I think that every early childhood person is a fan of Eric Carle’s books. I know that I used them all of the time when I was a teacher and even more as a mom. My kids loved them! We had the board books when they were infants and toddlers and then we graduated to […]
Last week, when I wrote about math opportunities in everyday occurrences, I was reminded of a classroom teacher I observed about a year ago. She was busy playing with one child at a long table. They had 2 large foam die and were taking turns tossing them across the table. Each time they tossed the […]
How do we get parents involved in what we do? How do we encourage them to partake in their children’s care and education? Most parents have their children in childcare because they need childcare. They need to know that they can drop their children off in a safe and nurturing place while they go about […]
Even though many of our readers do not live in the State of Illinois, today’s post focuses on those of you who do. We are in the middle of several critical, colliding crisis in the city of Chicago as well and it is time for all of us to sit up and GET LOUD! 1. The […]
I know that I write a lot about walking my pugs. If you spent two hours everyday walking around the same two blocks at a snail’s pace, you too, would have a lot of observations about the world worth commenting on. In the past couple of years, there have been several new babies born in […]
I had a meeting this past week with a center director and the assistant director to discuss some ideas for upcoming professional development. We went across the street to have lunch while we talked and when we finished we were supposed to go over to the recycling center to sort and dispose of our garbage. This […]
This article from NPR.org looks at some new research that examines the way young children play, screen time, and simple blocks. Well, you all know that I LOVE blocks. I even wrote about my new favorite blocs last week. In short, the research says that children who play with simple toys, especially when they stimulate adult/child […]
Sometimes the greatest gems are found when you aren’t even looking for them. Two weeks ago, I attended the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference in Philadelphia, PA. I spent each day agog at the sheer quantity of amazing people, services, products, systems, and ideas designed for educators. As an early childhood person, […]
This phrase “scope and sequence” can be heard in every area of education. “Scope” refers to what we teach and “sequence” refers to when we teach it. Both the scope and the sequence are very important when thinking about math curriculum. When I was teaching kindergarten, I was frequently questioning the scope and sequence of […]
All children want a “say” in what happens. It is only fair that they should get some input in the the things that affect them. Voting is a great way for young children to feel that they are involved in the decision-making processes of their day. As an adult, remember to use voting as a […]