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Early childhood programs and schools are part of a community. They reflect that community - its people, values, businesses, and resources.

A school-based intervention that promotes warm and caring interactions between a teacher and child can reduce the child's stress in the classroom, a new study has found.

Help instill healthy eating habits in your preschooler students! Whether it's through reading about nutrition or offering them healthy food options during snack time, helping your students learn how to make healthy nutrition choices is a great way to prevent childhood obesity.

Implementing a naptime routine, utilizing a variety of transition techniques, and being aware of each child's needs can create a much better naptime experience for both students and teachers.

Look around. Do you notice that children aren't looking as fit as they used to look? Listen to the children. Have you heard "I'm bored" come out of anyone lately? What about the teachers?

Finding a shared definition of early childhood inclusion has not always been an easy task for those of us in the field of early care and education.

Through play, preschoolers learn and develop countless important skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives. Just to name a few, the simple act of story time can help advance preschoolers’ pre-reading skills; playing with water and soap can stimulate science learning; building with blocks can help children learn basic geometry, and the list goes on. As you include all of these things and more into your curriculum, here are three ways to incorporate play into math and literacy…

Your outdoor play area should be considered your outdoor classroom. Children will spend hours playing outdoors developing physical creativity, problem-solving, and social skills. The first consideration for the outdoor play area is SAFETY. Conduct monthly safety inspections of all outdoor play areas. A well-planned outdoor area is not only a stimulating  and fun place to play; it is also an added value to your program. The location of your playground should be approved first by zoning. Consider the most visible…

Years ago, in my classroom of 4 year olds, little Stephanie walked up to me amid the hustle and bustle of children engaged around the room and said, “I’m boring.” Besides the obvious misuse of the word and my temptation to laugh, I recognized that Stephanie was asking for help. We talked a bit about what kinds of things she might do. We looked around the room to see what other children were doing. I made suggestions. She shrugged her…

By three to four years of age the number of referrals for difficult behavior rises (Weiss & Hechtman, 1987). This is most likely because of society's expectations for this age child, which rise and exceed the ability of a difficult child to conform to the expected norm. It is also the time when the mother encounters community rejection of her child's behavior-e.g., in the neighborhood, play group, or preschool. Certainly the widespread publicity about children with behavioral difficulties in the…