I hope you are enjoying the last days of summer!  If you are already back in school, I wish you success in the new school year.

Recently, some early childhood teachers told me they have noticed that some young children seem to be having more difficulty these days using their fingers and hands to do basic activities such as tie their shoes or zip their jackets.

One reason for this problem might be that, reportedly, children are spending more time in front of TV and computer screens, time when they are not using their fingers to play or to make things. Helping children develop fine motor skills, skills involving the movement of the fingers and hands with strength and dexterity, is crucial during the early childhood years.

Children need to develop good fine motor skills so they can do activities such as pour themselves some juice,  button their clothes, draw and write! 

Below I have listed some ways teachers can help young children develop fine motor skills in the early childhood classroom:

1. Play-Doh and Clay

Provide children with the opportunity to use their hands to explore play-doh and soft modeling clay.  Encourage them to pound, roll, squeeze and do a variety of different physical actions on the material. Add some implements such as small rollers and cut-out shapes for them to use. 

2. Finger Play

Teach children rhymes and songs that include actions with their fingers and hands such as Where is Thumbkin?  and The Wheels on the Bus. These are excellent activities that encourage children to use their fine motor skills as well as language and cognitive skills.

 3. Puzzles

Provide children with an array of puzzles including puzzles with large knobs, small knobs, large knobless pieces, small knobless pieces, large pieces and small pieces, table puzzles and floor puzzles, in order to encourage fine motor development.

4. Art

The art area is a great place to help children work on their fine motor skills.  Although not all children enjoy art, most children willingly will explore tissue tearing, painting with different size brushes, pasting an array of collage materials and paper folding.

5. Self-help skills  

Set up opportunities for children to practice basic self-care skills such as frames for tying, buttoning, snapping and zipping. Encourage children to attempt to dress themselves for outdoor play, gym time, nap time and any other time when they might need to change clothes. 

6. Blocks

Children can be encouraged to use their fine motor skills in the block area or with a set of construction materials on a table top.  Children are actively using their skills when they build a tower with blocks, construct an object with Lego® or Duplo® blocks, or move a small car around a pretend block village.

7. Games

There are many games that encourage children to use their fine motor skills such as pattern bead stringing, placing pegs in boards, parquetry blocks as well as board games such as Chutes and Ladders and Lotto.

8.  Scribbling, Drawing, Tracing, Writing

Providing materials for children to create marks on a piece of paper or on a white or black board, gives them the opportunity to explore the writing experience and strengthen their fine motor skills. Including materials such as finger paints, markers, crayons, chalk, stencils, paints and pencils will enable them to increase their skills and explore new media.

Do you have enough opportunities in your classroom for fine motor skill development?

What kinds of activities do you think you might add this fall?

Best wishes,

Dr. Vardin

If you are running a summer program, you are probably thinking about what kinds of activities might be enjoyable for the children in your class and perhaps a bit different than the activities you have been doing during the rest of the year.

First , chances are, you and your students will be spending more time outside over the next two months.  Being outside gives you and your class the opportunity to enjoy one of the most important areas of the curriculum –  that is, science, especially the study of nature.

Nature study gives children a sense of wonder and excitement as they explore their world.   Nature study for young children is feeling the wind blowing, smelling the flowers, watching a squirrel hunt for food, hearing the birds sing and tasting a new fruit! Encouraging children to observe, compare and contrast, experiment, ask questions, research, predict and  communicate what they have discovered with others will further extend and expand their knowledge of nature.

Here are a few suggestions for doing nature study with young children:

1. Take  a field trip.
   A nature field trip for young children can be as simple as taking an “observation walk” through the nearby park. Take time to observe the trees, the flowers, the birds, the animals, and anything else that might be present in the environment.  A farm, the zoo or the beach are also great nature study environments.  Just picking up seashells or touching an animal provides a wonderful opportunity for young children to learn more about their world
2. Create a nature center. 
   After exploring the world outdoors, bring back samples of what you have found and encourage the children to bring in things from home they can further investigate and research. Objects such as shells, stones, leaves, petals and feathers can be sources of much exploration and discussion. Create a little area where the objects can be on display and children can observe them with tools such as magnifying glasses, scales and rulers.
3. Create a nature study area of your classroom library area.
   Collect books, magazines, photographs, and pictures about nature
   that can be used by both teachers and children.
4. Sings songs and rhymes and listen to CDs that are related to nature study. 
   Sing songs and say rhymes about nature including – BINGO; Old McDonald; Bear Hunt; and Eensy, Weensy Spider.  Enjoy listening to CD’s about nature including Animal Antics and Spin, Spider, Spin.
5. Read books, both nonfiction and fiction, about nature.
   Use the summer to explore some of the excellent books that will help children gain knowledge about nature such as Swimmy, Counting in the Garden, Wonderful Worms, and Are You a Butterfly? among others.
6. Help the children document their nature study explorations.
   Help the children record what they have observed and learned about nature by having them photograph, draw and write about their findings.
7. Use technology to enhance your nature study.
   With the use of technology, you might also try using an Interactive Whiteboard, video clips and online internet sites to enhance your nature study activities.

