As an early childhood educator, you play a vital role in preparing children for their next big step: kindergarten. Families trust you to keep their children safe, nurture their growth, and set the foundation for lifelong learning. But kindergarten readiness isn’t just about knowing ABCs or counting. It’s about fostering curiosity, social and emotional skills,
Category: Early Learning
A Warm Welcome: Tips for welcoming new children and families
Four tips to help you warmly welcome new children and their families to your early learning setting.
Child-focused learning: following their lead to new adventures
As an early educator, you know young children are naturally curious about the world around them. As early educators, we can foster that curiosity and nurture a lifelong love for learning. Child-focused learning is all about noticing and following children’s interests in learning experiences. By noticing and following their interests, we can take advantage of
Books and Beyond
Books and Beyond: Infusing Creativity into Reading Experiences A blanket, a snack and a good book. Is there any better way to enjoy a nice day at the park? For Arielle Deloney and the families in her program, it’s not just a great way to spend the day. It’s an intentional literacy practice. Deloney is
Decoding Little Minds
Decoding Little Minds: An Early Educators Guide to Understanding Children’s Behaviors If you have been in early education for any length of time, you’ve navigated behaviors. Behaviors—sometimes called “challenging behaviors,” are when children display a range of difficult actions, emotions or reactions. These behaviors can significantly impact the learning environment. Diverting the teacher’s focus, hindering
Quality in Action
Quality in Action At Quality First, we talk about quality early learning every day. But what does quality look like in action? Check out the clips below to see a few ways that Quality First teachers turn everyday moments into learning moments. Color Sorting Hints and Help Quality in action looks like: Rolling the mat
O is for Ongoing Monitoring and Adjustment
We use the VISION model in Quality First to guide the quality improvement journey. This is the fifth in a series about the six stages of the VISION model. If you haven’t already, check out our blogs on vision casting, investigating current practices, setting goals, and implementing action steps. As you work through the action
I is for implementing action steps. Five tips to help you on your goals.
In Quality First, we use the VISION model to guide the quality improvement journey. This is the fourth in a series about the six stages of the VISION model. If you haven’t already, check out our blogs on vision casting, investigating your current practices, and setting goals. Once you’ve identified your big-picture vision, reviewed your
S is for Setting Goals: Creating an Effective Quality Improvement Plan
In Quality First, we use the VISION model to guide the quality improvement journey, and every journey needs a roadmap. In this third stage, you’ll focus on setting goals and creating action steps for quality improvement. This quality improvement plan is your roadmap. It outlines your goal (your destination), and the action steps you’ll take
Earth-Friendly Early Learning
Now more than ever, we are becoming aware of how our choices affect the environment, our health, and the health of our communities. As early childhood professionals, we are leaders who can make a difference in the health of our environment. Through earth-friendly actions, we can improve health, teach respect for nature, and save money,