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Diversity and Inclusion in the Early Years

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Diversity and Inclusion in the Early Years

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As a teacher, I can take action in my classroom alone. Being a role model and showing students that diversity and inclusion are important parts of life. It is essential that we make all feel welcomed and part of our classroom family.

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Diversity and inclusion in the early years

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(2010). Diversity and inclusion in the early years. International Journal of Inclusive Education: Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 195-212.

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Our preschool has put together a "GoFundMe" page to help out our community in need of a home. We raise money and build condos or townhomes near by our preschool for lower-income families. Please reach out to us, through any contact method, if you are in need of a home.

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Our school partnerships with he local hospital so all attending students and immediate family get a 10% discount off their entire bill.

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120319 CaroMont Regional Medical Center 712

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We also recommend you try out our local food bank if you need a little extra help to get you through the week. We host canned food drives 4 times a year that get donated to our local food bank.

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Look here to check for upcoming events in the classroom or just to check what today's date is.

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You're invited to come out and join in our cultural fun fair. There will be a lot of food, songs, and fun activities to represent multiple cultures. Feel free to bring as many guests as you'd like and bring whatever you would like to contribute.

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"Preschool teachers and administrators play a vital role as moderators in contemporary early childhood education and care settings due to the increasingly diverse demographic and cultural landscape".

Hyonsuk Cho, Kristen Votava. (2021) Family engagement of Nepali parents of dual language learners at Head Start. SN Social Sciences 1:5.

It is important as teachers and peers that we accept every person for who they are and where they come from. This includes accepting their beliefs, cultures, and any disabilities they may come with.

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Understanding different cultural beliefs and practices has become increasingly important for early childhood educators in the contemporary United States. This paper investigates how preschool teachers and administrators navigate different cultural discourses in classrooms that frequently go unidentified or ignored, and how they support children and parents from immigrant families. Preschool teachers and administrators play a vital role as moderators in contemporary early childhood education and care settings due to the increasingly diverse demographic and cultural landscape. Using a version of Bakhtinian textual analysis, we illustrate the complexities of navigating multiple sets of cultural beliefs and practices in early childhood classrooms, as well as the possible challenges of supporting children and parents from immigrant families. The paper makes visible tacit cultural values and attitudes that manifest in early childhood classrooms to explore the circulating discourses about cultural diversity in the midst of rising anxieties, ambivalence, and tensions around immigration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Mentored Undergraduate Summer Experience (MUSE) and the School of Education Research and Practice Mini-Grant Program at The College of New Jersey.

Notes on contributors

MinSoo Kim-Bossard received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Early Childhood Education) and Comparative and International Education from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr Kim-Bossard's research and teaching combines the fields of educational anthropology, Reconceptualist scholarship in early childhood education, and studio-based pedagogical practices borrowed from art education. Prior to joining The College of New Jersey as an Assistant Professor, she was a preschool teacher and art educator in Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Choi is a senior at TCNJ with a double major in Special Education and English.

Alejandra Meneses is a senior at TCNJ with a double major in Urban Elementary Education and English.

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Navigating different cultural beliefs and practices to support immigrant preschoolers and their families: a Bakhtinian textual analysis on preschool teacher and administrator perspectives

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Understanding different cultural beliefs and practices has become increasingly important for early childhood educators in the contemporary United States. This paper investigates how preschool teachers and administrators navigate different cultural discourses in classrooms that frequently go unidentified or ignored, and how they support children and parents from immigrant families.

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"When being bilingual is such an advantage, what are some of the factors working  against it? One is a strongly held idea by some that the United States of America  is—and should always be—an English-speaking country, period"!

Janet, Gonzalez-Mena. Child, Family, and Community (p. 168). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

"You need concrete strategies you can use to support children’s language development in both English and their home languages. Of course, it’s ideal when teachers speak the children’s languages. But in super diverse classrooms, that’s unlikely to be the case".

Teaching Young Children

December/January 2019

Vol. 12, No. 2

There are many ways to overcome the "obstacle" of multilingual students. Don't make them feel that English is their only option because that will make them feel secluded if English isn't their mother-tongue. Ways we can incorporate all languages is to have books, songs, and posters in multiple languages.

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This is the first of two articles offering strategies for teaching children in classrooms where a variety of home languages are spoken.

Matthew, a monolingual English speaker, and two assistants who speak Spanish and Tagalog, teach in a classroom with children who speak five different home languages. The classroom buzzes with new songs and phrases in English and sometimes words of comfort in each language. Carefully placed pictures and labels help children see and interact with key words and items from all their cultures. In one corner of the classroom, Matthew welcomes a new parent and arranges a family language and cultural background interview.

Are you one of the many teachers today with children in their classrooms who speak a number of different languages and are just beginning to learn English? Teaching in a classroom like this is a challenge! How in the world do you go about it?

You need concrete strategies you can use to support children's language development in both English and their home languages. Of course, it's ideal when teachers speak the children's languages. But in superdiverse classrooms, that's unlikely to be the case.

