to make decisions, to be able to. Practice what they need to practice in order to learn the things they need to learn and get these lessons. Physically in their body. So you can't. If you understand a concept just from your head, it's a conceptual idea. You can't understand it fully until you've got this idea in your body and had a full body experience with it. So the [00:08:00] idea that. Um, slow pedagogy can help children set up for transitions to bigger spaces. Is that when we allow the children to make these mistakes, when we allow the children the time and the space to explore things in their own way, we give the children more opportunity to learn intrinsically things that they need to learn.

So you will see babies will, when they're learning to walk, they will fall down. Time and time and time and time and time again. And they'll learn to get back up. It's not just about the learning to walk that process of falling down and having to get back up is building those neurological pathways. It is increasing the core muscles. Which are fundamental to being able to stand upright. So the [00:09:00] falling down process is actually. Uh, as stupendously important, part of learning how to walk, you cannot learn how to walk unless you learn how to land. And fall down and get back up in the first place. So all of these things that we would like to try and cut corners on, if we walk children around by holding their hands all the time. And if we make it so that they don't fall down so often. We may be. Preventing something now. But a hundred million billion percent are we causing something that we can't even see yet?

And it's down the track. So how does slow pedagogy help children learn to move on to, um, more busy environments and [00:10:00] bigger, more stimulating environment? Well, when we allow children to experience the full range of emotions of frustration. And please by no means, think that I am sitting here saying that you should never intervene and you should never help the children and you should let them fall down the stairs and all these kinds of things.

That's not where I'm coming from. Whatsoever. Uh, what I'm saying and what my intention is behind the idea of letting the children. Make mistakes again and again, and again. Is that. They are learning more from how they react to the mistake. Than what they are to the actual mistake itself. And again, the example of falling down and needing to learn how to land in a safe way. Uh, that's a really important process once they do start to walk, because if they don't learn how to [00:11:00] land properly, they're going to smash their face. So having that. Ability to put their hands out or to adjust the way their body falls. It's intrinsically within us to do that for self preservation. That can, that self preservation can only remain as a reflex. If we allow it to happen, but if we are constantly there catching the child, catching the baby. Stopping these bad things from happening, these reflexes are going to disappear because that's how it works. So. By having the children experience. All the range of feelings that they would experience in a normal day. And not being in judgment of that is, is really helping them to be able to learn how to regulate themselves, how to. Deal with [00:12:00] frustration. And emotional upset. Uh, any child that has any kind of ability. To process their emotional upset and to begin to regulate their nervous systems. When it's developmentally appropriate. Of course. The more practice they get to do that. The better equipped they are to move on to the next phase of their childhood. So, whether that be leaving family daycare and going into a preschool when they're three or four or moving on from family daycare and going into prep, um, whatever prep is in whatever state you reside in. Uh, so these are really fundamental. Skills that we need to allow the children.

Now, if in the example of the first educator who had like five experiences every day, That is not really allowing the [00:13:00] children. The time to settle into any kind of play. Uh, and it's also meaning that the educator was wound up and burnt out. So do you have any patients whatsoever? When you're wound up in, in a stressful state yourself.

Absolutely not. Do you have any patients when you're burnt out? Nope. You've got nothing left to give when you're burnt out, because you've got nothing left. So you can't provide what the children need. If you are caught up in this spiral and you're too far, one way with that pendulum, and you're trying to justify your role. You're trying to fill those voids because you're uncomfortable with space. And you're uncomfortable with children saying to you.

I'm bored. My favorite response was to I'm. Bored is oh, nice to meet you. I'm bored. What are you going to do now? [00:14:00] Uh, because great ideas come from boredom. And when you've got children and I will caveat this to say that when you have children that are exposed to a lot of. Uh, media TV, movies, um, Not videos anymore, but movies and TV and games and things like that. You have a lot more work to do with that child to get them to be able to drop into their play because true play in childhood. Is definitely I'm sorry, my dog. He's just right next to me, he might. Dream bark in a minute, he's having a dream. Um, True play. Is all sorts of things.

