Telling Stories, Part 2

Sometimes, we tell stories with children to help them work through problems.  The scene: The park.  An older child grabbed your child’s toy and it broke.  He gave it back and left the park. You were too far away to intervene. Your child, A, was very...

Joy, Full Engagement and Attention Span

When children are able to choose their own activity, it often brings them joy. Sometimes they look very happy, laughing, squealing, shouting, and the like. Sometimes, they get fully engaged with what they are doing and they may not look joyful. When adults are fully...

Starting over

Today is September 1. For most education oriented folks, the school year either started already or is about to start. Jews are thinking of the Jewish New Year which starts later in the month. So many starts. I have started with a new webhost and I’ve been figuring out...

Going back to school/child care

Is your child excited about going back after having been away from the program for a long time? Is the child somewhat fearful? Is the child wondering if the people will remember her, if her friends will be there, if her teacher/s will be the same, if they will still...

exPLorAtion and discoverY

Play is an overused word that means much to early childhood educators and very little to many other adults. They often think of children “wasting” time with play.  It is during independent exploration that children discover and learn so very much. I challenge all who...

Clock Change Week, 2020

This week, we’ve changed the clocks and everybody’s body clock will take about a week to get used to the new time.  Adults and children find this week difficult.  On top of this, we have an emotional election going on and most adults are concerned, whatever...

Loose Parts and Balls

Someone asked how to introduce loose parts in an early childhood center where the teachers were not familiar with them. It would have been better to  introduce the idea at a staff meeting first. But it’s too late for that now.  So I suggested what I did when...

What Is It? Why you should NEVER ask

Most often, children who make things, especially pictures, collages, block or rock or other structures, have no idea before-hand about a finished product.  They just make things.  Sometimes, after they are finished, they look at it and notice it looks like...