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I found the content compelling, and it cemented a lot of my instincts as a parent. Sometimes I found it difficult in the beginning of motherhood to let the chips fall where they may and seemed to crave more structure than I perhaps should have. It was probably because my life had changed so dramatically, but I recall the first year with such vivid colour despite the white noise expectations we put on ourselves.
Learning about my daughter's expressions and communication style was not just a priority for me, but such an insulated bubble of joy. She was teaching me more than I was teaching her. I'm a strong believer in that. Despite being (in hindsight) a little rigid with some things ("the routine"), she taught me to follow her lead.

My wish for all infants is that they have a mum or a dad who can put their care first, especially in it's infancy, and see it as the life informing time it is.
By the same token, the 'good enough' parenting message was profound, as life has a way of continuing to 'happen' to us, despite best intentions to clear the schedule and stay present or grounded.

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I really enjoyed reading about attachment theory. It is fascinating, how the attachments, and connections we face as infants impacts and molds who we are as adults. Yes, we can change how we interact with the world as adults, but that is really after the fact. It shows how important it is to have secure connections and parents who feel supported to teach and grow with their children.

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Im really enjoying the reading and although I had previously read about attachment theory I have never had the opportunity to delve into attachment theory this deeply and I have really loved the content. It is interesting that although we take the attachment that we form as a baby into adult relationships, we do have the ability with some work to make changes down the track. I find some of the experiments distressing to watch when the babies are upset but I understand that its in a controlled environment. Its also great to learn that parents dont have to be perfect and can makes mistakes and that repair is such an important factor in attachment relationships.

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I've enjoyed reading about attachment theory after such a long break between studying.... good to revise and also opens my mind up a lot now that I have experienced teaching for a long time as well as having my own children.... really eye opening and you look at things through a new lens! I love the combination of videos and readings- really helps to cement the knowledge and I like to write notes on the highlights. This Unit is certainly prompting me to reflect on my own upbringing and parenting style....

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I think Winnicott's 'good enough' parenting concepts are still relevant in today's world. I apply some of these principles in my teaching practice such as:
-acknowledging and validating children's emotions
-encouraging children to think critically, rather than being obedient
-letting children be in the moment and find their flow during periods of uninterrupted play.
I also found Patricia Crittenden's DMM Model interesting and was wondering in which part of the wheel I would fit into.
The modern influences resonated with me the most and reiterate how important attachment is for infants to become healthy people and it reinforces and validates the work their colleagues have done before them!
Dr Allan Schore really hit it home for me about early in a child's life that trauma and neglect can have such a negative impact on their growth and development. The light bulb went on for me when I was able to relate this to my own teaching experience with students I have worked with.

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I've always appreciated the concept of the good enough parent. It helps in those times when parenting is challenging and hard. As others have said I have often wondered about the effect that phones will have on children's development and I have often thought that I am glad that my kids were little before the smart phone was a thing because I can't guarantee I wouldn't have used it as a way to engage the kids while we were out to make things easy (I hope that doesn't sound judgemental!)

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I've always appreciated the concept of the good enough parent. It helps in those times when parenting is challenging and hard. As others have said I have often wondered about the effect that phones will have on children's development and I have often thought that I am glad that my kids were little before the smart phone was a thing because I can't guarantee I wouldn't have used it as a way to engage the kids while we were out to make things easy (I hope that doesn't sound judgemental!)

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Firstly, I loved reading about attachment theory, particularly geeked out on the Allan Schore and Dan Siegel brain science stuff!  Allan Schore's comments about the right brain maturing in the first 6 months of life - and how important that hemisphere is to relationships and the body!

Secondly, given how far reaching the effect of these early years are for the long term - AND the importance of a responsive/attuned care giver AND how long we have known about this (Blatz started writing his parenting books early last century!)  I am surprised at how little priority is given to proactively supporting parents to be these responsive/attuned care givers...

