27Feb, 2022
    How Storytelling Can Change a Child’s Brain

    What if we could improve our children’s brain and development by simply reading to them every day? In this post, we discuss imagination-building, screen-free digital listening experience that plays stories, songs, and more.

    Stories are a great way to encourage children to read and use their imagination more. A screenless box allows children to listen to stories and songs without adult supervision needed to operate, giving children more autonomy in their learning. By taking away the screen and visuals from a story, you allow children to use their own imagination during the story-telling experience to create the story as they want to allow them to exercise their creative muscles. This allows children to go from a consuming experience to a creating experience.

    Benefits of Storytelling

    Children Will Become More Engaging. By having children create their own stories through storytelling, they allow them to be more persuasive and convincing, two great life skills needed later in life. In order to captivate and convince your audience, you need to engage them. A great storyteller is an engaging one and when children practice this at a young age it carries on through out their life.

    “The Hero’s Journey” is a commonly used theme in stories, books and, movies.

    Better Understanding of The Hero’s Journey. This theme is commonly used in movies, books, TV, and stories. Broken down as such:

    1. The hero has a problem

    2. The hero overcomes a challenge

    3. The hero gets a reward for overcoming this challenge.

    When children understand this theme, they’re more likely to use this theme throughout their life, overcoming their problems.

    Increased Language and Communication Skills. Storytelling is a great opportunity to increase children’s vocabulary and communication skills by modeling new words and proper sentence structure.

    26Feb, 2022
    7 tips to ease the transition into child care

    Ensuring that your child is emotionally, socially and physically prepared to enter into childcare can seem like a daunting task for most parents. Since you’ve done your homework, you’ve already chosen a care facility that matches the unique needs of your child and family, has an approach to childcare that works with your parenting style, and plenty of experience that allows you to feel comfortable with your decision. Even still, it can be hard to pinpoint exactly how you can best prepare your child for this big change, so we’re offering a few ideas below.

    Here’s our list of tips and tricks for making the childcare transition much easier!

    1. Visit your new center with your child

    Choose a day when you and your child can visit the center together. Familiarize your child with the caregivers he or she will interact with on a daily basis, take time to play with the toys and get used to the overall atmosphere of the daycare. If possible, conduct a trial run like this more than once before full-time care begins. Many centers offer a formal transition period from 2 weeks to a full month before your child starts full-time.

    2. Talk about childcare with your child

    No matter whether your child is an infant, toddler or preschooler, begin talking about the idea of childcare. Find books or TV shows that involve children attending childcare centers. Emphasize that school is a “fun” place for learning, and practice playing school together at home to get them familiar with the concept.

    3. Practice experiences outside the home

    While your child may be comfortable being cared for by grandparents and family friends while in the comfort of your own home, they may feel differently about being cared for in an unfamiliar environment. Expose your child to a couple short visits with non-parent caregivers as a way to build independence.

    4. Give yourself lots of time for drop off

    The first few times you drop your child off at their new center, ensure you give yourself an extra 20 to 30 minutes than you think necessary. It could be difficult for both you and your child to separate in the transition process until both of you get used to your new routine. This is totally normal!! If it helps, we heard from one of our parents that during a difficult transition period, this mother found checking in with Brightwheel was incredibly comforting. Even though her child was upset at drop-off, center staff saw that within a few minutes her child was happily playing with the other children. Center staff snapped a quick photo of the happy parallel playing children to reassure the parent that transition was going well!

    5. Ease into it

    If at all possible, start your child with just a few days a week rather than a full week of care to ease the new transition. Starting with a few days of care can help your child feel less overwhelmed before progressing to full-time childcare. If you are on parental leave, do your best to transition your child into child care before you go back to work. Do not have your first day back at the office the same day they are starting child care. Set your self up for success by ensuring your child is settled in the child care routine before you go back to work.

    6. Ensure your child has proper supplies

    Set your child up for success! Most centers will provide a packing list so that you can ensure you are sending them with the proper supplies (cue extra clothes, shoes, outdoor gear etc!). Whether it’s a favorite toy, blanket or snack, sending a few of your child’s favorite things from home with them can help them feel more at home. Check with your center team first to be sure bringing snacks from home is permitted (if meals are provided) and make sure that personal items are labeled with your child’s name!

    7. Celebrate the time together outside of child care

    When you have more time together outside of child care hours, think of some fun activities you can do as a family that your child can bring to their child care center as a story for Monday! Maybe you take a trip to the park, visit an indoor playground, or even explore the neighborhood on foot. These memories will give your toddler something to celebrate when they return to their class and something to look forward to if daycare transition is more difficult in the first few weeks.

    Finally, be kind to yourself. Transitions are always difficult and separating from your child isn’t easy. Luckily, you can rest assured knowing many center staff have years of experience with childcare transitions and are there to help you through. Give yourself permission to be sad in the beginning and hopefully happy when you see all the new fun relationships and activities your child receives at their new child care center!

    26Feb, 2022
    Why play-based learning is essential for Early Childhood Education

    If we close our eyes and go back to our school days; we can see desks lined up in a classroom, a board, and a teacher. You can even feel the load of all the books in your backpack, the smell of the books and notebook pages, and the feeling of having endless hours of homework. Was it worth it? Do we really use all those things we learned from homework, textbooks, and long lectures in our daily lives? Back in the day, we were at least free to run outside and explore the outdoors with limited supervision from adults.

    Back to the present, all these years later and yet, it’s the same traditional education! Large groups, outdated lessons, and big expectations, with a high workload starting in the early years. Many of these things are associated with stress, anxiety, frustration, and even depression among children. Play experiences at school are often limited to recess. When children go home, they spend less time playing outdoors and more on tablets, TV, and smartphones, all of which are linked to addiction and mental health issues. My question is … is it worth it?

