by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | General Observation
SAVE OUR CHILDREN! RAISE YOUR VOICE! Now is the time, when states are re-examining their education systems, for all early childhood advocates to make our voices heard, and loudly. We need to cite research that play and movement are critical to children’s...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Children and families
When my children were small and medium sized, I was too often home with them during bouts of childhood illnesses. “Boring” was not a word I liked to hear. So I tried all sorts of silly things to keep them interested. One of their favorites was living room picnics. ...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Children and families
Now that nearly all children are at home, there are hundreds of pages of worksheets for parents to download. Many are for teachers to assign. They do keep the kids busy for a while and it looks like the kids are learning something. But most of the...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Children and families
When my 4 kids were young, there were weeks at a time when we were stuck in the house together because of various illnesses including chicken pox (What a horrid winter!) There was no internet then, and appropriate TV was very limited. So I learned new...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Uncategorized
I have heard parents say, “He ALWAYS gets up early. Winter and summer, he’s up at 6 AM.” The same parents who say this in despair have successfully changed their child’s internal clock twice in the previous year. How do I know? Because twice a year, OUR...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Uncategorized
I wrote this a few years ago. I’m proud to be presenting this year (2020) at the Region IV Head Start Association (Feb), the NYS AEYC conference (April), and the NAEYC Annual Conference (Nov). This content is still accurate. Check the Wizard Gallery...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Teaching and Learning
Sometimes, I ask questions and get strange answers. In a recent workshop series I asked what I thought was a simple question. Some didn’t answer and others told me things that seemed unrelated to my question. The problem, as it usually is when the answer...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Teaching and Learning
Preparing for a workshop on science for infants and toddlers, I asked some colleagues for input. Some suggested I bring special items to teach how to teach about certain aspects of science. MY point is that special lessons are unnecessary and interfere...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Teaching and Learning
Every year, before Thanksgiving, there are “cute” images of turkeys. Children are taught poems and stories and songs about the turkey who got away, children waddle around going “gobble, gobble, gobble” and in many classrooms, they trace their hands to make a...
by Ellen Cogan | Oct 26, 2023 | Children and families
Sooner or later every child who isn’t homeschooled has to start school. Many parents are more anxious than the child. There are many books for young children about starting school. Some preschools allow parents to stay for a while (hours, days, weeks) and some don’t....
