Do Cultural Holidays Belong in Your Child Care?

December 7, 2014

As the holidays approach, many child care providers struggle with the question, “Which holidays should I include in my setting?” The U.S. contains a wonderful mix of races, ethnicities, and cultures. Because of this, we are learning about more and more holiday traditions and customs beyond Santa and his eight reindeer. Many providers wonder how much cultural diversity they should provide in their settings, and how much is too much.

Surviving the Holidays

December 3, 2014

For many of us, the holidays are a time of increased stress. Our calendars are overflowing with parties, holiday programs, family get-togethers, shopping, and a variety of other commitments. The holidays can be exciting, but also exhausting. Our stress affects our children. To compound the problem, young children lack the skills that adults have to effectively deal with stresses and anxieties. Therefore, they may be experiencing our stress even more profoundly than we are.

Countdown to the Big Day!

November 29, 2014

Are you and your children looking forward to a big event? Whether you are looking forward to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, a birthday, or a visit from Grandma, here’s a fun way to build anticipation and help young children keep track of when the event will arrive. This can work at home or in a child care setting.

Ten Things That Make Me Feel Thankful

November 25, 2014

With Thanksgiving approaching, I’ve been feeling thankful for many things that have occurred over my years as an early childhood professional. Here are 10 of the most important things:

Choosing Toys

November 20, 2014

Many of the best toys for children don’t cost a lot of money! Have you ever been surprised to see a child having more fun playing with the box a toy comes in than with the toy itself? Boxes are really appealing to children because they can be played with in so many different ways. Depending on the size of the box, children might use it for stacking, for filling and dumping, or for giving rides to other toys. They might even wear it as a hat or use it as a drum! Bigger boxes can be anything from a house to a barn to a store.

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