Especially where we can often predict there *may* be problems:

* new parents from neglectful/abusive backgrounds that they haven't made sense of their past
* support when something happens to main care giver(s): (death/sickness, mental health issues, drug & alcohol abuse, post-natal depression or other traumatic birth outcomes)

I am also always amazed at how little emotional support there is for teachers/early years workers - who are essentially the primary care givers whilst they have a child in their care!

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Wow!
I have really enjoyed learning about the history of attachment theory and the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth. I feel for poor Blatz whose idea of the secure base, which seems an important and key component of the attachment theory, wasn't acknowledged as much as it should have been. I guess there is something to learn here; always write about your theories? hehe.
A few ideas connected with me.
- Having a secure base to which to return helps a child explore the world and therefore open up their opportunities for learning and growth and positive development in all areas.
- The still face experiment made me realise just how detrimental insecure attachments, trauma and neglect can be. I had a query NAI 16 month patient at the hospital yesterday and after a distressing procedure his whole body seemed to 'give up' and he went into himself, not reaching out for support, just laying hopelessly on the bed. This made me think that his experiences left him feeling distrust and attachment may be neglectful and insecure.
- being a 'good enough' parent - I liked this idea. Striving for perfection causes stress! I really feel that there is so much work to be done in the area of parent education and support before, during and after pregnancy to give the parent and the children the best opportunities for secure attachment as possible. How do we do this on a global scale?

I really enjoyed learning about the infant observations and although still haven't got my head around how to write up my observations - I am enjoying the process. Taking part in an observation seminar with fellow classmates this week was super helpful and made me aware of how everyone brings different thoughts and feelings to observing the same infant and how important it is to be aware of these feelings and not let them shape your interpretation of what is actually happening. Not to ignore them, but to be aware of them.

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I was excited to dive into this module because I've previously studied Attachment Theory and have experience with the Circle of Security. I used my previous understandings as a launching point and loved gaining a deeper insight into its development by the various contributors. I like others appreciated the videos, both short and extended, mixed in with the readings.

This week's module definitely brought up a mix of feelings for me. Remembering children I've previously worked with who have attachment or trauma backgrounds. Wishing I had understood the reason behind some of their behaviours and feeling guilty by my responses at times. Wondering where they might be now and if they've managed to change their path back towards a secure attachment in early adulthood.
-Valerie

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I could just keep reading and reading! I love this. Blatz's Security Theory and NMT (Bruce Perry) really connected with me, where infants are given that secure base and then explore, move through the stages of development. In NMT I was thinking about what happens if we rush children to the next stage without them attaining the one before, for example affiliation before regulation and/or attachment. I can relate this to early childhood education and watching some children overwhelmed with social expectations. Maybe we expect too much too early, or we could hold more understanding/empathy...

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This week I learnt a lot as most of the content is new to me, it broadens my horizon and let me understand more about infants and how the environment and people would have the effects on them.

This makes me more cautious about how to interact with kids and have an alertness to how they perform in a particular way.

It drives me to learn more. Look forward to week 3

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I consider myself to be well versed in attachment and use it as a focus in my teaching and promote it with my teams. However this week I've learned about a variety of theorists and researchers heavily influential in the field of attachment that are new to me. I've been humbled by just how big and important the attachment field is and just how little I actually know about. It's exciting to learn something new and open my horizons but also terrifying as I dive into attachment and the affects of lack of attachment on infants and their future adult relationships.

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I consider myself to be well versed in attachment and use it as a focus in my teaching and promote it with my teams. However this week I've learned about a variety of theorists and researchers heavily influential in the field of attachment that are new to me. I've been humbled by just how big and important the attachment field is and just how little I actually know about. It's exciting to learn something new and open my horizons but also terrifying as I dive into attachment and the affects of lack of attachment on infants and their future adult relationships.