Here, we offer strategies from an approach we call personalized oral language learning (POLL). Teachers who have tried them find these strategies especially useful for supporting the learning and development of children in classrooms with a range of languages.

Personalized oral language learning

As centers and schools serve more and more children who speak little or no English at home-and as we recognize the many benefits of children retaining their home languages and cultures-teachers often ask us, "What are the specific strategies I should use to support my dual language learners?" POLL answers this question with three types of assistance: (1) family engagement, (2) environmental supports, and (3) conversation and interaction. In this issue of TYC, we address the first two strategies. In the February/March 2019 issue, we'll explore strategies for fostering conversations and interactions with children who are dual language learners.

Family engagement

Start by gathering information about each child's experience in the home language and in English. This is a critical step. We highly recommend that you meet with families in a personal, face-to-face interview to collect this information-along with information about the family's background and their shared interests and activities. (For a sample interview about family languages and interests, see below.) A personal meeting is much more effective than sending home a questionnaire or having an informal conversation. This is not the only time for the teaching team to meet with families, but it's the beginning of a relationship and dialogue focused on the importance of both home language and English language development.

Through this type of teacher-family collaboration, you can plan together how to weave linguistic and cultural information into activities at school and at home. For example, families can have conversations with their children in their home languages on the topics/themes and new words shared by the teachers each week. Interviews and ongoing communication also provide perfect opportunities for you to invite parents and other family members to volunteer in the classroom!

As the school year progresses, be sure to keep families involved in the classroom's storybooks, themes, and learning concepts. Communicate with them in the languages they are most comfortable speaking (you may need to use an interpreter). Try reaching out in different ways, such as frequently sending home two-way journals for families to read, write in, and return; having regular small-group coffee chats with parents before the school day; emailing, texting, and holding frequent casual conversations at pick up and drop-off; and scheduling oneon- one conversations. Your reminders will reinforce families' awareness of the importance and benefits of their using the home language in everyday activities, having rich conversations with their children, reading, telling stories, and playing.

The home languages of the children in Ding's family child care program include Spanish, English, and Vietnamese. Ding's home language is Vietnamese, and she speaks English fluently.

Ding knows that one child's family owns a food truck. She has invited the family to park the truck outside her home one morning to share food items with the children and show them steps the family takes in preparing and selling food. Ding plans vocabulary activities based on food prices and menus from each child's culture. She chooses related books in all three languages and prepares materials for the children to use in creating a food truck in the dramatic play area.

Environmental supports

When you create a warm, nurturing environment, one that welcomes children and families, you send the message that you value and respect them, their language, and their culture. When your classroom includes the home languages and cultural backgrounds of all the children and families, they see and feel that they are natural and important parts of classroom activities. You'll soon notice positive results: young dual language learners will develop confidence, communicate their thoughts and feelings more readily, concentrate better, and learn more.

Transform your classroom into a rich setting with areas for children to talk and play, and with spaces for both quiet and active learning and small group interactions.

Here are some supports to use:

Label in each of the home languages of the children, with one color for each language used consistently throughout the classroom for schedules and topic displays. (Use an online translation tool, like Google Translate, and ask parents to help with specific words.) ŸŸ

Place environmental print in all the children's home languages-everyday objects like magazines, food packaging, commercial products, etc.-throughout play areas and the classroom. ŸŸ

Display family photos, books, artifacts, and posters and other visuals from all the children's cultural backgrounds throughout the classroom at child's-eye level and in learning centers. Families are often eager to help supply the classroom with items from their home that represent family and cultural traditions, such as examples of artwork, empty food boxes, pictures, etc.

Teachers can work with librarians to select books in the children's languages that relate to curricular themes and can adapt puzzles to include writing in all the children's languages. Families can share songs, rhymes, and dichos (playful sayings) in all the languages of the children; they can also help stock the dramatic play area and art center with clothing and cultural artifacts from each child's background.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, fostering young dual language learners' development of English and also of their home languages is a major challenge. But if you use the strategies outlined in this article, you can partner with families and create a responsive environment that supports each child and encourages learning.

In the February/March 2019 issue of TYC, we'll share even more strategies for linguistically appropriate instruction.

Two Classroom Language Models

In schools across the United States, many teachers who try to help children become bilingual use one of these two language models. Both work well with our POLL strategies. This article elaborates on the second one.

The fifty-fifty dual language model

Teachers make sure children experience (hear, speak, see in print, etc.) both English and their home language in all content areas (literacy, math, outdoor play, etc.). With careful planning, teachers ensure that children experience equal exposure to both languages and also provide a clear structure for language separation.

This is a great model for supporting emergent bilingual children, but it is most feasible when all of the children speak the same home language (e.g., Spanish). Two different home languages can also be supported in this model through careful allocation of time and other instructional resources. (For an example of a classroom that embraces English, Spanish, and Arabic, see " Conversations with Children," by Janis Strasser.)

The English language development with home language support model

Teachers most often use this model when they are not proficient in the children's home languages. It gives them a clear and consistent plan for when and how to use English and when and how to use the children's languages. Children learn mainly in English during instructional time, but benefit from home language and multicultural supports that teachers intentionally interweave throughout the daily routine. For a description of specific supports to use, see the POLL strategies described in this article.

