Author Archives: cissnewsletter

Time Saver, Cost Saver, Super-Sized Fun Activities

Are you looking for activities that will save you time and money but that are big on fun and learning? Let us introduce 3 more activities from our featured series. All materials for the activities can be found at home or purchased in dollar stores.

FASTENING AND UNFASTENING

This activity can help to develop fine motor and language skills.

Purchase a collection of containers such as: small coin purses, small tin toy lunch boxes, cases for eye glasses, pencil cases, plastic/tin containers with hinge lids, salt/pepper shakers, etc., with a variety of fasteners such as: velcro, zippers, snaps, latches, magnets, fasteners, screw tops, etc. Continue reading →

How Does Learning Happen? The Four Pillars of the Ottawa Story

25-yearsTwenty five years ago, our community had a vision that saw each child as a child first. They wanted a supportive and inclusive system that was flexible as well as responsive to the changing needs of families, children and teaching teams. The hope was to reduce or eliminate social isolation which was experienced by so many families with a child with special needs. By making this happen one child and one child care program at a time, supportive relationships were formed so that each child would reach their optimum development and experience the true meaning of belonging. Continue reading →

Our Breakaway Season

Hockey WP

Freeimages.com / Dave Di Biase

I remember that July day when my husband, Robert, suggested that our 7 year old son Tyler join the local House League Hockey team in September. My heart sank. Since Tyler had a speech-language delay, he faced challenges in communicating at the same level as his peers and making himself understood. Although he had a lot of friends, these frustrations sometimes impacted him socially.  Robert strongly felt that hockey would improve Tyler’s social skills, help him feel like part of a team, and expose him to life experiences like other children his age. I questioned whether it was already a little late for him to start hockey. I then realized that the potential benefits outweighed my worries about whether he would fit in and I gave in. Continue reading →

Stimulating Language at Mealtimes

MealtimesMealtimes can be a great opportunity for children to increase their vocabulary and learn some of the skills that are necessary for engaging in conversations, such as listening to others and taking a turn to talk.

Here are some general suggestions.

Get your children to help prepare part of the meal
There are many opportunities for learning and using vocabulary such as ‘wash’, ‘spread’, ‘tear’, ‘mix’, ‘stir’, ‘rinse’, and ‘peel’. At mealtime, ask each child to tell the rest of the family what they did to help. Continue reading →

Inclusion Ideas Corner – Getting More Out of Mealtimes

Acorn Early Learning Centre

As Early Childhood Educators, we have an extremely important role when it comes to teaching children self-help skills. Providing opportunities for the children to serve themselves snack, lunch, milk and water is something that we value at Acorn Early Learning Centre.

Each day during lunch, two of the children are picked to be the helpers. Their responsibilities are to wash and set the tables as well as hand out facecloths to each of their peers at the end of lunch.  The children serve themselves both their meals/snacks and pour their milk/water.  Continue reading →

Behaviour Guidance Tip – “Sorry Doesn’t Fix it”

Did you know that when you ask a child to say sorry following a situation, you are teaching them an automatic response. Often that response reinforces the behaviour and does not teach them how to rectify the situation.

Although it is important to model and teach manners, a child needs to experience a true sense of empathy in order to be compassionate to others. Continue reading →

One Strategy at a Time

As teaching teams, we are facing the winds of change. Every day we are asked to do something new, use different techniques and meet the needs of everyone. Although we are all trained professionals, we sometimes forget some strategies that are very effective and useful to us.  After we give an instruction or a request, it is important to reflect to ensure that we have achieved the hoped-for success. Did we use the right strategy or why did the one we use not work? Should we review our strategies? Continue reading →

Time Saver, Cost Saver, Super-Sized Fun Activities

Are you looking for activities that will save you time and money but that are big on fun and learning? Let us introduce 3 more activities from our featured series. All materials for the activities can be found at home or purchased in dollar stores.

TACTILE EXPLORATION

plush

Freeimages.com / Silvio Mechow

Find a large box with a lid. Cut a square hole in the side and cover loosely with fabric or paper so that the children can’t see what is in the box but can still reach in. Continue reading →

Promoting Peer Interactions Amongst School Age Children

When promoting peer interactions, it is important to understand that children at different ages interact differently and the quality of friendships changes as children age. The following are some characteristics of school-agers to keep in mind.IBR

  • Kindergarten and Grade 1 – Will play with anyone.
  • Grade 2 and 3 – Boys and girls avoid each other.
  • Grade 4 – Emergence of ‘best friend’.
  • Grade 5 – Boy groups more solidly established.
  • Grade 6 – Friendships are based on mutual understanding and affection.

Continue reading →