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I've started thinking deeply about post natal depression, the effects of adult mental health and unsafe environments on brain development and emotional development and the importance of promoting healthy parent child relationships and assistance for those who struggle with this. Awareness and acknowledgement, asking for help, could reduce insecure attachment dramatically.

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I’ve done a fair amount of training throughout my ECE career on attachment. More recently I did Circle of Security training with the local health centre and as I went through the readings, I was able to re-familiarise myself with previously learned information but observe and take it in with a new perspective and understanding of Attachment Theory and it’s impact on children’s social and emotional development.

Erin M

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It was interesting to read about the differences in contributions that different people brought to the idea of attachment theory and how everyone had different upbringings and personal experiences. This week has definitely prompted me to ponder on my own idea of play and how it has led me to be the person I am today.

- Tara

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It took me a bit to get through this week's content, but I think that was because I was making sure I took the time to soak in and understand the readings. I, like many others, appreciate that there are video's that link back to the reading content and solidify the information in a different way :)

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I enjoyed expanding my knowledge of theorists and deepening my understanding of attachment theory during this module.
Learning about the CARE model this week and watching the still face experiment videos made me think about my mother's neglect and rejection by her own mother and the impact that must have had. I feel great pride and admiration for her resilience and the life she has created despite adversity.

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This module has been a wonderful addition to my knowledge I have acquired throughout my previous degrees and in my experience in the early childhood sector. I have really enjoyed being able to revisit theorists and their theories and how they are reflective throughout early childhood and play therapy. I have had so many light bulb moments in this module, when completing the tasks, the padlet posts and watching the videos - my knowledge and understanding is starting to deepen.

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Like many people here, I have found the amount of reading quite overwhelming, particularly trying to identify what I feel would be of value to me to build on the knowledge I currently have.

I have LOVED the video's and find these are a nice way to break up the readings and they are always super engaging!

- Hayley C

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"Happiness of the human race depends on the way parents bring up their children."

I love this so much.

The amount of reading is overwhelming, but like so many others, I have found so much value in the video content to connect back to the readings.

There are so many lightbulb moments occurring for me. There is also such a sense of peace within me. I've got this!

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I have found the content of Week 2 Module 1 fantastic. It is really building up my prior knowledge. I have particularly enjoyed expanding my knowledge of theorists and their work.
The work of Daniel Siegel, Bruce Perry and Allan Schore I find really fascinating and look forward to delving more into their work as time goes on.
Working through this module after having dropped my youngest (3 years old) to childcare this morning was quite interesting. Today is only her 4th full day at daycare, and she was screaming and clinging to me and kept saying "I just want to stay with you Mumma". It broke my heart. She clearly had anxiety about going today, even though she has had such positive experiences last week and during her orientation. In the end, the Educators said, "would you like me to take her from you?" So much fo me wanted to say "no", but I had to get my other kids to school, but I said yes. I had spent about 10 minutes trying to calm her down myself, talk with her, listen to her, and connect with her, but she just wasn't happy at all.
The daycare called me to say that she had settled, within about 15 minutes and explained what they did to reassure her and be present to her, to which I was very grateful. But in my mind, I still question did I make the correct decision? What else could I have done?
I do think that the daycare centre was brilliant in how they dealt with her, from what the centre manager explained to me - the manager sat with her, reassured her, offered her an activity (to which she was happy to do). The manager had to leave the room, so my daughter got upset again. But once he returned, after a few minutes, she calmed down again, and eventually was fine.
She has a strong attachment to me, but has also had trauma at a young age, so I am so conscious of her anxiety with me leaving etc.
I'm sorry if this too long a post, but I feel that this is a scenario that we can probably all think about in terms of how we deal with children with separation anxiety, and what that says about development, attachment etc.

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This module has been fantastic in building on my knowledge I already have from my early childhood training, mainly revisiting theorists and theories. I have enjoyed learning about the history of attachment and being introduced to new theorists.
The videos have been great as I'm a visual learner and enjoy seeing things in action.

