Sharing Concerns with Parents

Whether a preschool teacher, center-based caregiver or family child care provider, as an early learning professional you make it your business to know kids. You know that every child is different, they all develop at their own pace. And you know when something isn’t quite right with a child.

No doubt you’ve observed the child carefully, tried a variety of approaches to develop new skills or bring out the best in him/her. You’ve probably talked with others in the field and done some research. You know the next step is talking to the parents, but that is not an easy step to take.

No parent wants to hear that there may be concerns about their child’s development. Visions of scary worst-case scenarios instantly come to mind. But this conversation can be the crucial first step towards early intervention opportunities. It is important to broach the subject and to do it with great care and thought.

Here are some tips for a successful conversation:

• Begin by listening. Ask gentle but probing questions of a parent’s experiences with their child or share your own anecdotes in an informal way. Listen to the parent. Their answers, comments or reactions can help you to see how they view the situation with the child. Perhaps they sense a problem but aren’t sure how to articulate it.
• Be thoughtful about when and where you decide to engage a parent in this conversation. This can be a very emotionally charged topic. Time and space are important. Choose a private setting and make sure you have the time to fully address a parent’s questions or concerns without interruptions.
• Be positive and supportive. Consider beginning the conversation by talking about the child’s strengths. Make sure you acknowledge the parent’s dedication, skills and love for their child. Emphasize the wonderful opportunity that early interventions can provide or that you just want to make sure more serious issues can be “ruled out”.
• Provide informational resources to parents such as books, well-respected web sites and even a simple developmental milestones chart for parents to take home and review in their own time. These resources provide concrete, impartial information and may describe symptoms, behaviors or issues that may resonate with parents.

Your approach is the key to a successful conversation. If you are respectful, supportive and informed about issue-specific resources parents are more likely to listen, trust and follow up on your concerns.

For more great “do’s” and “don’ts” on talking with parents about sensitive issues check out Sharing Concerns, a guide for caregivers by the organization First Signs.

Even Toddlers Love Science

Toddlers love exploring cause and effect. It’s amazing how a toddler (who’s short attention span is legendary) can spend what seems like hours “washing their hands”. They are fascinated by turning the water on and off, exploring what happens when they plug the drain, and watching the water pour off their finger tips. This is a toddler’s science mind at work, and it’s a thing of beauty.

Unfortunately, the mere mention of the word “science” can make many early childhood educators tremble. Science is not scary. It is all about figuring out how the world works. No wonder it is such a great fit for toddlers! Here are some simple ideas for bringing more science into your toddler program:

• Give toddlers plenty of opportunities to pour, fill, spill and transfer materials. You can use anything- sand, water, rice, seeds, gravel. It gives toddlers the opportunity to explore weight and volume, encourages fine motor skills and is a great sensory experience.
• Explore nature. Invite children to use all of their senses as they dig in the dirt, crawl around bushes, lift up rocks, pick flowers or gather sticks. This helps them to understand the systems and cycles in the natural world, promotes gross motor skills and is great for the senses.
• Cook with toddlers. This might sound daunting, but simple recipes, like mashed potatoes, biscuits or pretzels, are great fun to do with toddlers, encourage fine motor development and teach the basics of matter (solid, liquid, gas) as well as nutrition.
• Explore light. Play with a Plexiglas mirror in the sunshine and watch the reflection dance around, Play with making shadows. Look through colored lenses. This is a great way to explore some early earth science concepts.
• Talk about everything. You don’t need explain things to toddlers, just ask them questions to get them thinking. What did you find under that rock? What is the ant doing? What do you see when you look through the red lens? How does it feel to stir the mix now that we’ve added the flour?
• Take their lead and set up opportunities based on their interests.

Over the years the national emphasis on helping children as young as toddlers develop language and early literacy skills has proven effective in improving reading skills as children enter elementary school. It’s time we take the same approach with science.

For great ideas to help you explore science with toddlers, check out our downloadable toddler themes.

“Honoring the Process of Play…” A Must-Read for Those In Early Childhood

Many early childhood educators lament the trends towards a more academic focus in preschool and kindergarten. Intuitively, we know and appreciate the value of children’s imaginative play. A recent book by Vivian Gussin Paley titled, Honoring the Process of Play a Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play, recently received a great review from the National Institute for Early Education Research for the way it advocates for the importance of play.

Paley views fantasy play as the “glue that binds together all other pursuits, including the early teaching of reading and writing skills” (p. 8). She shares Vygotsky’s view of play, which is that children rise above themselves as they play, becoming more than their average selves… When children are allowed to imagine freely, their minds are primed to engage new ideas. This is where the value of the process lies. Paley understands the importance of process while solving a math problem or conducting a scientific experiment, but wonders why the same value is not placed on the process of play.

The early years are a time when process should be valued above all else, whether that be the process of reading, exploring language, understanding mathematical concepts, scientific exploration and especially creative thinking and problem solving. When these processes become second nature, there is no limit to where children can take them. All play, including fantasy play, allow children to explore all of these processes. How far can kids get with facts alone?

Find the Money: Tips for Getting School Grants

It’s no secret that many early learning programs are barely getting by in this tough economy. Enrollment is down and it’s a struggle to pay the bills and keep staff. Updating your indoor  or outdoor space, purchasing new curriculum and even restocking the supply closet seem like impossible dreams. But those dreams can come true! It’s just a matter of finding the right funding source and putting together a compelling proposal that will bring those funds to your door.

The School Funding Center has a great blog that is full of grant writing tips and a link to an early childhood grant source database.

Some tips include:

• Find grant sources whose giving purpose closely match your funding needs. Most foundations have a stated goal or reason for being. In addition, many list the types of projects they like to fund. Do your homework and be sure that you are applying to a source who is interested in funding a project like yours.
• Apply to as many of those matching grant sources as possible. The more you apply to, the more likely you are to receive a positive response.
• Whenever possible find facts and figures to backing up the importance of your need. Funding sources like statistics. It gives the impression that you know your stuff.
• Include a detailed budget in your grant application to show grantors that you know the problem you are facing and what it will cost to fix it. Include information about cost of materials and personnel.

In my experience, including a compelling story is also helpful to capture the heartstrings of the people reading your application. So give grant writing a try. A little effort can bring in the dollars you need to help your program thrive.

The Beauty of Curiosity

“Keeping Kids Curious,” that’s our tagline at World of Wonder and hopefully the goal of every parent and teacher. While browsing Scholastic’s Early Childhood Today online magazine I came across a great article about the importance of curiosity in children.

It boils down to this simple cycle of learning:

Curiosity results in Exploration

Exploration results in Discovery

Discovery results in Pleasure

Pleasure results in Repetition

Repetition results in Mastery

Mastery results in New Skills

New Skills result in Confidence

Confidence results in Self esteem

Self esteem results in Sense of Security

Security results in More Exploration

So the next time your toddler makes you crazy flipping the light switch on and off or your preschooler sneaks off to the sink for a little “water time”, remember that this often repetitive and sometimes messy need to satisfy curiosity is helping your child to learn, grow, develop and gain confidence. Instead of making them stop, sit back and watch their minds grow!

For all kinds of fun activities that your infants, toddlers and preschoolers will want to do over and over again, visit www.wowkits.com.