It's the whole range of emotions, but quite often, children, it's not that fast paced. When children start exploring the realm of creative free play. It's not always fast paced. If you watch your baby. What they do is so slow and methodical. [00:15:00] It's slow and it's methodical and say the same when you get to toddlers, everything children do and they're deeply engaged and immersed in their play. Is quite often. Slow. And methodical. And purposeful.

It's very purposeful and he's always purposeful. Uh, when they get older and they start running in gangs. Because they literally run in gangs. That's when the play starts to get faster. And there's moving parts to the play and there's characters and rules and games and all these wonderful things start happening, but they can't happen unless the foundation. Of create creative and free play is built there.

You'll see that when children have missed those creative free play moments, they tend to bring a bit of challenge and drama into the game. [00:16:00] And perhaps they may be even struggle to insert themselves into the play. And so you, as an educator, when you do less for the children, you get to observe this more and you get to see when the children's struggle to. Be invited or to ingratiate themselves with the other children. And this is where you step in and you give that child cues on how they can join the play. And you teach the other children how they can invite children into play. But it's not always going to work that way either.

Sometimes those children have been playing something and there isn't room. In the game for somebody else. So we, aren't going to go along and say, well, you need to share that is the biggest load of BS. Do you know, if I'm standing somewhere and having a conversation and, and a deeply. You know, you might be at an event. For example, and you run into someone you haven't seen for [00:17:00] a long time.

You have a really great connection. And you're having a wonderful conversation and you're catching up with each other and you're getting into the nitty gritty. Maybe your children went to school together and you're catching up on how they went and you're catching up on what's been happening in their lives and something intense is coming up between you and this person.

And then all of a sudden, somebody else wants to come in. And they stand there awkwardly and it's like, mate, read the room where we're having a conversation and there's no room. For somebody else in this conversation right now. Right. You've all experienced that I've been the person that didn't read the room and I kind of stand there awkwardly, and then I'll just excuse myself because I know.

Well, hang on. I stepped into a space where there isn't room for me, it's not personal. I don't take it personally. Uh, I just go, oh, I'll catch up with you guys later. I see someone else over there and I know that they're grateful. And I don't hold anything against [00:18:00] anybody. Uh, but then there are times where I am having that conversation and. It's easy to bring somebody in.

Um, yeah. So this is, this is what I'm sort of trying to share. Someone's at my door. I'm. I'm just going to pause. Okay. So that was a delivery driver dropping off. The dog's drugs. The dogs got allergies and, uh, we've got onto some hemp products that hopefully will help stop the inflammation. Any who that just totally lost my train of thought. And I think I was going somewhere gold with that. Um, oh, yeah.

That conversation, that conversation that you might be having where it's awkward when someone tries to come in. So we've got to realize when we are working with children, that there's these things that happen to us, that we are like, Can you believe that? Why would she just stand there like that? We were like right in the bones and the juiciness of this [00:19:00] conversation. And someone just comes up and stands there.

And now the magic spell is broken. So if we don't like it, Why do we force the children to do that too? So when we have this slow pedagogy, what, what happens is two things. The children get to explore more and that's the social, the emotional, the mental, the physical, the spiritual, and, and all aspects of being human.

They get to practice and explore these moments. And they get to do it in a different situation and scenario apart from there. Permanent caregiver. Or their primary caregiver. Which is a really important thing to note because that experience of life with that little bit of separation to their primary caregiver, Is really important. Because children mask things, they don't know how to [00:20:00] behave.

So because they don't know how to behave. Away from their primary caregiver. These are the opportunities that we can give them and guide them in ways that are. Socially acceptable. That have values of kindness and compassion. But also, we want to give the opportunity to children to connect into their. Feelings in a completely developmentally normal way. And not shame them for having those feelings. And not shame them for making mistakes and getting things. Maybe wrong or, or not making fantastic choices because let's be honest. 2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 year old children.

