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Top comments that mention products on r/ECEProfessionals:

u/jl370 · 2 pointsr/ECEProfessionals

This Psychology Today article summarizes these three studies. The three studies look at different types of preschool programs and their long-term impacts on development and adult outcomes. This document looks specifically at reading skills for young children, but the message of the importance of developmentally appropriate practice is applicable to all aspects of early learning.

In terms of programs that fit this philosophy, there are a few that have decided to publically share what they do. Play Counts is one of them. Like I said earlier, Denita runs a fantastic preschool program and is very articulate about how her approaches set children up for success down the road. Teacher Tom writes a blog about his play-based co-operative early learning program, and again is very articulate about how his program sets children up for success. Both teachers are very reflective, and run programs that are responsive to the specific children in their care.

Not every playful program will look the same, and that is exactly the beauty of them. Each group of children is unique, and a truly playful program will adapt to meet the needs of the children in the space.

As a last note, I want to encourage you to be wary of any program with a specific "teaching philosophy" such as Montessori or Reggio. There's absolutely nothing wrong with these philosophies, and there are many excellent schools that run under these names. There are also a lot of schools who charge exorbitant tuition fees because they have a fancy title, but don't actually follow the philosophy they claim to be inspired by. There is no restriction to who can use the term "Montessori" or "Reggio-inspired", and I've actually met teachers working in "Reggio-inspired" preschools who talked about Reggio Emilia as if it were a person, and not a city.

I love what /u/weebles_wobbles said about finding a program that makes you comfortable because you know she will be happy and encouraged to grow as a whole child. At the end of the day, that's what you need - a place with teachers that you trust to love and support your child while providing her with experiences that will bring her joy.

u/KeenlySeen · 3 pointsr/ECEProfessionals

We are not "dead." When someone posts, it might take a day or so to get a few replies, but we get relevant posts and replies pretty darn often for having shy of a thousand subscribers. We have many valued contributors which I have awarded flair so everyone knows who they are (and if anyone ever sees anything super-awesome, just send me a message pointing it out, and I will either put it in the sidebar or award them "active member" flair).

Also: Moms are certainly welcome here, and I like to think that we will have more resources and knowledge about developmentally appropriate activities than the average parent (and that's not to say that parents can't know, just that usually they are going by their own experiences (not based in science) and are biased towards their own ideology).

Anyways, It sounds like you have a really curious three-year-old and in addition to the other good suggestions, I have some ideas.

My First Atlas is a really good book for any child ready for the information, which it sounds like you little one is, already.

There's also a really cool demonstration you can do with him to demonstrate axial tilt.

You could also take him out to some different local landscapes and build them with him using paper mache, and help him name the land-forms. . .

And I also have to say that this is really mature subject matter for a three-year-old. It's a big concept. I personally never let that stop me from trying to explain things (with lots of analogies, visuals, and hands-on activities). He might not get everything exactly but that's OK. Later when he hears the information, he'll have a foundation on which to build it on. :)

Hope this helps, too. And if I think of more, I'll come back and edit.

u/Daisy387 · 4 pointsr/ECEProfessionals

I worked at an outdoor preschool for about a year. It's certainly a concept I love so much, unfortunately the owner sold to someone who didn't want to keep it an outdoor preschool(she felt the two classes couldn't handle being outside together and they'd get sick being out there in all weather)

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  1. We would spend time outside if it was slightly rainy but if it was anymore than that we came inside. The school was new that year so many parents didn't know how to dress properly for the weather.
  2. We basically stayed in the outdoor classroom directly behind the building but we'd explore the wooded area above which wasn't that large.
  3. We would offer different materials. We had these built by the first owners husband: http://shop.natureexplore.org/s.nl/sc.1/category.2283/.f We basically offer anything we want in these. We also had a mud kitchen, garden and a acrylic art easel: http://shop.natureexplore.org/Art-Panel/
  4. We had rakes, shovels, buckets, water etc. that we would let the kids explore with.
  5. The owners idea was to take the typical classroom and keep it outside. So we ran centers with the discovery tables and did an art project on the easel.
  6. We basically spent from 9-11:45 outside. Then inside from 11:45-3 for lunch, nap, snack and outside from 3-6.
  7. I don't see any challenges at all. I find the outdoor model to be very helpful to kids. They have the rest of their schooling to spend inside in a classroom, so let them explore and be kids.
  8. https://natureexplore.org/ has some great ideas. Most of which can be recreated for half the cost. Also check out Cedarsong on Vashon Island in Washington. Erin Kenny founded it(she recently passed away from cancer though) and she's founded one of the first nature schools. It's modeled after the German model. They still run training's at her school and she has a whole home study thing you can purchase which has a book, curriculum ideas, and a dvd. The book is amazing. I considered buying this to do nature studies with but we didn't have access to any water for the pond studies: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-children/ It comes with everything you'd need for a nature walk a week and you can print out the journal for each child. There's a few facebook groups that are awesome. Wildschooling is super helpful, it's a bunch of moms who do homeschool but outdoors. So like forest schools but for kids in elementary and middle school. Nature Preschool Ideas & Community is another great one as well. https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Classroom-Practice-month-month/dp/041572905X/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=erin+kenny&qid=1554420826&s=gateway&sr=8-5 Also I'm not sure where your located but Antioch University in New Hampshire actually has a masters type program specifically on Forest Kindergarten type learning. It's run by David Sobel who has some great books out on learning in nature.