What kinds of activities have you done in the area of nature study?

Did the children enjoy them?

Please feel free to share any ideas that you think might be helpful
to other teachers.

I hope you will enjoy your nature study with the children in your program.      

Best wishes,

Dr. Vardin
 

Additional references: 
“ Encouraging Explorations in Young Children.” Scholastic Early Childhood Today.  April, 2003.
“ Sciencing and Young Children.”  Scholastic Early Childhood Today.  April 2003

Welcome to the Early Education Corner!

The CDC reports that obesity in preschoolers has doubled since 1980.  Over 10% of preschool children, ages 2-5, are obese.

On May 11, 2010 the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity submitted a report to the President titled, “Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation.”

“The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation” was also published this year.   Both reports include a number of recommendations to combat what is seen as an obesity epidemic in the United States.

A summary of the Surgeon General’s suggestions to prevent obesity in young children includes:

1. Limit consumption of sodas and juices with added sugar.
2. Reduce serving foods that contain added sugars and fats.
3. Encourage children to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins.
4. Limit portions served to children.
5. Encourage children to drink more water.
6. Serve low-fat or non-fat dairy products.
7. Limit television viewing and computer use.
8. Increase physical activity to at least one hour per day.

In addition, the Surgeon General recommends that early childhood educators :

1. Identify and use resources that recommend effective approaches to promoting physical activity, good nutrition, and healthy sleep in early childhood settings.
2. Establish and post policies, procedures and practices that support these approaches in ways that respect local communities and cultures.
3. Stay current in these approaches through required training.
4. Educate and involve parents in trainings and other activities.

The following policies are recommended by the Surgeon General:

1. Require 60 minutes of a mix of structured and unstructured daily physical activity.
2. Establish nutrition programs using national guidelines.
3. Train early childhood educators on how to promote physical activity and good nutrition.
4. Give parents materials that reinforce the practices that promote physical activity and good nutrition and limit time children watch TV or use the computer.

A recent study of children enrolled in 24 urban preschools in North Carolina, conducted by the Children’s Activity and Movement in Preschools Study, found that the children engaged in moderate to vigorous activity only 3.4 percent of each school day. The study also found that lower quality programs had less physical activities for children than higher quality programs.

Results revealed that even as most physical activity takes place outdoors, children spend more time indoors where the majority of activities are sedentary.  However, teacher-arranged activities or the use of music and movement activities brought indoor physical activity up to high levels.

If this is the case throughout the country, early childhood educators must rethink their program scheduling and include many more opportunities for active play, both indoors and outdoors, on a daily basis.

Because over 3 million children are in some kind of early childhood care setting, early childhood educators can play a significant role in helping young children to be more active and  enjoy better nutrition.

What do you think about the Surgeon General’s recommendations? Are there ways your program can improve in the areas mentioned? In what ways do you support good health practices in your program?

Best wishes,

Dr. Vardin

Welcome to the Early Education Corner! 

I hope you are beginning to have some pleasant spring weather where you live.  

With so much discussion focused on standards in education, I thought I would write about play and its importance in the early childhood curriculum.  

I think we might all agree that play is second nature to children. But what is play?? 

Can you remember a play situation from your early childhood years?  Chances are, your memory will include a recollection that you chose the activity, that you did something active, perhaps with some hands-on materials and that you were having fun, right? 

Well, much has been written about play, but I think some key aspects of play in early childhood include the following: 

1. Play is intrinsically motivated, that is, it is initiated by the child.

2. Children are eager to play.

3. Play is enjoyable to the child; the child takes pleasure in it.

4. In play, the process is more important than any specific outcome or product.

5. Play is not limited by reality and can include the use of imagination and make-believe. Children can gain control over their world in play.

