EP 35 | Advocacy Through Everyday Practice: Choosing Courage Over Comfort with Anna Skates
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Release Date: 08/25/2025
EP 36 | The Missing Link Between Boundaries + Behaviour
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Holding a boundary is not about ‘being the boss.’ Boundaries are often thrown around as one of those behaviour support tools that’s the magic bullet for getting children to do what you want. Womp womp, friend - magic bullets for behaviour don’t exist. The good news? When done well, boundaries can be an excellent tool for behaviour guidance and for showing children where our line is. You’ll hear: 🍎 What a boundary really is - and what happens when we confuse them with limits 🍎 The three most common traps we fall into when setting boundaries 🍎 Why big feelings in...
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EP 35 | Advocacy Through Everyday Practice: Choosing Courage Over Comfort with Anna Skates
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Children deserve to take up space. In this inspiring episode I speak with Anna Skates, a passionate advocate for children's rights, about the importance of truly seeing and listening to children. We unpack how adult discomfort, language, and societal structures can either uplift or silence children and how we make space for them. Anna Skates is a children’s advocate, entrepreneur, and creator on a mission to help the world take kids seriously - and treat them accordingly. Whether she's hosting kid book clubs, creating content, leading youth camps, or building experiences like The Story Booth...
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EP 34 | Honouring Neurodivergent Play with Simon Airey
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Play isn’t a warm-up to the real work. It is the work. In this energising chat with Simon Airey, we explore neurodivergent play through a radically affirming lens - one where movement, stimming, flow states, and autonomy aren’t side notes, but centre stage. If you’ve ever wondered how to support neurodivergent play without overriding it, this episode is for you. Simon is a neurodiversity and inclusion specialist with over 25 years of experience in education. Through his content, talks, and podcast, Simon shares practical strategies that support the diverse needs of neurodivergent...
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EP 33 | Whose Voice Counts? Children’s Rights in Education with Lauren Mittell
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Children's rights are not an 'add-on' - they're the foundation. In this powerful conversation with Lauren Mittell - a mother, teacher and advocate for children who embeds social justice and children's rights into her parenting and pedagogy - we dive deep into what it really means to uphold children’s rights in our practice. Beyond posters and policies, this episode is about how we show up every day - in our language, our decisions, and the way we hold space for children’s voices. Lauren shares how her teaching philosophy is grounded in children’s rights, social justice, and...
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EP 32 | Why ‘Low-Level Behaviours’ Aren’t Actually Low-Level
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Death by a thousand papercuts. If you’ve ever ended a school day feeling utterly drained by the tiny behaviours that chip away at your patience, this episode is for you. We're tackling low-level behaviours - the eye-rolls, the pencil taps, the incessant chattering - and unpacking why they're anything but low-impact. You’ll hear: 💫 Why I don’t actually like the term 'low-level behaviours' and what we should be calling them instead 💫 How small behaviours send big signals about disconnection, disengagement, or overwhelm 💫 Three common myths that stop educators from responding to...
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EP 31 | Is Your Calm Corner Just Time-Out in Disguise?
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
A beanbag and a poster do not make a calm corner. If your calm space is feeling more like a soft time-out than a supportive sanctuary, this episode will challenge everything you thought you knew. I unpack why calm corners often miss the markand what to shift so they actually support emotional regulation. You’ll hear: 💫 Why many calm corners become time-out in disguise 💫 The role of co-regulation and adult presence in calm corners 💫 What calm corners truly need to be effective (hint: it's more than breathing posters) 💫 How to build a calm corner with children, not just for...
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EP 30 | Supporting Behaviour Without Behaviour Charts
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Aaaaah, behaviour charts. Love them or hate them (I'm the latter), it feels like they're here to stay. I'm often met with exasperation - but HOW do we support behaviour without them? It feels impossible, but it isn't. I did it for most of my teaching career (bar one year). I cover: Why behaviour charts don’t actually teach behaviour and what they do instead. How children internalise their placement on behaviour charts, shaping their self-worth and peer relationships. The connection between behaviour charts and social bias, including their disproportionate impact on neurodivergent children...
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EP 29 | Overcoming Teacher Self-Doubt
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Self-doubt creeps in when we least expect it. Whether it’s comparing yourself to other teachers, feeling like you’re not good enough, or questioning whether you really belong in this field - these thoughts can be exhausting. The thing is - you’re not alone. I'm convinced every teacher experiences self-doubt at some point. I cover: How social media, unrealistic expectations, and 'shoulds' impact teachers falling into the comparison trap. Looking at imposter syndrome and questioning where it might come from. How to challenge the thoughts that make you feel “not good enough” by...
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EP 28 | Building Relationships With Families
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
Building strong relationships with families at the start of the year is the foundation of a successful classroom. But let’s be real - it’s not always easy to navigate the nuances of communication, cultural differences, or setting boundaries. In this episode, I’m sharing the 'Ins' and 'Outs' of building meaningful connections with families. I’ll explore 8 things that are IN in order to foster trust, collaboration, and open dialogue, as well as 6 things that are OUT that can unintentionally act as roadblocks for your relationships. I cover: The importance of starting the year with...
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EP 27 | The Learning Environment Through Children’s Eyes
The Bloom Room: An Early Childhood Podcast
In today’s episode, I explore classroom design. However, this isn’t just another guide to setting up your classroom - it's an exploration of an amazing research article I came across: 'Children’s voices: Inclusive early childhood placemaking with children.' I cover: The importance of inclusive environments. Amplifying children's sense of belonging. Children as placemakers. Why children should have a voice in shaping their learning spaces. The role of authenticity in learning spaces. If you've never considered the learning environment through children's eyes before, this episode is...
info_outlineChildren deserve to take up space.
In this inspiring episode I speak with Anna Skates, a passionate advocate for children's rights, about the importance of truly seeing and listening to children. We unpack how adult discomfort, language, and societal structures can either uplift or silence children and how we make space for them.
Anna Skates is a children’s advocate, entrepreneur, and creator on a mission to help the world take kids seriously - and treat them accordingly. Whether she's hosting kid book clubs, creating content, leading youth camps, or building experiences like The Story Booth or Every Little Step, everything she does is built on the belief that kids are full people right now. Not someday. Not “when they can articulate it.” Right now.
You’ll hear:
🐞 Why children are full human beings right now
🐞 The need to get comfortable with the discomfort that comes with advocacy and being courageous
🐞 What it means to truly listen to children - with all of our senses
🐞 How shifting the way that we see, understand and relate to children and childhood could change the world
🐞 A frank conversation around the harm of the obsession with data in education
If you’re ready to hear powerful insights on empathy, advocacy, and the transformative potential of viewing children as valuable members of society, this is the episode for you.
Helpful Links
Connect with Anna on Instagram @anna_skates
Connect with me on Instagram @littlebloom.consultancy
Visit my website www.littlebloomconsultancy.com.au