Aunt Annie's Childcare

Advice and observations from a qualified carer and educator to help parents and childcare professionals maintain a loving, respectful relationship with their children.

So who is Aunt Annie?

Aunt Annie: Aunt Annie is a teacher, composer, poet and writer who has taught music, personal development, craft, maths and English to adolescents and primary school students and has worked with children from birth to 5 years in long day care. She has accidentally become something of an internet guru for her younger friends with children (many of them her own ex-students), due to her extensive experience of handling 20 or 30 kids at a time for hours on end on a daily basis, managing ridiculous feats like single-handedly producing a musical with 60 teenagers or creating a re-enactment of a favourite storybook with 23 5-year-olds (all of whom had a wonderful time), and having a grown-up child who still chooses to talk to her as recreation rather than duty. Annie currently works in Early Childhood, and holds nationally accepted childcare, primary and secondary education qualifications. She is also a fount of knowledge on the subject of gifted children, having had one of her own and having taught gifted teenagers for over 20 years.

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Pages

Power, parenting and 'solving' gun violence

This is what love looks like.

Raising resilient children

When kids won't do what you ask

Tantrums: 3 steps to beat 'em, not join 'em!

More about homework, and kids who are just like you

What feels right can be so wrong

Standing in the shoes of a preschool bully

Sharing our true selves: from baby talk to difficult events

About teaching two Rs, and moving a donkey

How to be an 'expert' problem-solver: 3 tips

The power of nature: fighting kids, troubled adults

Playing with guns

I won't give up on you: connecting with a 'bully'

Risky play, dodgy rules and the fine art of climbing trees

Safety is not a check box

'Sorry' doesn't fix it: getting to the bottom of children's fights

Spanking, karma and children's thinking

Nudging creativity with nonchalant stimuli