Don't make great choices. And this is the feeding, like the, the fitted ground for that. Well, let's call it sacred ground for [00:21:00] that. It's it's sacred ground because. We need to be worthy of imitation. We need to be role models worthy of imitation. And that is. Not making one person more special than everybody else. Nobody is special. Nobody is more important than another person. And it's really important that we allow all children to come to us as they are. And that means if someone's highly emotional and they have these big emotional outbursts. Then we allow space for that.

And we just work around that if someone's really quiet and in, in drawn and, or sorry, withdrawn. Then they go inside themselves. Then we allow the space for that as well. We allow the children to come to us as they are, and we guide them and say, It looks like Billy and Charlie. Uh, really [00:22:00] involved in that game themselves. Why don't we try and come back later. Why don't, why don't you come and find something else to do? Or maybe. Little Jeremy over there, my light to play with you right now.

It looks like Billy and. Who did I say before Billy and Charlie? It looks like Billy and Charlie are really playing something with just the two of them. That's okay. It looks like they're having a lovely time. Um, but it doesn't look like they want you to join in right now. So let's find something else to do.

We don't have to make a massive deal out of it. We don't have to go well, that's not very kind, is it because it's not unkind? It's just that, that, that magic bubble contains two people. So can you see how, when you have, when you are slowed in your approach to things and you don't over commit yourself to. Like having every minute of the day full and completed. [00:23:00] You have space to really observe these things and to be like, oh, I see what's going on there. Uh, hi, totally.

See what he's going on there. And. Actually, yeah, I need to, uh, these children have the right to not be interrupted. And they don't have to change their plans just because somebody else wants to come in. Maybe they might, and they might be happy to do that. Let's ask, but they may be in a little magic bubble with just two right now. So.

Like how this conceptual children up for transitions to school.

I, when I first started working in long daycare, I had done my cert three and I was doing my diploma and I had a role as a float in a kidney center. It was like a full long daycare service. And the float role. Uh, I would always end up at the preschool room at [00:24:00] rest time. Just because everybody else sort of, at first they had their lunch last.

And so I was covering for those preschool teachers. So there were two, um, ETS in the room and they were sat. On a couch. The rest time music was up so loud. The key curtains and blinds were all down. The children were laying on their beds. And these two were sat in a chair talking about how they were going to go out on the weekend and I'm going to go party. And then intersperse without conversation with lay down. Got a slate land, new bed. I don't want to have to ask you again. And then they'd continue talking to each other.

There was no supervision. Oh, now my husband's mowing the lawn. I really hope you don't hear that, but I fear that you will. So I'm going to.

So it is with my most sincere apologies. If this is a little bit clunky, uh, I paused because my husband [00:25:00] started mowing the horn outside my window, which is never great for podcast. And then. It just decided my system decided that it was going to say that's it for the day. Uh, so I'm coming back to finish this recording with no recollection of where I stopped that part. Uh, actually, no, I do have a recollection.

My brain is working today. So these two. Uh, teachers were studying the room. Not being present with the children whatsoever. In fact, they were already talking about the weekend and they were not supervising the children. There was no care in that room whatsoever for those children. So when I walked into relieve. Um, one of them for lunch. I was told because I would read stories to the children when they would wake up from rest time. And I would do oral stories. Uh, with props and things.

And so the children really loved what I did because I was fully present with them. Um, and I was told that I can't read [00:26:00] too. The people on this side of the room and only the four children on their map. We're going to get my story because everyone else had misbehaved. And I was really dumbfounded and put in a very terrible position, uh, which shamed three quarters of the room and praised these other four children. Uh, which is completely unacceptable.

And then when the educators took the children out to run around, outside to play, they made the children that the three quarters of the children line up outside their classroom and sit on the concrete and watch everybody else play. I was less than impressed with that and went and told the director. And the direct came out and was like, oh my God.

And I had to give a full report as to what had happened, what I'd seen, the things that I'd seen leading up to that. Blah, blah, subsequently both of those teachers were fired as they should be because it's completely and utterly unacceptable behavior. Uh, and I was put in that room. Now you can imagine that [00:27:00] these children had zero boundaries.