6. Usually play is active in some respect, not passive.

7. Play can be done by one child alone, two or more children together with limited interaction, or two or more children engaged in play together, actively sharing in the experience.

Play comes in many forms as well. Some forms of play that Piaget described included: 

• Practice Play  – children do simple actions and explore objects such as digging in the sand, pounding on a peg board, etc.

• Constructive Play  –  children build something using real objects such as a block tower or a play dough birthday cake.

• Dramatic Play  –  children pretend to be someone else like the mommy or the doctor.

• Games with Rules  –  children use established rules to play, like in Chutes and Ladders or Candy Land.

Why is play important? 

I think that most of the play research supports the notion that play is essential to the physical, social, cognitive and emotional aspects of a child’s development. In what ways?? I have included some specific examples below: 

• When children run, play ball or jump, they develop large motor skills. 

• By stringing beads, cutting with scissors or playing with clay, children develop fine motor skills (necessary for writing).

• Play that involves taking turns, sharing, listening to and cooperating with others develops important social skills and helps children learn to get along with others.

• Through play, children can construct knowledge about the world in which they live. Children can engage in problem solving as well as learn skills and concepts.

• Children can use play to resolve their own inner conflicts.

• By interacting with others in play, children have opportunities to learn to self-regulate.

• When children sing songs and play name games or tell stories, they build language and vocabulary skills.

• During dramatic play, children can act out social roles they have observed at home, at school and in the community.

• While they are playing, children can engage in non-verbal and verbal communication thus increasing their ability to use language effectively.

• When they are playing, often children can relax and feel free from stress.

Do you think play is important?  What have you observed about the children in your classroom when they play?? Do you think that children have enough time to play? 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Dr. Vardin 

Given some of the stories in the news these days, I hope we can all agree that encouraging the development of good character in young children is as essential as teaching them to read , write and do arithmetic! 

Examples of good character traits include respect for self and others, honesty, generosity, perseverance, integrity, compassion, tolerance, cooperation, hard work, patience, responsibility and trustworthiness. 

Teachers can play a very important role in not only teaching young children about making good choices but also helping them to practice good character behavior on a daily basis. 

Below are some specific ways teachers can help young children develop good character in the classroom (Vardin, 2003):

1.  Model good character traits in the classroom.

2. Read and tell stories with morals and characters making good moral choices.  Examples: Aesop’s Fables, The Little Engine That Could, Swimmy

3. Role play situations with moral decisions to be made.

4. Teach proverbs and aphorisms that have moral messages.

5. Share classroom jobs and talk with children about the importance of taking responsibility.

6. Do service activities in the community that directly help others.

7. Involve children in the care of classroom pets.

8. Keep a list of good character traits in the classroom and focus on them, one at a time.

9. Encourage and reinforce acts of good character in the classroom on a daily basis.

10. Provide information to parents about the importance of nurturing good character traits at home.

Does your program include character education? What kinds of things do you do to encourage the development of good character in your classroom?

Dr. Vardin 

References:  

Vardin, P. (Spring, 2003) Character Education in America. Montessori LIFE. 

Lickona, T. (1998, November/December).  Eleven principles of effective character education.  Scholastic Early Childhood Today. 

I hope you had a good holiday and are enjoying the beginning of a new decade with the children and families in your program! 

Babies seem to be a big topic of interest this year. Matter of fact, a new film is coming out soon entitled “Babies.”  It is a documentary chronicling the lives of four babies in different parts of the world – Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo.  I saw the previews, and the film promises to be really fascinating as the camera follows these little folks around documenting their daily life experiences in their respective cultures. 