    Something I suggest you do that I never got a chance to was visit other nature schools to get ideas on how they do things. If you have any other questions PM me! I'm super passionate about this type of learning.
u/orcawhales_and_owls · 5 pointsr/ECEProfessionals

I'm not sure how to best explain it, but I came across a cute book the other day which is easily interpreted as an analogy for somebody being transgender. It's called Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall. I haven't looked into if it's actually about being transgender, but it could be of use to you?

Otherwise, if you don't get the help you want here, maybe you'd have some luck asking somewhere like /r/transgender or something?

u/saratonin84 · 2 pointsr/ECEProfessionals

The kids in my class loved the Little School Bus. It has rhymes, sequencing, and a whole sub-story in the illustrations about a fox stealing a pig's wig which sparked lots of interest and conversation in my kids.

I also suggest Spoon and Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. It's about being proud of who you are and encourages kids to think about what makes them special. You could also do all kinds of things with different kitchen utensils to go along with it - maybe bring in some unfamiliar ones so the kids can guess what they are, use them to paint or with play-dough, make patterns (i.e. spoon, fork, spoon, fork), sort, etc.

u/wanderer333 · 1 pointr/ECEProfessionals

Todd Parr's The Feelings Book would be perfect for this! Little Monkey Calms Down would be another great one to include, and also comes in board book format.

u/ms-cnidaria · 3 pointsr/ECEProfessionals

Suzanne Collins has the Underland Chronicles. They're labeled for teens but are pretty simple. Here's the first one on Amazon so you can look through a couple pages if you want.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/ECEProfessionals

It's definitely a good idea. Once you put rules in place, you will need to stick to them.

A good modesty rule is to show your staff how to do a quick mirror check in the morning. They put their hands to their side. Hems should not be above their fingertips. Then squat down, nothing should be visible down the shirt and their back should still be covered. Then they stand and raise their arms. Midriff should not be showing. Anyone breaking the rules goes home to change, therefore losing pay.

Have anyone calling in sick talk to you directly. It is harder to call in sick when you are going to actually be speaking to the boss. No texts, e-mails, etc. Make sure all staff know that when someone else answers the phone, and talks to a "sick" person, that they forward the call to you, even if they have to wait. If it's too early and you are not there yet, call them back on their home number if they have it.

You might also want to have a "rule" strongly discouraging staff and parents being Facebook friends. While ultimately, you can't control who does what on their own free time, offer stiff penalties if you ever hear of anyone breaking confidentiality, gossiping, etc.

While I'm talking about gossiping, you might also want to encourage staff to not do it. Guard staff on ways to combat gossip (you know, because we work with mainly women and they can get cat-tay!). This article has some good suggestions (just scroll past the blahblahblah to the bottom): Stopping Office Gossip. Make sure they know that even if they are only listening to and not commenting on the gossip, they still are enabling it. They must stop the gossiper from continuing, ex: "Let me stop you there. I am uncomfortable talking about this."

Those are a few things for now. As of a website, let me look in my stuff. I'm sure I have something. . .

Edit: I know you probably haven't taken an administration course (and I think it would really benefit you to go, but for now, you should order this book. I have not personally used it, but this looks like something that would help you (it has some chapters on managing staff): Planning and Administering Early Childhood Programs .

u/LadyOzma · 3 pointsr/ECEProfessionals


I found this to be helpful not only with difficult superiors but with challenging staff/parents.


Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition (Business Books) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071771328/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xFYYzbSQM904J

u/erodriguez06 · 1 pointr/ECEProfessionals

I personally like Children by John Santrock from the psychological perspective, but also the Developmentally Appropriate Practice series by Copple (link for Pre-K) is what my university uses to discuss developmentin context of the classroom!

u/YellowMonkeyKRB · 2 pointsr/ECEProfessionals

Black on White is a cute book for little ones.

I've "read" (there are no words) this book with a toddler class and then we used glue and pre-cut black construction paper to make shapes on white paper (like very simple tangrams).