As children grow, the skills they learn in early childhood can be the skills that can save their lives; learning how to look both ways to cross the road, to be safe and courteous when playing, and to protect their health for their lifetime through the skill of proper hand washing. All children should be…
The days go fast, your nights go even faster, and ‘free time’ is a past phrase. You have the huge responsibility of the wellbeing, social-emotional development, and education of young children in a mixed aged setting, at least five days a week. Those in the family child care business tend to have plenty of education…
Summer vacation is upon us! It’s so nice to finally get to enjoy the sunshine and spend more time outside. Kids who have been actively learning in pre-and elementary schools are ready to put the pencils away and enjoy outside play. Luckily, there are many ways to incorporate learning and literacy into active, outside play…
Spring has sprung! Like the earth experiencing a rebirth of sorts—trees budding, flowers blooming, grass is green and growing, we (children, child care providers, parents, people in general) want to be a part of this new start. A young child’s connection with nature can be as simple as sitting under a tree, listening to the…
“To ensure that young children’s experiences are developmentally appropriate, programs are expected to incorporate a comprehensive curriculum and child assessment system that are aligned with the Illinois Early Learning Guidelines for Birth to Three and Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards for Age Three to Five.” –ExceleRate Illinois Curriculum—it might not roll off your tongue…
Child Care Providers….Unfortunately, the public perception of child care providers is usually to label someone who chooses this profession as a “Baby-sitter.” As someone who has an intimate knowledge of this business, I can state with conviction… that is an utterly misguided description of a person who has a passion for the advancement of our…
My 3-year-old son spent the majority of his weekend sitting at the kitchen table, using a pair of blunt, plastic scissors to cut up piles and piles of old mail that I had finally gone through and determined to be shred-worthy. He called it “making trail mix” and he was more proud of that pile…
Parental stress is real and you have millions of other parents experiencing the effects on their health and well being. No matter how much we love or appreciate our children’s presence in our lives, we still experience stress in various forms from the day our kids enter our world.
What is ExceleRate: “ExceleRate Illinois is a statewide quality rating and improvement system designed to make continuous quality improvement an everyday priority among early learning providers. The program establishes standards for helping infants, toddlers and preschool age children develop intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally. It provides a framework for early learning professionals to identify opportunities…
YWCA Child Care Solutions workshop: “Guiding Children and Youth Behavior in our After School Program, Controlling the Environment—Not the Child or Youth,” June 7, 2016 at YWCA Northwestern Illinois