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Many Languages, One Classroom: Supporting Children in Superdiverse Settings

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This is the first of two articles offering strategies for teaching children in classrooms where a variety of home languages are spoken.

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Here is a parent education program to help increases parent-child interactions and parental awareness to enhance attachment security between parents and children.

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Welcome to the Circle of Security! Please explore the many ways you can engage with us. Whether you are working with parents and care-providers, or you are a parent seeking to raise a secure child, we hope you will use this site to more fully discover how important attachment and security are to each of us - throughout our whole lives.

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An early intervention program for parents and children

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Welcome to the Circle of Security! Please explore the many ways you can engage with us. Whether you are working with parents and care-providers, or you are a parent seeking to raise a secure child, we hope you will use this site to more fully discover how important attachment and security are to each of us - throughout our whole lives.

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These are great tips for parents to support your child's learning at home. If parents and teachers work together, students have a higher chance at succeeding in school.

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During the coronavirus crisis, parents whose children usually attend preschools are now managing the enrichment and education of their young children at home. We know most parents can't replicate a full day of preschool, along with all their other responsibilities. But here are some guidelines and principles to help you nurture your 3-5-year-old student at home in whatever time you have available.

The preschool years lay the foundations for the school-based learning to come. Goals during this time period include:

Fine motor skills - cutting safely with scissors, pencil grasp, coloring, letter/number formation

Self-regulation - listening attentively for longer periods of time, sitting still for longer periods of time

Emotion regulation - healthy separation, self-soothing, frustration tolerance

Social development - empathy, turn-taking, sharing, conflict resolution

Early academic skills - letter identification, letter-sound associations, number identification, counting, basic concepts (shapes, colors, textures), conventions of print

Activities of daily living/independence - putting on and taking off jacket, managing personal belongings

Creativity and imaginary play - using an object in novel ways, sharing imagination

Self-confidence as a learner

Learning during this period takes place almost effortlessly as children interact with responsive caregivers, explore the environment around them, and play. The human brain was built to learn, and children at this age are strengthening neural connections as they use them.

The experiences and activities that you provide your child literally build their brain and increase their learning efficiency and capacity. Present your preschool student with a language-rich environment, a variety of sensory-rich stimulation, and allow them hands-on opportunities to explore basic concepts (such as shape, color and texture) and the environment.

While preschoolers are capable of independent play for brief periods of time, parents will need to organize their child's day, set up structured tasks, help with transitions between activities, and provide scaffolding and encouragement.

Create structure. Just like adults, children need predictability in their days. Moreover, consistency and routine help children to develop and learn. Through repetitive routines (for example, bath time) children learn about sequencing (what comes first, next, last), build vocabulary and concept knowledge (for instance, wet, slippery, faucet, drain), and develop autonomy (getting their own towel or cleaning up bath toys on their own).

Check in with teachers. If your child's preschool teacher is available, it might be helpful to schedule some time to check in and discuss suggestions for specific activities. If your student receives additional services, try to touch base with providers to see if they can suggest ways you can help continue with treatment and maintain gains at home.

Talk to your child. Nearly any activity that a preschooler is engaged in provides an opportunity to talk, introducing new vocabulary as well as shapes, colors, size, and numbers. "Serve-and-return" interactions, or the back-and-forth, reciprocal verbal and non-verbal exchange that takes place between a child and their caregiver, also facilitate attachment and a sense of self.

Present projects. Projects, which can include coloring, building, sorting or sensory play (such as a water table or sand play) are great opportunities for your child to experience your undivided attention, which helps reinforce the sense that they matter. Commenting, reflecting upon and complimenting your child's work gives them a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem, and praising your child's effort helps with the development of grit.

Prompt unstructured play. Independent play is very important for fostering creativity, problem-solving and autonomy. Offer your preschool student a variety of art materials (crayons, markers, chalk, finger paints), building materials (blocks, Magna-Tiles, Legos) or imaginary play props and allow them to construct their own craft or play. If they run out of ideas or materials, offer a new material and see if they can shift on their own to a new way of playing.

While it is not necessary (or realistic) during this COVID-19 crisis to create a strict, regimented schedule, having a general "outline" for the day will help alleviate stress for you and help your child feel secure. Some pointers for making a schedule:

Wake up at the same time, change from pajamas into "real clothes" (whatever that may mean for you) and eat breakfast at the normal time.

Alternate different types of play throughout the day.

Incorporate regular breaks into the schedule, which should include opportunities for exercise and free play.

Have dinner together as a family and use that time as an opportunity to discuss the day and problem-solve together.

