Category Archives: Educators / Providers

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 →

The Gift of Extra Hands and Time

Some days, we find our rooms so busy and children are clamoring for our attention. Wishing we had extra hands, ears, eyes and time is a common wish of many teaching teams. At the end of the day we look back and ask ourselves how we could have been more engaged in play and skill development with individual children in our care. The reflection is often answered with “if only we had more adults in the room”. 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 the first 3 activities from our newly featured series. All materials for the activities can be found at home or purchased in dollar stores.

NestingNESTING BOXES

Find nesting sets of rectangular, square or circular gift boxes in various patterns and colours. Encourage children to explore; opening and closing, nesting and stacking possibilities and discuss colours and patterns. Continue reading →

“Shoe Box” Activities

1“Shoe box” tasks are one unit activities that are designed to teach a child a variety of skills from basic put in/put on tasks, to finger dexterity and eye-hand coordination, bilateral hand skills and pre-academic skills (matching, sorting, patterning, size, shape, colour). The “shoe box” includes all of the materials to complete the task.  As learning progresses, the child learns to complete the task independently including getting the box, bringing it to the table and replacing it when finished. Continue reading →

Uncertain Beginnings to Endless Possibilities

My daughter Zoe who we fondly call Chip was referred to Children’s Integration Support Services (CISS) when she was around 3 years old. She has a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). She is now a thriving 19 year old young woman who is attending college and lives a busy active life.

The Early Years
Chip started child care at around two years of age. It was there that the staff noticed that she was having some challenges that should be investigated further. Her first diagnosis identified her as being developmentally delayed and I was told she would require full support for her entire life. A second diagnosis identified her as having PDD-NOS. Chip needed a significant amount of support during the preschool and school age years. She had difficulty communicating and became easily frustrated which would often lead to meltdowns. However, I always saw a great deal of potential in her and always pushed her to reach that potential. Continue reading →