Child-Centred Sydney

24/10/2025

Wonderful way to introduce children to big ideas and complex feelings.

13/10/2025

An integrated brain is a healthy brain.

"You know your brain is working in an integrated way if you are kind and compassionate rather than competitive, utilitarian or judgmental in your relationships (Siegel & Siegel, 2021). Mental illness represents a disconnection from others and a retreat into self-centeredness.

'... the essential difference between the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere is that the right hemisphere pays attention to the Other: to whatever it is that exists apart from ourselves, with which it sees itself in profound relation. It is deeply attracted to, and given life by, the relationship, the betweenness, that exists with this Other. By contrast, the left hemisphere pays attention to the virtual world that it has created, which is self-consistent but self-contained, ultimately disconnected from the Other, making it powerful—but also curiously impotent, because it is ultimately only able to operate on, and to know, itself.' (McGilchrist, 2021, p. 103)

Unfortunately, the way we raise children in industrialized societies may undermine the development of the right hemisphere (Narvaez, 2014), which in early life governs self-regulatory processes by synchronizing with mother and other caregivers (Schore, 2021)."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/moral-landscapes/202101/understanding-the-integrated-brain?fbclid=IwY2xjawNaZE9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwUDdIMG9WUlhLQUdyVGZWAR4cM0Grgr_gLAo0Hoexhow_znwlvR4mVwHURpRX_Q0TWBQE4p1IhrCCuC9lrg_aem_hmSb3bEdKhQi9wPGNtIBYQ

October is mental health awareness month in Australia.

12/10/2025

October is mental health awareness month in Australia.

The mental health crisis in childhood and adolescence is often linked to unmet attachment, attunement and relationship needs early in life.

We're trying to make childhood fit into our economic model. The problem is that this involves compromising basic emotional and developmental needs - such as time with attuned parents, a slow pace and endless child-led free play, away from too many structured activities and early direct instruction (whether indoors or outdoors).

As a result, many children grow up with unattuned parents who can't meet their emotional needs, because they either don’t have the time or haven't had the opportunity to address their own unhealthy transgenerational patterns.

The documentary Seen explores this topic
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AH9ChCEim/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Send a message to learn more

10/10/2025

The waiting room - ready to welcome back the families who were away during the school break.

10/10/2025

October is mental health awareness month in Australia.
The myth of the triune brain, debunked over 30 years ago, is still alive today - and even used by some mental health practitioners. This evidence-based and simply written book shares some helpful insights.

07/10/2025

The only basic item missing in the playroom now is the BoA (bag of air).

07/10/2025

Suddenly, he pulled his feet out of the sand, stood up, jumped out of the sandbox, and opened the playroom door. He reached up, took the card out of the holder, came back into the room, closed the door, thrust the card at me.

05/10/2025

28/09/2025

In therapy, children often play out what they have experienced, as they don’t have the words to describe what happened to them or they don't have the cognitive ability to articulate complex emotions.

The playroom toys and materials are carefully selected to support self-expression in the different therapy stages. Arranged from left to right, the categories of toys in a CCPT playroom are as follows:

Acting-Out or Aggressive-Release Toys:
These toys allow for the release of emotions that are typically not allowed to be expressed in other settings and include a large bag of air (BoA), toy soldiers, rubber or foam knives/swords and toy guns that do not look realistic. Less obvious, but still important are egg cartoons and Popsicle sticks that can be physically broken down and destroyed.

Real-Life Toys:
This category consists of toys that are directly representative of real-world items including doll families, doll's house, pretend food, baby bottles, blankets; doctor kit; miniature figurines; cars, boats, airplanes; cash register and play money; pretend/fantasy play items, such as dress ups, masks and magic wands; puppets and puppet theatre, among other things.

Creative Expression Toys:
This toy grouping allows for creativity. There is no right or wrong way to show creativity, so children will always have an opportunity to feel successful and experience mastery. Items in this category include sand, water, paints, easel, paper, pencils, crayons, textas, scissors, pipe cleaners and construction materials.

Ref: Landreth, 2002, p. 133.

NB: Due to our recent relocation, some materials are still being added or moved in the playroom. These include the addition of a large red bag of air (BoA), a large teddy bear, clock and basketball hoop, and the rearrangement of some toys on the shelves. The set-up should be completed by the end of October 2025.

13/09/2025

“Two decades ago, a German project called, “Der Spielzeugfreie Kindergarten” (the nursery without toys) wanted to see what would happen if they took toys away from kindergartens. All toys from participating classrooms were removed for 3 months.

One of the teachers, Gisela Marti, said: “In these three months we offer the children space and time to get to know themselves and because they are not being directed by teachers or toys, the children have to find new ways to master their day in their own individual way.”

The aim was to nourish self-confidence, imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities and socialization.

Their days were deliberately unstructured to avoid kids being rushed from one activity to the next. Instead, they were free to do what they wanted and how they wanted to do it.

A video of the children was taken each day. On the first day, they appeared confused and bored as they peered apprehensively around their big empty classroom.

But, by the second day, the kids were playing with chairs and blankets, making dens by draping blankets over tables and weighing them down with shoes.

Soon they started running around the room, chatting and laughing excitedly. By the end of the third month, they were engaged in wildly imaginative play, able to concentrate better and communicate more effectively.

In other research, Kathy Sylva, Professor of Educational Psychology, concluded after studying over 3000 children aged 3-5 years that “when children have a large number of toys there seems to be a distraction element, and when children are distracted they do not learn or play well.”

Dr John Richer, Pediatric Psychologist explains when kids receive a new toy they go through two stages: exploration followed by play.
During exploration mode, a child asks: “What does this toy do?”
And in play mode, a child asks: “What can I do with this toy?”.
It is during play mode that creativity, imagination & adaptability thrive.

Ironically, by providing fewer toys, we provide more time for play.”

via Raised Good

28/08/2025

Child-Centred Sydney is relocating to North Narrabeen. To celebrate, I am offering caregivers this opportunity.