Some early childhood centers have added infant/toddler care to their programs. If you are thinking of adding an infant/toddler component to your program, consider the following questions: 

1. Is there a need for an infant/toddler program in your community? You might want to do a survey of the community and talk to community leaders before you begin a program for infants and toddlers. 
2. Do you have the space necessary for a quality infant/toddler program? Quality infant/toddler programs need space for indoor and outdoor play as well as for cribs, changing tables, high chairs and other types of equipment. 
3. Do you have the number of staff needed for an infant/toddler program?  Most states require one caregiver for every 3 infants and for every 5 or 6 toddlers.   
4. Is the staff qualified to work with infants and toddlers?  Infant /toddler teachers need specific education and training to meet the educational and emotional needs of very young children.   
5. Will the staff make a commitment to stay with the program for some period of time?  Babies need continuity of care and do best when they are with the same caregivers for at least a year.  
6. Do you have administrators to supervise the program who have background and experience in working with infants and toddlers?  Infant/toddler programs have their own unique demands and issues, and it is important that the supervisors understand what is needed to run a quality program. 
7. Do your staff members have the knowledge and experience needed to work with and provide resources for families of infants and toddlers?  It is crucial that teachers and parents work together in a partnership to support the healthy growth and development of very young children. 
8. Will you have the resources needed to provide developmentally appropriate learning materials, books, large motor equipment and other things needed to run a quality infant/toddler program? 

Have you been involved in developing and infant/toddler program at your center?  What have some of the challenges been for you and your staff? 

Best wishes,

Dr. Vardin

I hope you are not too overwhelmed with all the activities of this busy holiday season!

This November, Arne Duncan was the first Secretary of Education to address the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference.  Just in case you were unable to attend the meeting in Washington DC, I have summarized the key points Mr. Duncan made to NAEYC attendees:

1. “It is time to transform early learning from a system of uneven quality and access into a system that truly and consistently prepares children for success in school and in life.”
2. The first three years are the “most active period” of child development. 
3.  A significant achievement gap exists in our country prior to entrance into kindergarten. 
4. NAEYC supports closing that gap in its Call to Action. The Call to Action states that the goal of NAEYC “is not to defend the status quo” and presents recommendations to prevent the gap.
5. Programs must begin to shift from evaluating inputs (teacher/child ratio, credentials, cost of services) to evaluating outcomes for young children.
6. The bar for early learning programs must be raised and K-12 must be improved.
7. Many states have created Early Learning Standards. Developmentally appropriate learning standards enable teachers, parents and members of the community to understand what young children should learn and do and guide educational outcomes.
8. New monies are flowing into early childhood education. Recently, President Obama signed into law $5 billion to grow Early Head Start and Head Start. In addition, The Early Learning Challenge Grants, passed by the House of Representatives, totaling $1 billion a year for the next 8 years, would give young children from limited income families the opportunity to enroll in high quality early childhood programs. The bill is yet to be passed by the Senate.
9. Because it is believed that early childhood education needs to be better aligned with the K-12 system, the Department of Education developed a birth through grade three early learning agenda.
10. A new partnership has been developed between Health and Human Services and the Department of Education to support healthy child development and school readiness. Both departments have come to recognize that health, social and academic issues all contribute to school preparedness and school success.
11. There are successful early childhood programs throughout the country that should be considered by communities who want to help children at risk.  These include: Chicago’s model Child Parent Center (an effective program ), Oklahoma’s State Preschool System, Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts, North Carolina, Alabama and New Jersey.

12.  Two major challenges.      

           A. Creating a system of early care and education for young children from birth through grade three.

           B.  Basing the quality of programs on outcomes of children’s development and school readiness through documentation and assessment and making curriculum or program changes accordingly.  For ecample recent research in early math instruction indicates that early learning in math leads to better math outcomes in later school years. 

What do you think about Secretary Duncan’s remarks about early learning?

Do you agree or disagree with any of his proposed policies?

Wishing you the happiest of holidays.

Sincerely,

Dr. Vardin

Early childhood artists such as Hap Palmer, Ella Jenkins, Greg and Steve, Mar. and Vincent have created holiday CDs especially for your classes.  Many provide “music only” versions, so your children’s voices will be easily heard.

Holiday time is also a great time to explore different cultures as well.  Whether you have children from a variety of cultures or not, you can help your students discover other cultures through holiday music. 

If you do have children who come from different backgrounds, enlist their parents’ help in selecting songs to introduce.  Don’t forget, young children are most engaged and learn best when music is combined movement, so include movements to the songs when possible.  In addition to the music, you may want to ask parents to bring in foods — both traditional holiday foods and foods from other lands.

·        Play holiday songs on your CD player throughout the day.

·        Teach the children the words to holiday songs and send the words home so children can sing them with their families at home. Include simple instrumental accompaniments to the songs such as a tambourine, bells, or a drum. For example, Jingle Bells is a wonderful song to sing during the holidays. Have the children use real jingling bells to accompany the singing.