    I believe we know better. We have the answer but we are too afraid of letting go of what we are used to and trying things outside of our comfort zone.

    CHILDREN NEED TO PLAY.

    CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN THROUGH PLAY…. no matter their age.

    CHILDREN NEED TO PLAY AT HOME.

    PLAY IS THE WORK OF THE CHILD as Piaget quoted, many years ago.

    When did we forget? We aren’t reinventing the wheel here. Play has been around forever. Science proves that play is vital for mental health and brain development. Play develops social skills and engages children because it is what they like doing best.

    We have been too busy upholding a system that we forgot about child development and what is best for them. We thought that by removing play from the curriculum and the equation, we would achieve academic success and more successful human beings. On the contrary, we have been creating robots, human beings who are memorizing rather than understanding… just to pass a grade level.  We forgot the most important thing: we are forming HUMANS.

    Please, don’t get me wrong… standards are needed to guide our way as educators, to know where we are headed, and to set expectations. The problem lies in how we are translating these standards into practice. Play should be the vehicle. Academic success will be achieved through hands-on, meaningful, and purposeful learning experiences. Children will live their learning process, rather than memorizing it to pass a test.

    If you think of our lives as adults… we use credit cards, do our taxes, make budgets, finance houses and cars and write and sign many documents. Were you taught any of these skills in school? Can academics be merged into any of these areas? Can we make our school curriculum visible for our future lives, to get prepared for the real world? I believe so.

    According to the World Economic Forum, children need three sets of skills to be successful human beings in adulthood.

    1. Foundational Literacies: literacy, numeracy, scientific literacy, ICT numeracy, financial literacy and cultural and civic literacy. In other words, all academic subjects.
    2. Competencies: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration.
    3. Character qualities: curiosity, initiative, persistence and grit, adaptability, leadership and social and cultural awareness.

    Is our current school system addressing the needs of the generations today? I don’t believe so. We are 22 years into the 21st Century. Education must change TODAY. Our children deserve better. A healthy childhood and a developmentally appropriate education are the best gifts we can give our children.

    How can we help this change?

    At home:

    • Limit screen time
    • Promote independent play 
    • Promote loose parts play and open-ended play opportunities
    • Foster outdoor play

    At school:

    • Integrate your curriculum
    • Plan less but more powerful and integrated learning experiences
    • Include play into your curriculum
    • Include play into your classroom, no matter the age
    • Make loose parts your default teaching tool
    • Understand standards to an extent that they can be integrated into playful experiences
    • Ditch homework, worksheets and tests. You can find developmentally appropriate ways of assessing children!
    • Teach parents about developmentally appropriate practices
    • Show progress to parents in innovative ways, making learning visible through play
    • Make sure you teach for the 21st Century, integrating 21st century skills into your curriculum and play experiences
    • Make sure the child is the center of the learning process
    • Relax, let go and ENJOY teaching!

    The life of children is in our hands. I am advocating for PLAY and teaching through developmentally appropriate practices. I believe that together we can make a change.

    26Feb, 2022
    Why parent involvement is so important in early childhood education

    Today’s parents are more involved than they’ve ever been with their children’s development.

    Except, it seems, when it comes to preschool.

    Many parents drop their kids off in the morning while the teachers take over, and then pick them up at the end of the day without giving their learning much thought.

    To get the true benefits from early childhood education, parents need to consider how they can support what their children are learning throughout the day.

    The benefits of parent involvement

    Some of a child’s most important cognitive development happens during their preschool years. By taking an active role in the early childhood education process, parents can help ensure that their child has all the support they need to develop to their full potential.

    Parent involvement helps extend teaching outside the classroom, creates a more positive experience for children and helps children perform better when they are in school.

    It is essential for parents to support the learning that happens in preschool settings at home as well. Parents who are in tune with what is happening in their child’s preschool classroom or child care facility are better able to establish a connection between what is learned at school and what takes place in the home. This connection is a key component of a child’s development and supporting further learning.

    Not only does family or parental involvement help extend teaching outside the classroom; it creates a more positive experience for children and helps children perform better when they are in school. Having a parent communication app such as Brightwheel can help with ensuring parent’s are kept up to date with the learning outcomes and milestones being reached in their children’s classroom. 

    What Role Can Parents Play in Early Childhood Education?

    Parent involvement in early childhood education can extend the experiences that a child has in the classroom to real-world activities that happen in the home. A parent who understands what their child is working on at preschool has a better sense of their child’s competency and which areas they need to work on to improve confidence and ability.

    One of the most difficult challenges for early childhood educators is figuring out how to better engage parents in their child’s learning. By establishing good lines of communication between your childcare center and parents, as well as making a strong effort to involve parents as an important partner in their child’s education, you can make a positive impact on their learning ability.

    Tips For Encouraging Parent Involvement

    Invite parents to learn more about you, your staff and how your childcare center operates.

    Making families more comfortable with your center and the educators who work there will go a long way in making them feel at ease and more likely to be involved. Ensure teachers are always greeting and interacting with parents, whether in person or through a daycare management app. 

    Ask parents if they’d be interested in participating in your classroom.

    Do they have a special talent that they would like to share with the class? Would they be interested in volunteering to help in an art project or read a story?

    Ask parents if there are any topics they would like to see incorporated into your curriculum.

    Once they are aware that they can have a say in what is taught in the classroom, parents may want to help shape what their child learns throughout the day.

    Create a daily report or journal for each child.

    Use these daily reports to outline their individual progress and offer a way for parents and educators to communicate and give feedback.