When considering how to fill your child's day, it is helpful to consider the different types of play that help to support different areas of their development:

Constructive Play: blocks, Magna-Tiles, Legos, fort-building, coloring and crafts

Physical Play: running, skipping, hide and seek, Simon Says, freeze dance

Pretend Play: dress-up, dolls, kitchen, action figures, modified "charades" (for example, have your child act like an animal and you guess what they are)

Sensory Play: sand table, water play, finger painting, play dough, baking bread

Music Play: listening to music and nursery rhymes, playing musical instruments, singing

Outdoor Play: nature walk, picking flowers, "I spy" outside

Story time: read aloud and quiet time with books

Under normal circumstances we recommend limiting screen time (the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization suggest no more than one hour for children ages 2-5, ideally co-viewed with a caregiver). During the COVID-19 crisis, screen time can be incorporated into a balanced activity diet and should be used strategically, such as when you need your child to have less of your attention (such as when you're preparing dinner, working or helping a sibling with schoolwork). For a guide to online, accessible and free resources, check out the Child Mind Institute's Family Resources for Remote Learning, which includes educational programming, suggestions for movement breaks, museum tours, story times and more.

During the preschool years, children begin to truly develop their sense of independence. This is immensely important for building confidence and a sense of self. Ways you can nurture budding independence while you are at home in the COVID-19 crisis include:

Structure the day. Just like adults, when children can anticipate their day, they are better equipped to take on responsibilities.

Start small. Before going outside, for example, your child may put on their own hat and get their shoes from the closet.

Let your child choose. Involve them in choices, like what to wear. This does not have to mean they have free rein. Provide 2-3 options, and then praise their great ability to make a choice!

Let your child help. Children love to help! When you allow your child to help, even if it takes you longer to get things done, you foster their confidence and give them an opportunity to learn something new.

Let your child solve problems. Allow your children to try things that are hard and to solve (small) problems on their own. Wait until they ask for help or assist only in getting them to the next step in a task. You can acknowledge that something is hard and let them know that you are proud by offering praise for trying something on their own, or for the first time.

Give your child chores. Simple tasks like picking up toys or putting laundry in the basket allow your child to have reasonable responsibility, and those tasks also help with maintaining routine and structure throughout the day.

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Preschoolers: Tips for Supporting Learning at Home - Child Mind Institute

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Guidelines and strategies to help you nurture learning in your 3- to 5-year-old child at home, in whatever time you have available.

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The Impact of Family Involvement on the Education of Children Ages 3-8. (PDF)

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"When educators look at a child through a family system lens, they realize that they can’t work  on behavior changes in children all by themselves, because those children are part  of family systems. I think back to times I’ve been in teacher meetings where a child’s  challenging behavior is being discussed. A missing ingredient of these discussions  was the family’s involvement".

Janet, Gonzalez-Mena. Child, Family, and Community (p. 15). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

I can't stress enough how important family involvement is in a child's academic life. Families, being the child's first teachers, need to work together with all future teachers to ensure the best level of education for their child. Family involvement means the child can work at school and continue their studies at home with the help of their families. It also means that parents, if they have the free time, should come to a child's school and engage in some activities. (i.e. reading to the class).

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"Some children walk right into child care without batting an eye. They’re so intrigued with the new setting that they forget their fears. Other  children cling and suffer greatly".

Janet, Gonzalez-Mena. Child, Family, and Community (p. 64). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

It is hard for children to peel away from the familiar faces around them and enter a room with people who they don't know. Here are some tips on how to help with getting your child over their separation anxiety when entering school.

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Toddler and Preschool Separation Anxiety Tips

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Multiple Parent/Child Learning Domains and Activities

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Multiple Parent/Child Learning Domains and Activities

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Here are a list of ideas for parents to do at-home learning activities with their young ones.

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*We originally published this post near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some things have changed since then, the activities in this post are still great skill-builders for young children!
As schools close due to COVID-19 concerns and new guidelines on social distancing take effect, many parents are home with their young children-and looking for new ways to keep them occupied while building on the skills they've been learning in the classroom. Keeping kids engaged and active (without overusing screens!) can be tough during an unexpected break like this, especially when new safety recommendations put a temporary hold on play dates, restaurant trips, and visits to crowded parks, zoos, and other places kids love.

If you're a parent of young children-or if you work with families-today's post is tailored especially for you. We're bringing you a collection of 24 at-home learning activities parents can use to boost their child's academic, motor, communication, and social-emotional skills while they're home from school. Adapted from some of our best books on early childhood development and education, these fun and inexpensive activities will keep kids learning and give you easy ways to connect with them during this unexpected break in routine.

Please share these ideas with any families who might benefit, and if you have a favorite at-home activity to share, add it in the comments below!

Give mealtime a math infusion. Do your kids like to help out in the kitchen? Meal prep is the perfect time to get children counting, measuring, estimating, comparing, and recognizing shapes. Ask your child to measure and count cups of ingredients, count how many plates and utensils are needed for the whole family, and figure out who has more or less mashed potatoes. Get creative with math during cleanup time, too: you can have your child name the shapes of the dishes and sponges, count the number of steps they took to complete the cleanup task, and predict how many dishes will fit in the dishwasher. (Want more ideas? Download this free tip sheet for 24 ways to have fun with math at home .)

