More about Math Standards…. If you are getting bored with the details, scroll to the bottom of this post and go directly to the site.  Check out the associated videos.  They are excellent! The Illinois Early Learning Standards are pretty straightforward and easy to follow.  According to their website, The Illinois Early Learning Standards, developed […]

I spent a long time working on enrollment when I was a director. In fact, I spent about 50% of my time from November to March meeting with families, discussing the program, answering questions and finally enrolling. This was specific to a program that has a traditional calendar year (Sept.-June) so I can’t imagine what […]

If you use these seats in your Infant and Toddler programs, take a look at this. Yikes!!!!  

Since we looked at the NAEYC Standards yesterday, I thought we could explore the NAEYC website today. If you are not familiar with NAEYC as an organization, the website can help you navigate all that it has to offer early childhood professionals, adult educators, and child and family advocates. Sometimes, I feel as though our […]

In Sunday August 12, 2012’s Parade Magazine I found a checklist for parents to help them get ready for the upcoming school year. There was a list of 10 tips to follow. Number 6 was entitled “Don’t Trash-talk about math”. Psychologists Harold Stevenson and James Stigler found 15 years ago that in countires that produce […]

This summer’s Olympic games have gotten me thinking about gold medals and who deserves ’em. If I were to award one organization with the distinction of “the gold medal” in early childhood care and education, it would have to go to NAEYC – the National Association for the Education of Young Children. These folks provide […]

Much like last week’s entry about pbs.org, sesamestreet.org is an equally cool, interactive website for young children. I love (and have loved for years) the Sesame Street puppets. When I was three-years-old, Sesame Street made its debut on PBS, which in Chicago is Channel 11. Before that, we had Ray Rayner, Bozo’s Circus, and Mr. […]

Patterns emerge everywhere in nature. Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Fibonacci, discovered (or rediscovered depending on whose history you are studying) that there is a natural sequence that occurs in the organic world: we just have to look for it. This sequence is made up of the series: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, […]

I think it is important to talk about the “standards”…. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe we spend far too much time talking about and worrying about the standards rather than focusing on teaching and learning. However, if we work in a system that requires teachers to know and understand several sets of standards, […]

There is a time and place for everything….Never is this more important to remember than when speaking with families. Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about informal communication. These are the moments before and after drop-off when you chit-chat and catch up with family members. It should be pleasant, engaging and friendly. Remember, […]