Hot and Cold

This past week, I had the opportunity of doing workshops in Los Angeles and Anaheim, California as well as Atlantic City, New Jersey. When I boarded the plane in Anaheim, it was 92 degrees. When I deplaned in Philadelphia, it was in the 40's. Burrrrr...what a difference. Going from hot to cold made me think of all the visits I make to early childhood classrooms. The warmth and safety I feel when I visit a well-run appropriate classroom is exhilarating. The fear and anxiety I feel when I visit a classroom that is struggling leaves me with a cold, uncomfortable feeling. I am assuming that children feel the same way. We all know children who do not want to go to school. My fear is that they feel that same cold, uncomfortable feeling when entering the classroom. I would love to see all young children running to school because their classroom exhibited the warmth and safety that each child should feel.

Quality Child Care

In the last weeks we have been talking about quality child care in my Introduction to Teaching course. Research tells us that quality child care contributes to the cognitive and emotional development of children. This results in lower levels of delinquency, teenage pregnancy, drug use, and dropout rates resulting in high earnings later in life and greater marital stability. Whew! Why isn't everyone on the bandwagon for quality child care? I guess the answer is money...but not the only answer. Many critics emphasize that children are better off with mom (or dad) staying home rather than looking for quality care. Unfortunately, that ideal is unrealistic for many families. Single parent households do not have the luxury of choice in the matter. Quality child care is an issue for most single parent households and at-risk families. Many state governments (including my own state) have failed to adequately fund child care for families in need. A study published in Education Week in 2004 found that every dollar invested in quality child care would prove an economic return of 13 dollars in the child's future education. I think it is worth the initial investment.

We're in this Together!

I did a math workshop in Nashville this week and it was wonderful. What a great group of teachers and caregivers! It is always such a treat to go around the country and meet other early childhood professionals. The commonality is that we all want what is best for young children and strive to be appropriate in our approach. Young children constantly need advocates since they cannot lobby for themselves. We are a great group in the early childhood field and it feels good to make those connections wherever people are working with young children.

Step by Step

I had an engaging conversation last evening with past early childhood friends about developmental stages in learning. I was in Orlando to talk about developmental math sequences. We expressed our frustration about how many core standards are not listed in developmental order. It is left up to the teacher to make sure they are introduced in a sequence that will provide a foundation for learning. This is initially why I began to create the POCET tracking system for preschool.
Math is a great example. It is critical that a child can classify and sort by attributes prior to being asked to be aware of repeating patterns. Literacy experts have also concluded that phonemic awareness, letter recognition and print awareness are predictors of reading success in first grade. It is imperative that we help early childhood teachers understand the developmental order of skills so that empty, unsupported activities aren't the norm. We must build that solid foundation of learning.

One-Day Bloom

We have a hardy Hibiscus in our yard which bloomed for this first time this fall. It is amazingly beautiful with a dark red bloom that measures approximately 8" across. The sad part is that the blooms only last 1-2 days. As there are many blooms on our plant, we have been enjoying them for a couple of weeks. These flowers have been reminding me about just how precious time is when we are looking at our children. Because of developmental windows, we don't have the luxury of hit-and-miss support for foundational learning. We need to make the most of each minute that these little ones are soaking up knowledge. Their brains are busy building connections that will affect the rest of their lives. The anticipation in children is just as breathtaking as my beautiful Hibiscus. The difference is that when we cultivate and enrich a child's joy of learning, it will most definitely last more than 1-2 days. Imagine blooming an entire lifetime!

No, Not Yet!

We just recently completed a deck that has been in the planning for several years. As I sit out under the tree that grows from the middle, I am not happy that fall is on the way. The temperatures are cooling and darkness is coming earlier all of the time. But, I have my deck and I want fall to stop coming for a while. I want to enjoy the lovely summer evenings outside. But, time will keep marching on. I had the same feelings about stopping time as my children continued to grow older. Now I feel it occasionally with my grandchildren. Can't she stay two for just a little longer? It is the nature of things to watch time pass. I guess our challenge to make sure each day is better than the last one.

Something Should Be Done!

I was standing in line for the self-checkout at the grocery store today. Two young men in their 20s were in front of me in line dressed like they just came from the gym. A woman at one of the check-out machines was trying to control a two year-old (from the child's appearance) who was having a tantrum. The two young men were commenting that "something should be done with that kid." He was out of hand and slowing the line down. One of the young men told me he grew up in a large family in Atlanta and being the oldest he had to learn to take care of the other children. He said that the child needed some choices right now so that his energies could be directed to something useful. I was shocked at the young man's insight! I learned that same information at a brain research conference. I agreed with them that something should be done. All young people, prior to having children, should have some training and background information. That is what should be done.