Supercharge your storytimes. Your daily book reading sessions are golden opportunities to actively build early literacy skills. To boost vocabulary knowledge, watch for words you think your child may not know and briefly define and talk about them. When you reread a book, ask your child if they remember what the word means, and try to use the new words at other times of the day to reinforce knowledge. To build letter recognition skills, try pointing to letters as you say their names, singing a slowed-down ABC song while you point to each letter in the book. Turn to random pages in the book and see if children can name and point to the letters themselves. You can follow up by having your child make their own ABC book, finding or drawing pictures for each letter.

Reread all your child's comfort books. When you're home together and it seems like life is slowing down, sink into some comfort rereads of favorite picture books. Kids love hearing the same book many times, and the repetition is actually beneficial to their developing literacy skills, since it gives them multiple chances to absorb the language of the book. If you want to make the most of repeated readings, choose high-quality books with words that stretch your child's vocabulary and language knowledge.

Make a museum. Your child but can make a museum at home with a little imagination and a few simple materials. If your child has collected little treasures over the years (rocks, shells, toy dinosaurs, buttons, etc.), show them how to arrange their collections in themed displays using shoe boxes, small jars, or egg cartons. Help children label their treasures-a great way to practice letter writing and recognition-and build their language skills by encouraging them to give "tours" of their personal museum to visitors. (While you're teaching young children at home, a virtual museum tour might also be a fun way to spark conversations about art and history.)

Start a language-rich restaurant at home. If your kids love restaurants, why not start one at home, and use it to help teach language and literacy skills? Stock your play area with empty boxes, food containers, and restaurant props with writing on them, such as takeout menus, placemats, or a newspaper circular. Read the menu with them, or help them create their own menus from scratch. Help kids make a sign with their restaurant's name. As children play, point out words on the restaurant props and encourage them to spot familiar letters and words.

Measure their masterworks. Are your kids passing the time by making a long cardboard road for their cars, or building a tall tower with blocks? Dig out your ruler and incorporate a little measurement lesson into their play. Show them how to use the ruler to measure the length of their road or the height of their tower. They might have fun predicting how many inches long or feet high their creations are.

Have an adventure-without leaving your living room. Sit with your kids on a rug or couch and pretend you're leaving for a big adventure on a magic carpet, submarine, or school bus. Ask them to share their ideas on where they want to visit, and take turns concocting a story about your adventure. Describe the sights you see and ask kids questions that invite their creative participation: "Look, there's a circus! Can you see the elephants? What are they doing?" "Do you see that school of fish? What do you think fish learn about in school?" This is a great way to strengthen communication skills while having fun with kids who feel cooped up.

Put on a play. Encourage your kids to collaborate on a short play using a few puppets. They can adapt a familiar story or fairy tale, or create their own story together. After they put on the play, talk with them about the story and characters, and ask them questions about how they developed the play.

Set up a home office for kids. This is an indoor activity kids love-they'll enjoy the chance to be "just like you." Set up a pretend office in a corner of your home where kids can make calls, write letters and "send" them, and type important emails. Be sure to provide lots of varied materials for them to work with: an old keyboard to type with, file folders and paper, a calculator, an old phone (toy or real), pens and pencils, tape, envelopes, rubber stamps, and notepads. Then pretend with them-give them a "call" and ask when the mail will be arriving, or ask to have a face-to-face meeting in their office.

Start your own store. Open your own department store in your room or in the playroom. Encourage kids to play different roles-shopper, sales clerk, cashier-and communicate with each other in character (or you can play one or more roles). This is an ideal activity to try if you've been doing spring cleaning; children can browse the items you're getting rid of and "buy" a few items with pretend money.

Have some flashlight fun. This activity can help boost communication skills while easing your child into bedtime. Once your child is in bed, give them a flashlight and play with it together in the darkened room. Take turns shining the light on different things. Ask your child questions about the items in the room, and talk about what you see. Whisper and laugh together, and make up a silly story. Bedtime chats like these hone language skills while helping your child feel safe, secure, and calm.

Open your own "art school." Start by reading your child some favorite picture books and talking about the different techniques the artists used for the illustrations. Then have the child practice fine motor skills by making books or illustrations of their own, using materials such as watercolors, paste, paper, cloth scraps, ribbon, foil, string, stamps, greeting cards, and box tops. When they're done, your kids can hang their masterpieces in a special gallery area or "read" their illustrated books to you or each other.

Make egg carton caterpillars. If you use up lots of eggs, here's a fun fine-motor activity to do with those leftover cardboard egg cartons. Cut the egg section of the cartons into strips, one for each child in your house. Have each child choose a caterpillar body and decorate it with paint or markers or by gluing on different colors or textures of paper. Pipe cleaners make great antennae, and children may even want to add some pipe cleaner legs to their caterpillar. Remind them to draw or glue on a face!

Outline an animal. Does your child have a favorite animal? Draw a simple silhouette of the animal on a big piece of paper and give your child some glue and a bowl of Cheerios or uncooked pasta shapes. Then have the child outline the animal by gluing the cereal or pasta pieces to the page, following the lines you drew. (Always supervise carefully when children are working with small items that could be a choking hazard.)