·        Encourage children to draw pictures of the images the holiday songs bring to their minds, connecting art and music.

·        Encourage the children to share their favorite holiday songs with the group.

·        Ask parents to come to school and teach the children holiday songs from their family’s traditions.

How do you make holiday time special in your class?

Best wishes,

Dr. Vardin

I hope your school year is progressing well and that you and your young students are enjoying the beginning of the fall season!

The fall season is often the beginning of cold and flu season.  It is important, of course, that teachers try their best to keep their children and themselves as healthy as possible.

A good way to start the day is to greet the children as they arrive and look at each child to make sure he or she is feeling well.

Teachers need to practice good health habits themselves and also teach good health practices as part of, perhaps, the science curriculum.

Here are some tried and true tips on cold and flu prevention in the early childhood classroom: 

1.      Wash your hands and the children’s hands with soap and warm water as much as possible.Be sure to help children wash their hands thoroughly.  For example, children should wash hands as long as it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song. 

2.      Teach children to cover their noses and mouths when they sneeze or cough.Some teachers prefer to have children sneeze into their sleeves; others encourage children to use their hands or tissues. If children use tissues, they should be tossed away immediately after they are used.  Hands should always be washed after coughing or sneezing. 

3.      Remind children not to touch their eyes, nose and mouth while they are in school in order to avoid getting germs into their bodies. 

4.      Send a letter home to parents, reminding them to keep sick children at home.  Be sure that parent contact information is up to date. 

5.      If children become sick at school, remove the children from the classroom, call parents and send the children home as soon as possible. 

6.       Keep the classroom as clean as possible. Wash off tables and chairs daily. Make sure the carpets and floors are cleaned.  Make sure that stuffed animals and pillows are washed frequently. 

7.      Send home children’s naptime bedding to be washed on a regular schedule. 

8.      Do not encourage children to share each other’s snacks or lunches from home. 

9.      Stay home if you are sick and encourage your assistants and other staff members to do likewise. 

10.  Teach lessons in good health habits to the children and send home newsletter articles about good health practices. 

By practicing good health habits, we can diminish the number of cold and flu occurrences in our classrooms and keep ourselves healthy as well. 

Do you have any suggestions about health practices you have used in your classroom?   Please share them with us. 

Dr. Vardin

Many early childhood programs continue through the summer, so I hope everyone who worked in July and August enjoyed working at their summer programs!

And now, on to a new and exciting start of the school year!  Of course there are always many things to think about in the first weeks of school, but a good place to start is with the classroom environment. 

Here are eight things I think are important to consider as we work on our classroom environments:

1.      Safety – Remember, safety first, both indoors and outdoors. Use safety checklists and carefully review your classroom space as well as your playground areas to make sure they are safe places for young children to work and play.

2.      Supervision – Make sure that you have arranged for proper supervision of your students at all times, both indoors and outdoors.  Outdoor playtime needs to be carefully supervised, so remind your teachers that they must stay near the equipment and the children to watch for spills and falls.

3.      Space – Take time to review and analyze how you are using your classroom space, how your space can be set up to meet the needs of each child, the group and support the program goals.

4.      Materials – Do an inventory of your classroom materials.   Check to see that you have enough materials for the whole class to use and a range of materials to meet the needs of all the different areas of the curriculum such as math, literacy, art etc.

5.      Aesthetics/Decorations – Try to make your classroom bright and cheery, and  be sure include  children’s work nicely displayed at children’s eye level.  Photos of the children and their families make the environment comforting to young children.   Adding plants and pleasant music can also add to the attractiveness of a classroom.

6.       Personal space for each child – Arrange a special place for each child in your class.  For example, a cubby or a coat hook with a “My Things” box underneath provides a place for the child’s personal items.

7.      Diversity – Make sure your materials include  dolls, puzzles, pictures and other things that depict people of many cultures and backgrounds. 

8.      Place for parents – Try to establish a place where parents can receive and share information about the program, their children, and current events at the school. Suggestions include hanging a parent bulletin board, setting up a parent information table, designing a parent resource room or even designating a shelf in the school library as a parent book shelf. 

What kinds of things have you done to set up your classroom environment for the new year?We would love to hear from you!

Good luck and best wishes to all,

Dr. Vardin