Category: Child care

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Kendra Moyses

Kendra Moyses is a member of the national eXtension Alliance for Better Child Care community of practice, which actively engages and educates child care providers, parents, and community leaders with high-quality web-based early childhood resources and learning experiences.  

Kendra is an Extension Educator with Michigan State University Extension and has provided leadership on a variety of programs that center around families, children and youth. She currently works in the Preparing Michigan’s Children and Youth Institute and focuses on Academic Success …

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Diane Bales

Diane Bales is the co-leader of the national eXtension Alliance for Better Child Care community of practice, which actively engages and educates child care providers, parents, and community leaders with high-quality web-based early childhood resources and learning experiences. As an Associate Professor in the University of Georgia’s Department of Human Development and Family Science, she teaches traditional and online courses in child development and early learning. She is also a Human Development Specialist with UGA Cooperative Extension, where she provides …

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Dan Weigel

Dan Weigel is the co-leader of the national eXtension Alliance for Better Child Care community of practice, which actively engages and educates child care providers, parents, and community leaders with high-quality web-based early childhood resources and learning experiences.  Dan is a Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno and is a Human Development Specialist with UNR Cooperative Extension, where he provides leadership for Extension education with parents and caregivers of young children. He has a B. S. degree in Psychology

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The Book Center in Child Care

book center with loft

The book center is an important part of every child care environment. Children should always have access to a variety of different types of books in the classroom. The book center can be a great place for children to play alone or with one or two other children. Having access to books stimulates children’s imagination and thinking skills, encourages developing language, and provides opportunities for creative expression through storytelling or puppetry. Adults can encourage children’s learning about words, sentences, and …

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Young Children and Reintegration: When a Deployed Parent Comes Home

Welcome home

Welcoming a deployed parent home is such an exciting time for a military family! Even very young children catch the excitement of anticipating a long-awaited homecoming. But once the exhilaration of reunion day passes, the family begins the long, slow, often challenging, and always emotional experience of reconnecting and reestablishing life with their service member at home. Child care professionals who work with military families can play a critical supporting role as children and parents alike go through the …

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The Art Center in Child Care


Girl using tempera paint

Art Supports Children’s Development

Painting, coloring, sculpting, drawing, and other forms of creative art are an important part of the child care curriculum. Creating art supports young children’s development across several different domains. Using art tools helps children develop small muscle coordination and control. Children can practice thinking skills by experimenting with color, texture, and design. Art gives children an opportunity to express their ideas and feelings, relieves tension, and provides limits for self-discipline. Art allows children to achieve and …

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The Block Center in Child Care

 

Unit blocks on blue rug

Block play is a valuable learning tool for young children of all ages. By setting aside an area for block play within the child care space, child care providers are creating an area for imaginative cooperative play. Children playing with blocks are practicing a wide variety of developmental skills, including manipulating objects, creating structures, and working together.

Block Play Supports Children’s Development

Block play enhances young children’s development across several different domains. Look for the following skills as children interact …

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Provider-Parent Relationships: 7 Keys to Good Communication

 

parent and provider talkingIf we want children to thrive in child care settings, then it makes sense to intentionally build positive relationships with the adults who play the largest roles in the children’s daily lives: their parents*. Good communication is essential for building those relationships, but good communication doesn’t just happen. As child care professionals, we must be reflective and intentional about achieving effective parent-provider relationships through good communication.

Below are seven steps that child care professionals can take to set the stage …

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Different Types of Blocks for Your Child Care Classroom

Unit blocks

Blocks should be a staple material in almost every child care classroom. With a variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures to choose from, blocks can provide hours of fun on their own, even before adding manipulatives and other items to them. Blocks are a great way for children to strengthen gross and fine motor skills, practice science concepts such as weight and balance, and work together to create increasingly complex structures.

How Many Blocks Are Needed?

As a general …

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Planning a Successful Block Center in Child Care

block corner

Blocks are great for every child care classroom. They come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. Children in child care can use blocks to support dramatic play, to build structures for toy cars, or to sort, count, and organize. Blocks are also extremely versatile, and with proper care they can last for years, if not a lifetime. Below are suggestions for choosing blocks and adding blocks to your classroom.  

Choosing Blocks

Many different types of blocks are available …

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