Social-emotional skills

Have regular emotional check-ins. During challenging times, young children can easily pick up on the stress and worry of the adults in their lives. Disruptions to regular schedules, troubling news stories, and overheard adult conversations can leave a child confused and concerned about the future. Set aside time to check in and connect with your child every day. Talk about your day and what will happen tomorrow. Ask them simple questions: "What was the best part of today?" "Were there any hard parts?" "How did you feel?" "Do you have anything you'd like to talk about?" Listen carefully to what your child says so they know their thoughts and emotions are important to you. (For more social-emotional skill-boosters for children ages 2 months through 5 years, print these free ASQ:SE-2 activity sheets .)

Pound some dough together. Mushing, squeezing, and pounding dough is a great activity for helping kids process feelings of anger, frustration, and helplessness (and housebound grownups might find this just as therapeutic). Mix up some cookie dough (like these "Get the Mad Out" cookies on the PBS website) and mash and knead it together. Or if baking isn't your thing, let the kids smush and pound play dough or clay. They'll let off steam in a safe way and hone their creativity at the same time.

Encourage nurturing play. When the world feels scary, nurturing dolls and stuffed animals is a good way for children to refocus their feelings and practice caring behavior. Set up toy cribs where children can put their "babies" to bed, water tables where kids can bathe their dolls, and places where the babies can be fed with old bottles, sippy cups, and spoons. Help children create caregiving scenarios and praise children for their TLC. (Be sure to include kids of all genders in this activity-every child can benefit from practicing their caring skills.)

Try some therapeutic art, too. Art activities are more than just fun-they can provide children with a powerful outlet for their emotions. Alice Honig describes one example in her book Little Kids, Big Worries : "Lonnie drew a bus and then scribbled all over it with a brown marker. The teacher was puzzled. She did not act disappointed by his scribbles. She did ask him gently to tell her about his picture. The child soberly explained, "That is the ambulance that took my dad to the hospital.' The brown scribbles over Lonnie's picture expressed his dark scared feelings about his father's illness." Teach children how art can be a healthy way to process difficult emotions, and provide them with lots of different materials they can use to express whatever they might be feeling: pages from magazines, photos, stickers, paint and markers in vivid colors, etc.

We hope this post gave you some new ideas to try with kids, and we wish you and your loved ones continued good health and safety. Please let us know how else we can support you in the weeks to come!

20 Stress-Busters for Young Children (designed for early childhood classrooms, but many of the activities can be adapted for home use)
Sample ASQ-3 Learning Activity Sheets Sample ASQ:SE-2 Learning Activity Sheets
The activities in this post were adapted from and inspired by the following books:

Activities 1 and 8: by Donna Kotsopoulos and Joanne Lee

Activities 2 and 3: Connecting Through Talk by David K. Dickinson & Ann B. Morse

Activities 2, 4, 9, 15, and 22: by Betty Bardige

Activities 5-7: Blended Practices for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings, Second Edition, by Jennifer Grisham-Brown, Mary Louise Hemmeter, and Kristie Pretti-Frontczak

Activities 10, 11, 14, and 16: ASQ®-3 Learning Activities by Elizabeth Twombly and Ginger Fink

Activities 12, 17, and 18: Early Literacy in Action by Betty H. Bunce

Activities 13, 19, and 24: ASQ®:SE-2 Learning Activities by Elizabeth Twombly, Leslie Munson, and Lois Pribble

Activities 20,21, and 23: Little Kids, Big Worries by Alice Sterling Honig

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24 At-Home Learning Activities to Share with Parents of Young Children - Brookes Blog

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We originally published this post near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some things have changed since then, the activities in this post are still great skill-builders for young children! As schools close due to COVID-19 concerns and new guidelines on social distancing take effect, many parents are home with their young children-and looking [...]

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Feel free to contact me or the school through our Facebook page, my email: ms.maya@newbeginningspreschool.org, my phone: 770-123-4567 (ext. 8910), visit us at 123 New Beginnings Preschool, Roswell GA, 30075, and contact us through our discussion board.

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Please feel free to visit our Facebook Page and learn more about us or just reach out with any general questions you may have. Here you will find upcoming events, school news, and happy faces.

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I would like us all to take advantage of the discussion board. This is a safe and honest environment to share our thoughts and questions.

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A great tool for parents and students to use for learning.

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Hello Parents and Students! I am so excited to be working with you this school year! I hope to have a great year and keep in touch to make sure each student is getting the best education possible.

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I would like every parents to fill out this survey for EACH child they are enrolling into the class. This survey is short and provides a basic starting point that I and other teachers can build upon. It also includes ways to reach parents in case of emergencies.

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We strive to make sure each student feels welcome and accommodated. We have set up an open floor plan concept that allows for easy access for students in wheelchairs, crutches, or just multiple students passing through at once.

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This is a great learning tool that you and your child can do together. It has a bunch of activities and lessons to help your child better understand concepts in class.

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These books will all be available in the classroom library, but you're welcome to buy copies of your own to read even after the year is up to remind yourself about gender equality.

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Take a look at your local library to find books on topics you want to know more about, use their computers to surf the web, and explore the fun of learning with all the resources you could ever need.