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I find this subject really interesting and the videos make the content more engaging, its so lovely to have a mixture.
I have studies attachment theory (not in as much depth) during my Education (early years) undergraduate studies and after spending many years in the work place its nice to come back to it and view it through a different lens.

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I have really enjoyed undergoing the first section of this module. I find myself just wanting to read everything (if only time permitted ) . I am finding that having the videos breaks up the learning and really works well for me ( given I am quit a visual learner). It also helps to put what I have read together.
Learning about the the history of attachment  in regards to Bowlby / Ainsworth  ect has been really interesting for me. The quote from Bowlby I liked " If a community values its children , it must cherish their parents'.
I also like Winnocots contributions to attachment theory with the term :good enough parent.'
The DMM Model is something I feel I have not quit got my head around just yet, so this is something that I would like to look into further and develop.
It also got me pondering about my own childhood ect and my attachment style and then how this is transferred onto my own children and reflecting.

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Reflections,
This module has been an extension of theoretical frameworks for knowledge I already had. Allan Shore's work is of particular interest in regard to the impacts of neglect on the child and their long term health. Especially in regard to repair. I think the still face experiments illustrated in a short video the importance of such repair in the relationship. It also got me thinking about how quickly the early years sector is trying to instill independence in children. How this independence can be impacted by the attachment relationship and the development of the right side of the brain. Reflecting on how to support educators and children with this in my role and the importance of polyvagal and somatic work.

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This module has been part refresher, part new experience (it has been about 12 years since I completed my first education degree). I have come to see why personal therapy will be so important (hello my own attachment type). It has been enlightening to work through the module over the last five days while home sick, only to return to work and view the drop-off process so differently! I feel like we need to rethink the way we handle day care/preschool drop-off for the children who struggle with separation. One child in my preschool room is undergoing some assessments, but their thinking at the moment is anxiety (and gravitational insecurity). The child was at first extremely reluctant to let mum leave, and would spend the majority of the day breaking into sobs, repeating 'Nan's picking me up?'. Over the month that the child has been with us, we've helped settle this and now it only occurs when someone else is upset, or if something happens directly to the child. I sat down and drew a picture of the child greeting their Nan with a smile and a hug, so they could also practise emotional regulation at pick-up (the child would see Nan and be overwhelmed that the tears would come and we'd have to do breathing exercises). Being able to understand what kind of attachment the child has to loved ones, and what some of the fears are that they aren't able to express yet will be really helpful moving forward.

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Tracing the development of attachment theory from Bowlby, Ainsworth and Blatz, through Mary Main and Patricia Crittenden to modern influences like Daniel Siegel and Bruce Perry was fascinating and helped me to understand attachment theory as central to our understanding of first ourselves, and then the people in our personal and professional care.

The CARE model resonated with me, as did Winnicott’s notion of the ‘good enough’ parent and I particularly loved Bowlby’s insistence that ‘a society that values its children must cherish their parents.’

I am interested to learn more about the DMM, I’m not sure I understood all the parts of the wheel, and how it might be applied, but I am intrigued!

I look forward to reading further chapters in ‘Nurturing Natures’ and feel more ready to complete the simulated infant observation now that I have some understanding of the importance of attachment theory. Thank you for another great module, Lyndal.

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I find that the videos are super helpful in reinforcing the readings, sometimes it is so overwhelming with all the reading but the video's can be like the 'uh hu' moment. It has been a little overwhelming this week as there is so much to learn and then put into practice . The still face experiment is something that always makes me feel a little uncomfortable to see a child distressed but I understand it is in a controlled environment.

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I am really enjoying the videos, I find they are deepening my understanding of the readings/learning content. I'm interested in trauma so I'm feeling engaged in the learning, even though some of the content is difficult to work my way through (such as the still face experiment videos).

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My feelings are quite overwhelmed, I won't lie, because there was so much readings and so this week, I enjoyed the YouTubes a lot!