Research tells us that every aspect of early childhood development is impacted by nurturing and caring relationships. These relationships begin during infancy when the adults and caregivers in children’s lives set the stage for learning and growing. Much of our work around caring for infants involves a focus on routines—feeding, changing diapers, and managing sleep schedules. It can be hard to step back and think about learning opportunities and implementing unique approaches for addressing each child’s needs. Sometimes the key to individualizing learning and meeting children where they are is to have a supportive classroom setup.
safety
15 Creative Greetings to Start Your Day
A typical morning in child care might involve greeting children with hugs, high fives, and snuggles for those who are still waking up or having a hard time saying goodbye to loved ones for the day. However, some children (and adults!) are slow to warm in the morning, preferring quiet, space, and independent activities. Regardless of how children are entering your setting, it’s important to make space and time to acknowledge each other. Below are 15 creative greetings to support you in promoting safety, personal space, and rapport in your setting:
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Tips for Reopening Childcare
Guest Post
by Andrew Roszak
Executive Director, The Institute for Childhood Preparedness
As restrictions from the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic begin to ease, many early childhood programs are thinking about reopening. This is not an easy task and many find themselves attempting to balance feasibility versus safety. FunShine had the opportunity to talk about reopening child care with the executive director of the Institute for Childhood Preparedness, Andrew Roszak. Roszak has been working on emergency preparedness issues for over 20 years, including his service as Senior Director of Environmental Health, Pandemic Preparedness and Catastrophic Response – where he worked each day with the CDC and local health departments to better prepare communities for pandemics. Roszak submitted the following tips.
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Preventing Injuries
7 Summer Safety Tips
by Kelley Jilek
Summer is the most fun, but also the most dangerous, time of year for children. The majority of emergency room visits for kids take place during summer months when children have an increased amount of free time to spend in active play, much of it outdoors and often near water. Follow these tips to help prevent summer injuries:
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Supporting Superhero Play
Early childhood educators know the importance of pretend play in children’s lives. The sociocultural theorist Lev Vygotsky purported that when children are engaged in pretend play, they demonstrate and act out skills they have learned, often before demonstrating those skills in other learning areas. It’s knowing this that brings about concern regarding superhero play: Just what are children processing when they engage in play that is physical or aggressive?
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