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Head Start goes above and beyond to support families and students who don't come from as much privilege or money.

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"In some situations, as when an overburdened single parent is able to get the support and referral to services needed, the child care program can literally be a lifesaver. Such programs exist. Some child care and early education programs in the United States today not only give services to children but also give families the support they need to get on their feet so they themselves can provide for their children’s needs."

Janet, Gonzalez-Mena. Child, Family, and Community (p. 39). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Head Start is a great program that really goes above and beyond to help all students and their family get a good education.

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Use the Word "Guidance" instead of "Discipline"

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Use the Word "Guidance" instead of "Discipline"

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"Why did the experts want to change the  word discipline to guidance? It has to do with  the associations connected with each  word. Guidance has a more positive tone to  it. To many people, discipline means punishment, and punishment means pain or at  least humiliation".

Janet, Gonzalez-Mena. Child, Family, and Community (p. 175). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

"We all know that we shouldn’t punish young children when they exhibit challenging behaviors".

Teaching Young Children

February/March 2020

Vol. 13, No. 3

This is true. Punishing a young child when they don't seem to understand will only hurt them in the long run. They will end up being afraid of failure. We need to let students know that it is okay to fail if we can correct ourselves and try better next time.

Remember:
"Guidance" is a positive word and is used to help a child progress and encourage them. "Discipline" is a negative word that children run away from because they know the outcome can't be good.

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We all know that we shouldn't punish young children when they exhibit challenging behaviors. The children in our preschool classrooms are just beginning to learn the complex skills of getting along with others. These are skills that we humans work on our entire lives.

Children are going to have disagreements-sometimes dramatic ones-as they interact with others. They really don't "know better" because they haven't learned the "better" yet. After all, a 4-year-old has only 48 months of on-the-ground experience! It's our job to teach children positive lessons from their mistakes-and to make sure we don't hold their mistakes against them.

Conventional discipline too easily slides into punishment. For example, if we embarrass children by singling them out as part of our discipline strategy, this is punishment. Punishment makes young children feel stressed, hurt, rejected, and angry; these feelings make it harder for children to learn emotional and social skills.

When we punish children, we are actually making life more difficult for

the child, who feels rejected and unworthy and becomes more challenged in learning social skills

other children who worry for themselves and the punished child

adults who are not being the leaders they want to be

Using guidance

Guidance is about building an encouraging setting for every person in the group. It means helping young children understand they can learn from their mistakes, and it starts with showing them how. To give this help successfully, we need to build relationships with every child-especially with the children we find difficult to connect with and understand. We build these relationships from day one, outside of conflict situations. It is only when children know and trust us in day-to-day interactions that they will listen to us when conflicts happen (after we have helped everyone calm down).

So what do you do when conflicts arise and you want to use guidance? This article gives two illustrations of guidance at work. The first one might surprise you.

Illustration 1: Jeremiah comes through

This example comes from former preschool teacher Beth Wallace.

When I first started working with Jeremiah, he had a lot of angry outbursts. The center used time-out at that point (the dreaded "green chair"), and Jeremiah spent considerable time there. While I was at the center, we moved away from using time-outs and introduced a system called peer problem-solving. By the time Jeremiah graduated to kindergarten, we had been using the system for three years, and he was one of the experts.

One day, I overheard a fracas in the block corner. I stood up to see what was going on, ready to intervene. Jordan, just 26 months old and only talking a little bit, had a truck. Franklin, 50 months old, decided it was his turn to use the truck. I took a step forward, ready to go to their aid, but paused when I saw Jeremiah (then 60 months old) approach them.

"What's going on, guys?" Jeremiah asked (my standard opening line). He then facilitated a five-minute discussion between the two children. He made sure both got a chance to speak, interpreting for the little one. "Jordan, what do you think of that idea?" he asked. Jordan shook his head and clutched the truck tighter. "I don't think Jordan's ready to give up the truck yet," Jeremiah told Franklin.

After helping his classmates negotiate an agreement, Jeremiah's competence was without question, and his pride was evident.

On this day, Beth knew that three years of building relationships and teaching children how to resolve their conflicts through mediation was paying off.

Illustration 2: Playdough politics

In preschool, three common sources of conflicts are property, territory, and privilege. The following illustration is a combination of dozens of property-related conflicts I have worked with teachers to address. I put a magnifying glass to this one so you can see up close what guidance is and isn't, and how it teaches young children to learn from mistaken behavior.

Jason, age 42 months, is the only one at the playdough table. He gets a grin on his face and pulls the whole chunk of dough in front of him. He starts working the dough and mutters, "Makin' a dinosaur nest and eggs."

Daeisha, age 52 months, sits at the table and sees Jason has all the dough. She says, "Hey, give me some!" Jason hands Daeisha a tiny bit and circles his arms around the big mound. Daeisha responds by grabbing a large handful of dough out from under Jason's arm. Jason screams. When he tries to grab the dough back, Daeisha pushes him and starts kneading the playdough. Teacher Kris sees Jason on the floor, yowling, and Daeisha using playdough as if nothing has happened.

Pause for a few minutes to think about how you would address this situation. Then read on to consider two possible intervention choices.

