Good (or bad) decision-making affects us all. So, without a doubt, teaching kids good decision-making skills in early childhood is a wise practice. Truth be told, many children make decisions based on emotions, or the spur of the moment. It’s a life skill to learn how to make thoughtful choices. It needs to be practiced and taught. But how early do we start teaching children about making … [Read more...] about The importance of teaching kids decision-making skills in early childhood

Sometimes, it’s obvious that the experts do what the experts do best. When running a daycare or preschool classroom, it’s good to give your kiddos small doses of a wide range of knowledge topics. While early childhood educators may be well-versed in teaching things like phonics or counting (though they do a lot more than that!), sometimes, getting a special guest speaker can really put the kids in … [Read more...] about 5 Preschool guest instructors to invite to your early childhood classroom

When you run a daycare or preschool, being cooped up inside all the time can get boring. Sometimes, it’s nice to ‘shake things up’ a bit, by going on an outing with the kids. You can even incorporate them with hands-on-learning activities, if you’re covering a topical unit. As long as you have enough adults per child (whether child care workers, or parent volunteers), many local businesses are … [Read more...] about 11 Preschool field trip ideas and lesson topics to go with them

As adults, we may love it if little ones in our care - whether at home or at preschool - would be responsible for themselves, and always do the right thing. In an ideal world, they would always pick up their toys, clean up after themselves, wash their hands after going to the bathroom, put their shoes and jackets on, and be ready to go out the door on our adult timelines. And they would eat their … [Read more...] about How to teach toddlers and preschoolers to be responsible in an age-appropriate way

We all want our children to grow into proper, independent and successful adults, right? A huge part of that is money management. And, learning to manage money comes with a host of lessons about life. When applied with wisdom and foresight, choices about money can determine the type of lifestyle that one gets to live. While we don’t want to put the weight of the world on the shoulders of our young … [Read more...] about 8 Ideas to teach preschoolers about money management and why it’s important

There’s been some buzz on media lately, talking about the way our kids are just too busy these days. As parents, we want the best for our kids, so we fill their day with anti-boredom activities and learning opportunities. Swim class, soccer, dance, playdates - and the list goes on. But what happened to the days when mom and dad expected kids to entertain themselves? Where are the balls to kick … [Read more...] about 3 Top benefits of downtime for kids and why they need it