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
The journey of a child’s language development begins as early as birth; and the first 12 months are an important stage of this development. Parents, grandparents, siblings, caregivers, aunt, uncles…everyone involved in your baby’s world is introducing communication each day and can be a part of the journey.
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” – Fred Rogers
Since this way of life seems inevitable by many standards, parents need to be purposeful with the time they have with their children. So where can you squeeze in some time to have teachable moments with your child?
External and internal forces will decide whether learning will flow easily or become a dreaded chore. Stresses from peers, such as bullying and group pressure to be a “certain way” is a dominant factor in a child’s life from a very young age.
The New Year is a time to restart any pattern that may have gone array in the past year. Children create habits just as adults do, although sometimes very different. Using this time of year as an opportunity to include your children in making a past behavior, routine or challenge into a positive change, invites them to practice reflection and goal setting.