{"id":1119,"date":"2021-05-12T09:08:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T16:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2021-05-13T20:08:42","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T03:08:42","slug":"serve-and-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/2021\/05\/12\/serve-and-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Serve and Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear StrongStart families,<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is a post from our community partner Anita Olsen. Let us SERVE AND RETURN!<\/em><\/p>\n

As the Early Childhood Community Consultant in Burnaby,\u00a0I absolutely love visiting the outdoor StrongStart programs.\u00a0There is something almost magical about the outdoor exploration that happens when parents\/caregivers and their children connect with one another.<\/p>\n

I spend a lot of time talking about the need children have to feel connected to the big people in their immediate world (mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, or whoever makes up your immediate \u201cfamily\u201d). When children feel connected to their big people they feel safe and secure, and\u00a0when children feel safe\u00a0and secure,\u00a0they learn that the world is a safe place to explore and learn in.\u00a0Feeling connected to their big people helps them feel important, and\u00a0a child\u00a0who feels important is gaining self-confidence\u00a0and acts on their curiosity\u00a0to explore. A child who feels connected to their big people feels that they are listened to and understood \u2013 and\u00a0children who\u00a0are listened to and understood are far more likely to listen to others\u00a0(even their big people) and practice empathy.
\nBeing connected with our children through outdoor play offers countless opportunities to engage in what leading researchers at Harvard\u2019s Centre on the Developing Child<\/span><\/span><\/a> refer to as, \u201cserve and<\/strong> return\u201d<\/strong> interactions. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For the most part, these are everyday interactions that can happen anytime and in any place. They are back and forth exchanges based on a child\u2019s interest\u00a0\u2013 a child \u201cserves\u201d by showing an interest in something and the adult \u201creturns\u201d that \u201cserve\u201d by responding in a supportive way.\u00a0Here\u2019s a great example of a \u201cserve and return\u201d interaction.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nIn this picture, L. shows an interest in the distant sound of a train\u2019s horn, this is his \u201cserve\u201d. Dad \u201creturns\u201d this \u201cserve\u201d by first sharing the focus with L. , he pauses and listens to the train\u2019s horn with his son. Dad continues to return L’s serve by naming the sound, \u201cYeah, you hear the train\u201d. By naming what our children are seeing, hearing, doing or feeling helps them make understanding of the world around us and what to expect from it – not to mention all that language development it fosters. L. responds to his dad with a train sound \u2013 now they are taking turns and L. gets to practice self-control and how to relate to others, in this case his dad. When dad is waiting, giving L. a chance to respond, L. has the opportunity to develop more ideas, build up confidence and independence. Finished with the train\u2019s horn, L. goes back to his leaf collection and dad offers a hand when the leaves are too high.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In those moments we practice ending and beginning –\u00a0when we can find these moments for our children to take the lead we can fully support\u00a0them in exploring their world and make more serve and return interactions possible.
\nStrong Starts are there to facilitate\u00a0the connection of\u00a0the\u00a0parent\/caregiver and child\u00a0relationship\u00a0\u2013\u00a0for them\u00a0to engage in these \u201cserve and return\u201d interactions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we don\u2019t live at Strong Start and life\u00a0is full.\u00a0Now, if we were able to return every single serve that our child gives us a) we would be absolutely exhausted and b) we\u2019d be robbing them of full human condition!\u00a0Disappointment or frustration is a natural part of life. Sometimes we may miss a \u201cserve\u201d and that\u2019s okay, there will be more to return. Sometimes our return to a serve isn\u2019t what our little one has in mind and gets upset, this is okay too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If time is up at Strong Start and your little one serves you with \u201cI don\u2019t want to leave!!!\u201d it doesn\u2019t mean that your \u201creturn\u201d has to comply \u2013 what it needs to do is exactly the same as what L. and his dad practiced. Share the focus \u2013 here the focus is on not wanting to leaving the park. Then you name it \u2013 \u201cSounds like you\u2019re feeling upset the time is up\u201d and wait to see how they respond. Asking a question about what they liked best or if they could stay all day what would they wish to do, can help get into some turn taking \u2013 remember, give them the chance to respond. As you move through this with them, honour the ending of the time and associated feelings. Endings can be really hard, and they need practice too.
\nShare the focus \u2013 pay attention to what they find interesting (or hard)
\nSupport and encourage \u2013 name it (what they see, hear, feel, do\u2026). Take turns \u2013 wait to see how they respond.
\nPractice endings and beginnings.<\/p>\n

If you would like more detailed information about \u201cserve and return\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>I highly recommend checking out the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Harvard University Centre on the Developing Child<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0look forward to visiting again!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Anita Olson\u00a0(she\/her) ECE, BA, MEd<\/p>\n

Early Childhood Community Consultant<\/p>\n

M 604 723 9548<\/p>\n

3rd\u00a0Floor \u2013 321 Sixth Street, New Westminster BC V3L 3A7<\/p>\n

aolson@fsgv.ca<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear StrongStart families, Here is a post from our community partner Anita Olsen. Let us SERVE AND RETURN! As the Early Childhood Community Consultant in Burnaby,\u00a0I absolutely love visiting the outdoor StrongStart programs.\u00a0There is something almost magical about the outdoor exploration that happens when parents\/caregivers and their children connect with one another. I spend a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10017,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10017"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sd41blogs.ca\/twelfth-strongstart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}