Conventional discipline: Kris walks over to Daeisha, stands above her, and says loudly, "You've taken something from another person again, Daeisha. You need to sit on the time-out chair so you will remember how to share." Kris takes Daeisha to the chair.

Daeisha is not thinking, "I am glad the teacher has temporarily prevented me from playing. Now I will be a better child and use friendly words instead of forcing my will on others." Instead, Daeisha is embarrassed, hurt, and angry. She feels rejected by Kris and unwelcome in the group. Daeisha is thinking how to get back at Jason.

Guidance: Kris moves between the two children, kneels down, and takes the following five firm, friendly actions. Kris

1. Describes the scene. "I see Jason on the floor very upset. I see Daeisha using a big bunch of playdough. We need to solve this problem."

2. Calms who needs calming. "Jason, we need to help you cool down so we can make this better. Let's get you back on the chair." Taking the playdough, Kris looks at Daeisha and says to both children, "I will hold the playdough. Take some deep breaths or just close your eyes to get calm."

3. Leads each child to describe the conflict, often starting with the younger child.

Kris: Jason, what do you think happened?

Jason: I was making a dinosaur nest and Daeisha took my playdough!

Kris: Anything else?

Jason: I gave her some, but she still took mine.

Kris: Daeisha, what do you think happened?

Daeisha: He had all the playdough and just shared a little. So I took some so I could play too.

Jason: Daeisha had some. (He points to the little glob he gave her.)

Kris: Let's let Daeisha finish.

Daeisha: I needed more to play, so I took it.

Kris: Let's see, is this right? Jason, you were making a big nest with the playdough. Daeisha came and didn't have any. Jason gave Daeisha some. Daeisha, you didn't have enough, so you took more so you could play too?

Both children nod, which assures Kris that they both feel like they have been heard and are ready to move forward.

4. Solves the problem with the children-not for them.

Kris: So how can we fix this so you can both play?

Daeisha: He can share more.

Jason: But not too much.

Kris sets the playdough in front of Jason. Jason gives Daeisha a bit more. Daeisha and Kris both look at Jason. He grimaces but hands over enough to satisfy the other two.

Kris: Thank you, Jason. Can you still make a dinosaur nest or maybe just an eagle nest?

Jason: A littler dinosaur nest.

Kris: Daeisha, Jason was on the floor and he was upset. He has given you more playdough. Seems like you need to do something here to make things better. (Instead of forcing Daeisha to apologize, Kris guides the child to think about what would make Jason feel better.)

Daeisha: Thank you, Jason. Sorry. Can I make you some eggs?

Jason: Yeah, a whole bunch.

5. Follows up with one or both children by having a guidance talk Sitting next to Daeisha, Kris thanks her for helping to solve the problem and talks with her about what to do next time so no one is hurt. They agree that if a classmate won't share, Daeisha will ask a teacher for help.

Although guidance may seem time-consuming, a scene like this can play out in just five minutes. If you truly do not have time to engage in all five steps at that moment, do steps 1 and 2 right away and tell the children when you will get together to finish the mediation. Don't forget! If the problem is no longer a big deal to both children when you get together, skip to step 5 for a guidance talk. Help each child learn how to get along better next time.

Seeing the value of guidance

Why is guidance well worth the time it takes? Here are four reasons.

First, the teacher does not make one child seem like a perpetrator and the other seem like a victim. Adults can actually start bully-victim patterns if they consistently comfort the "helpless" victim and punish the "guilty" perpetrator. Kris handled this situation so both children felt they were worthy individuals who belonged in the class and were capable of solving their problems and of learning from their mistakes.

Second, Kris worked with Daeisha. Children who have the boldness to take things from others most often also have the individual strength to become leaders who can work cooperatively with others (like Jeremiah), if we support them in developing their emotional and social skills. This change requires belief in the child and firm, friendly, and consistent guidance (with an emphasis on the friendly).

Third, every use of guidance provides powerful lessons in language arts and social studies. Children who learn to put strong emotions into non-hurtful words gain vocabulary and communication skills that serve them well for their entire lives. Children who learn the social studies lessons of overcoming differences and solving problems together are gaining democratic life skills.

Finally, every time members of an encouraging classroom see guidance at work, children and adults together learn the vital lesson that everyone is a worthy individual, belongs in the group, and can participate in solving problems. For all of us, this is important learning for making our democracy "more perfect."

Guidance should not be thought of as a weak alternative to traditional discipline-it's being a good coach who doesn't give up on any member of the team. Your efforts at guidance don't have to be perfect, but if you persist and reflect, you will get good results. Like Beth and Kris, we learn even as we teach. Do these things and you will feel positively about yourself as a teacher-and that will help with the inner calm you need to guide children toward healthy emotional and social skills.

Photographs: © Getty Images

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We all know that we shouldn't punish young children when they exhibit challenging behaviors. The children in our preschool classrooms are just beginning to learn the complex skills of getting along with others. These are skills that we humans work on our entire lives. Children are going to have disagreements-sometimes dramatic ones-as they interact with others.