Music teaches kids lots of skills. Learning to play music requires commitment and discipline and if you splash out on an instrument, you need to know your child is going to put time and effort into practicing their skills. Children can learn rhythm, beat, pattern recognition, and even math from music. Musical instruments for kids…
The below ‘S.M.A.R.T.’ template is published under Creative Commons. Feel free to share on your own blog, school site or social network. Over a 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln said “a goal set properly is halfway reached.” However, it’s harder to set a actionable goal rather than express a feeling or dream about the future….
One of the best tools to raise your children’s emotional IQ and empathy are books. Reading a story with your children gives you ample opportunity to talk about the story, the cause of the emotions and what is the best way to act and react in a similar situation. Help your children improve their coping…
When we see how much time kids put in playing with their iPad or XBox One, you might wonder if there is anyone under the age of thirty that still plays board games. Good news! People still enjoy a night of gaming around the table. While everyone can benefit from playing board game favorites, young…
From plastic figurines to the classic rocking horse, horse toys have long been a favorite for children of all ages. Nothing inspires imaginative play like riding a rocking horse and pretending you’re in a rodeo or setting up a set of plastic horses for a pretend race or horse show. Horse stuffed animals are the…
Educational technology: it’s the hottest movement out there in education, and has been for some time. In fact, there seems to be a rather non-discriminating admiration for anything edtech among many teachers today. You can’t open an educational journal, print or online, without being bombarded with ads and articles extolling the virtues of the “latest…
The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel they’re valued. ~Sir Ken Robinson I am a middle child and relished the role of “leading” my younger brother. He, however, wasn’t a very cooperative follower. :) While I was…
Quality instruction isn’t the only factor that determines students’ academic achievement. Students’ sense of belonging to the school community is also significant to student achievement. A growing body of research shows the sense of belonging or “connectedness” to the school community also has positive educational outcomes for all students. “Sense of belonging” is defined as the…
Is there a little chef eagerly waiting for their turn to stir a pot each and every time you prep a meal? Well now, you can continue to feed their “inner” chef with a KidKraft Kitchen! A KidKraft kitchen can come in an array of interactive designs and impeccable attention to detail are guaranteed to…
Selecting a quality child care center is difficult and requires a lot of research. With over thirty years working in the early childhood field, I know quality! Here, I’m going to outline some of the most important things to look out for when you’re making your decision. Children Benefit Research documents the importance of quality…
Over the past few years, there has been an increase in visits to my office by parents with young athletes between 11–13 years of age. At first, this seemed like a positive movement, perhaps motivated by a desire to introduce mental skills training to help their children get ahead. However, there is one glaring dilemma…
The Product Marbotic offers wooden letters and numbers that work with six apps (free with the purchase of the letter and number blocks), which together allow your child to practice number- and letter-recognition, addition, subtraction, tens and ones units, spelling, and early reading. You can get the wooden letters and numbers as separate items or as…
The art area in a preschool child care center can be one of a child’s favorite spaces. Just imagine, mounds of crayons, boxes of colored pencils, markers in every color, plain paper, glue, plastic scissors, magazines for cutting or tearing, construction paper, examples of 3D creations, art displayed, paints of all kinds, clay, easels, smocks,…
The following is an exclusive interview with Teresa Anne Power, internationally acclaimed children’s yoga expert and bestselling author, yogi, and advocate for the health benefits of yoga for children. Her first book, international hit The ABCs of Yoga for Kids, launched an empire of resources including CDs, DVDs, flashcards, and an informational website for parents…
When my son, Isaac, who is diagnosed with autism, was three years old, he went to a therapeutic school which was focused on teaching sign language. He caught on pretty quickly and had about a half dozen signs by the time he left the school at age four. We transferred him to a behavioral school because…
When I was in the fifth grade I became the student council president at my elementary school. I had my campaign speech, with various promises for improving our student council and bettering the lives of our student body. When I was elected to this position at the age of eleven, I became quickly aware of what…
We all remember our favorite childhood toy or toys. Perhaps it was a telephone with googling eyes or a toy vacuum so you could “help” with chores. We never realized that many of the toys we played with had some educational value as well. These shape sorters are a great toy to allow your child…
“The more rich and multifaceted the learning experiences, the more neurons are fired. What fires together, wires together.” —Dr. Betty Rintoul (NC Infant Mental Health Association, Baby Steps, Fall Newsletter, 2013.) This is a great quote that I have used during presentations when talking about the number of benefits of reading to children. First, there is…
According to research, learning centers in preschool provide the tools for learning all throughout life. The early childhood classroom (ages 2–5) is a huge factor in children’s development. Classrooms are usually set up so that children can be engaged with exploratory activities. Materials Purposefully Planned In an ideal setting, the materials are purposefully planned, changes…
In 2015 I was attending a training program called Women in Leadership. The series went over several days and before courses began one day, I was reading the agenda and noticed a session entitled, “Joys of Journaling and Benefits of Blogging.” The joys of journaling made sense, most of us have heard about the importance…
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