There was zero rhythm. The teacher would come in in the morning and go to the craft cupboard and would get now he's blowing with the blower. I really hope you can't hear it, but it shouldn't last for long. If you can. Um, I need an office like a proper office. This is driving me insane. Um, so. This teacher one in particular would come in in the morning and open the craft cupboard and without fail every single day would get the exact same things out puzzles on that table. Paints in an egg carton and ear like cotton buds on that table. Uh, blocks on the other table.

And then Play-Doh on the fourth table. That was her idea of coming in and setting up a room. There was no thought to it. There was no process to it. There was nothing. Uh, and so this person clearly did not care for [00:28:00] what they were doing. Um, there was her documentation was right behind. There was no handover.

There was nothing to even look at where they were at. Um, so I was tasked to be in this room and I was in there and job sharing with another educator and it took me three months. To pull this classroom into line. These children were wild, absolutely wild. And the way I pulled them into line was I had that air and that flow.

We had that structure to the day. The children's slowly began to learn, to expect what was coming, what was going to happen next? What was going to be. Happening when they came next time to preschool. And. It got to the point. Where the other teachers were there and you couldn't hear like the, the room was so loud. The children were screaming and running around and throwing things.

[00:29:00] And it was like a die, like I was so overwhelmed every time I went into that room. Uh, within three months it was peaceful. It was quiet. I mean, there were times where it was noisy because there was, you know, play happening and all the rest of it. But the children had.

Uh, Sorry, I'm just drafted. This is probably the worst podcast ever. I'm so sorry. Um, I think my princess is going to have to do some serious, serious editing on this episode. I'm so sorry.

So, of course it was a little bit noisy at times, but on the whole, I was not going home. Absolutely overwhelmed by noise and sound and having to pull children into line and all of that stuff.

So it took me a full three months to unwind all of the uncaring. NIS that had happened for this group of children. And it became pleasant and enjoyable. And the parents, [00:30:00] the other parents would come in and go, oh my goodness. That's a beautiful, beautiful room now. Like it's, it's a pleasure to walk past and see the children engaged in things. The children. Much less wild in the yard.

The. The incidences that happened reduced, there was less accidents. The children were more grounded and settled and they'd just, it was a completely different center. Uh, by the time we pulled this classroom together. It was like night and day. So. This is the power, because if you send those children that are highly strung, have no skills to manage their own emotions. To connect into deal with frustration to deal with disappointment. And all that kind of stuff.

If they don't have adequate time to practice those things. They get to a bigger environment and they flounder, they absolutely flounder. [00:31:00] And the way to stop children from floundering. Is to give them confidence by allowing them to make mistakes, because then they trust themselves. So the friable trust highlights that slow pedagogy keeps long-term perspectives in views about children's lives, about education and the planet.

So that means that when children are allowed to make those mistakes, They start the process of critical thinking because they learned that well, if I'm, if I'm going to keep falling over. I have to be able to learn how to stop that because this is hurting and I'm not getting where I want to go quickly. And so then starts the process of critical thinking at a developmentally appropriate stage. And when you can critically think you have confidence in your own ideas and your own [00:32:00] abilities. And this is what we need in the world is we need people who are critical thinkers. Because without critical thinking, we just have shape. And we need people to stand up to become leaders. Because if we don't have strong leaders, then. It's not a really nice future to look forward to. So this is the lasting impact that, um, That. That slow pedagogy can have for educators and children. Uh, so I hope that. I hope this isn't too disjointed with all the interruptions that I've had today. I'll never be recording a podcast in the afternoon.

Again. I usually do it. First thing in the morning. And I should've listened to my innate wisdom, but here we are. And I hope that you got some ideas and some information out of this. And I look forward to. Bringing you the [00:33:00] next, uh, Series or the next episode in our series on slow padded pedagogy and that's encouraging a culture shift in early education.

So I look forward to bringing that one to you next week. Much love.

[00:34:00]

The Lasting Impact on Children's Transitions to Bigger Settings