Natalie Grebe Its 9:00am in a preschool classroom. Two teachers have successfully orchestrated their class of 17 children to clean up their morning centers. One of the teachers calls out 9 names and asks those children to join her on the reading rug. The other teacher tells the remaining eight children to sit at their...Read More

Kelli Harris National Friendship Day was originally founded by Hallmark in 1919. It was intended to be a day for people to celebrate their friendships by sending each other cards. By 1940, the market had dried up and the holiday fizzled. It was first proposed in Paraguay in 1958. In 1998, Winnie the Pooh was...Read More

Michelle Mallonee Long First things first, relinquish control. Stop trying to control everything in the environment, the learning, the movements of the children. Open up your heart and mind to allow room for creativity. For many teachers, this is easier said than done. The fear of chaos as a result prevents them from loosening up...Read More

By: Lisa Mulliken     Think about yourself as a child. Most likely, much of your time was spent exploring natural materials in your environment: digging for worms, lifting rocks in the creek to find salamanders, climbing trees, playing with your dog, building a snow fort in the backyard. These experiences engaged our senses, helped us construct...Read More

Beth Simon “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” ― Charles M. Schulz White, milk, dark, frozen or hot, in bars, drops, chips or chunks, chocolate has long provided us with comfort and joy. It soothes the soul and lifts spirits in difficult times, and it complements celebrations and...Read More

By Lisa Mulliken Barney the purple dinosaur, Wilson the volleyball, Snuffleupagus (my favorite!) and the Wild Things. What do all of these have in common? They are all imaginary friends. Imaginary friends can be invisible or a personified object, such as a doll or even a child’s fingers.Read More

Aimee Currier How many of us have pondered the thought of “just where did half of my socks go?” I read a funny quote that said lost socks come back as Tupperware lids! May 9th has been designated as “National Lost Sock Memorial Day.” It is quite a unique “holiday” and one that you can...Read More

by Michelle Long Los proveedores de cuidado infantil en familia y grupal a menudo cuidan a niños en entornos de grupos de edades mixtas que pueden incluir bebés, niños pequeños, niños de edad preescolar y escolar, especialmente durante el verano cuando las escuelas no están en sesión. Durante ciertas situaciones, los centros de cuidado infantil...Read More

Kitty Syster  The Inclusive Classroom Profile, commonly referred to as the ICP, is a program observation instrument used to assess the quality of daily classroom practices that support the developmental needs of children with disabilities. This instrument is designed to be used in preschool classrooms that have at least one child with a disability. The ICP is designed to complement existing classroom quality measures...Read More

Submitted by Tracy Walter Early in 2019, the PA Key Program Quality Assessment team began orientations in partnership with the Branagh Group to introduce the LearnERS platform. LearnERS helps guide programs through a quality improvement process using the Environment Rating Scales. LearnERS is an online platform offered to center-based programs through a limited number of...Read More