HILLTOP Early Childhood SERVICES does NOT provide direct child care services.
We DO provide:
Professional Development (PD)/Training, Consulting, and Presentations/Keynotes
to Early Childhood Education professionals, aspiring professionals, and supporters of high quality early childhood education
Check out the links to IPA Porch Play Chats to help increase opportunities for children to learn through play.
The American Association for Promoting the Child’s Right to Play or more affectionately known as IPA USA promotes children’s learning opportunities to learn through play. Here are links to Porch Play Chats:
IPA Porch Play Chat – What do early childhood people mean when they say “centers”? Centers are spaces within learning programs for children to explore and use materials, usually grouped together with a common theme – for example, the block center usually contains blocks, usually on shelves where children can easily take them out, use them, and put them away. A typical classroom contains several centers. In the latest IPA Porch Play Chat, we discuss centers – how they are used and helping children and adults to make them more effective for children’s learning. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yy_mTCBY58
IPA Porch Play Chat – When adults see children playing, they think they have to tell them about what the children are doing, or direct what they are doing, or help them learn from what they are doing. Children need us NOT to interrupt the learning. Visit this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdA6bAnfKLY
IPA Porch Play Chat – Many adults were taught to “teach” children, and did not learn that children learn more through play than from direct instruction. It’s very hard for many adults who are used to telling the children what to do to start to “let” children do things and explore materials on their own. Here’s a link about starting to introduce children’s exploration into teacher-directed settings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A6-1BMi5Mg
RAISE YOUR VOICE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN’S APPROPRIATE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION – NOW!!!
Write one email or real letter to one of your elected officials to insist that any new child care funding be tied to children’s developmental needs, especially the need to explore and learn through play. The worst thing that can happen with the expansion of child care and early childhood education is it to be turned into junior elementary school with sitting and writing and memorization before little children’s bodies are ready for such activities. Our little ones can be turned off before they are even able to read. PLEASE HELP OUR LITTLE ONES!!!!
Those of us who have trained toddlers to use toilets have a hard time understanding why, after so many months of wearing masks, we are still seeing people with masks on but noses out. In order to be effective, masks MUST cover mouths AND noses. Period. Not rocket science!
The single greatest act you can do if you have not been fully vaccinated is hurry to get your vaccine(s). If you have had the vaccines, get BOOSTED. NOW!
There is NO COVID in the vaccine – it’s not like the smallpox vaccine, which DID totally eliminate smallpox, but also did include some actual smallpox in the early versions of the vaccine. There have been some side effects, but none as serious as getting COVID. It’s our civic duty. If you haven’t yet done it, JUST DO IT!