Beth Simon  Why are real world conversations important to children? Children learn best when adults don’t talk to them about abstract concepts. Numbers and letters are part of the “abstract” world. Do we need numbers and letters? YES, absolutely! But children will learn about those things in due course. Children learn best when adults use...Read More

The assessment team in PA is often asked if they have any tips to make meeting quality standards easier. Since they have experience visiting many programs in their professional careers, they have seen many programs employ strategies to make things easier, more efficient, and more effective. Implementing quality can be stressful or time consuming, but...Read More

Leah Zabari During the spring and summer months, I enjoy hiking, camping, and paddling on the lake. Last summer, I decided I was going to start visiting as many of the state parks in Pennsylvania as I could, explore hidden gems of our state, and start enjoying the outdoors even more than before. Each weekend...Read More

By Lisa Mulliken Recently my daughter and granddaughter were visiting, and we were all on the couch watching a movie. My granddaughter was cuddled up next to me and very engrossed in the movie. Her mother, on the other side of the couch, said to her, “Tell Mimi what you did at Pop Pop’s house.”...Read More

By: Tracy Walter When you hear the word “literacy”, what do you think? Do you think of literacy for children, in adults or does it make you think of literacy throughout a community?Read More

Erin DelRegno A bit about the person interviewed: Greetings and salutations! (I am a Charlotte’s Web fan!). My name is Paula Schroeder. My mother told me that my unofficial teaching career began at age 5 when I taught my 3-year-old sister how to read. I have been a PA and NJ certified educator since 1982,...Read More

 Aimee Currier You very likely read books to the children in your care daily. We use books for many purposes: education, entertainment, even some physical activity at times. My Kindergartners would get so excited when the Bookmobile would come, and they would have the opportunity to have books read to them by someone who wasn’t...Read More

Por: Lisa Mulliken Mire en cualquier salón de bebés o niños pequeños y verá colecciones de libros en el área de lectura o en contenedores alrededor del espacio. Puede ser abrumador e incluso frustrante a veces para los maestros cuando usan libros con bebés pequeños, bebés que quieren masticar libros o con niños pequeños que...Read More

Lisa Mulliken Look into any infant or toddler classroom and you will see collections of books in the reading area or in bins and containers throughout the space. For teachers, using books with tiny babies, older infants who want to chew on the book, or those wiggly toddlers who are constantly on the move can...Read More

By Amy Hoffman Have you heard the news? The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team at the Pennsylvania Key has a lot to offer to programs. You may already know that we (usually) conduct external assessments to support early learning and school-age programs; this involves an assessor visiting your program and observing a wide range of...Read More