Lisa Mulliken Piaget is a well-known name in the early childhood world. Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who created theories of cognitive development. Piaget’s theories included ...

Submitted by Tracy Walter My sister sends me pictures of my niece who will be two years old very soon. It is great getting messages and pictures of her enjoying the new sensory b...

By: Barbara Bredell-Searle As I was thinking of a topic for this blog issue, I was sitting in my primary doctor’s office waiting to get my yearly physical. That day, my husband w...

Kitty Syster Puzzles are not for everyone, but they are, and should be, a staple in early childhood classrooms. Children can learn and grow in so many ways from puzzles. Most peo...

By Leah Zabari Imagine you are reading a story to a group of toddlers. They are all engaged in the story you are reading except for one child who is rolling around on the floor b...

Beth Simon Asking for feedback on our program, activities, or about our performance as early childhood educators can be uncomfortable. Of course, receiving positive feedback is r...

The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) team wishes you all the joys of the season & happiness throughout the coming year.

The Program Quality Assessment (PQA) Team would like to announce the addition of four asynchronous professional development courses to the Pennsylvania PD Registry. The courses av...

By: Barbara Bredell-Searle Did you know: Not getting enough sleep each night could cause you to be in a car accident. According to The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) resear...

Regina Wright The reason why I chose to write about this topic is because, I am asked often when visiting infant rooms and family childcare homes with only infants enrolled, “Why...

By Angel Avery-Wright I often observe early learning settings that are missing musical instruments and activities. The instruments are not on the shelves. There is no music cente...

Amy Hoffman I love to sing. I used to be pretty good at it; years of misuse have caused that to change. But no worries! Children still love to hear it. I’ve observed in classroom...

By Pam Schaffner The assessment team in PA is often asked if they have any tips to make meeting quality standards easier. Since they have experiences visiting many programs in th...

Natalie Grebe A key component of a program’s sustained quality that may not receive consistent attention is the director’s observations of classrooms. It is best practice for dir...

Kitty Syster Everyone knows it is a great idea to have teachers from the same classroom work together when creating lesson plans, but it is not always easy to find time for them ...

Leah Zabari Do you think the experiences you had as a child and the important adults in your childhood have influenced you as an early childhood educator? Do you think the experi...

By Lisa Mulliken I sometimes drive my five-year-old granddaughter to preschool early in the morning. During our short drive she usually starts off a conversation with, “Mimi, did...

Barbara Bredell-Searle “Silence isn’t empty. It’s full of answers.” -Unknown After you have gotten the last child down on their nap furnishing; hopefully the room is quiet or h...

Aimee Currier Keystone STARS quality indicator EC 3.4.5 requires STAR 3 and STAR 4 early childhood and school-age programs to partner with their Quality Coach and a Program Quali...

By Rochelle Deane I never imagined that I would decide to transition to a new job, after doing a job I loved for 9 years. I also couldn’t imagine deciding to switch during the CO...