How to Choose the Best Preschool for Your Child

How to Choose the Best Preschool for Your Child PDF Author: Jenifer Wana
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1402256604
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The most useful tool out there for families about to embark on the search for a preschool!" —Helen Cohen, director, Frances Jacobson Early Childhood Center, Boston A must-have for parents of future preschoolers Starting preschool is one of the biggest milestones in a child's life. With this comprehensive, step-by-step guide, you won't have to navigate the preschool process alone. Whether the nursery schools nearby enroll every child, or they're so competitive that they only accept a few applicants, this book has everything you need to know to choose and get into the right preschool for your child. You'll learn: How to find high-quality preschools in your area Insight into popular preschool programs (Montessori, Waldorf, play based, cooperative) Key criteria to consider when choosing a preschool Strategies for paying for preschool (financial aid, tax benefits) How to help prepare your child for the first day of preschool Advice for gaining admission into competitive programs, including getting off the waiting list, submitting a strong application, and preparing for a child assessment "This well-organized, comprehensive book will help parents navigate the world of preschool." —Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum, authors of Practical Wisdom for Parents: Raising Self-Confident Children in the Preschool Years and directors of the 92nd Street Y Nursery School, New York "A gift to every parent starting the preschool search." —Irene Byrne, MA, author of Preschools by the Bay and executive director of the Phoebe Hearst Preschool, San Francisco

How to Choose the Best Preschool for Your Child

How to Choose the Best Preschool for Your Child PDF Author: Jenifer Wana
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1402256604
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The most useful tool out there for families about to embark on the search for a preschool!" —Helen Cohen, director, Frances Jacobson Early Childhood Center, Boston A must-have for parents of future preschoolers Starting preschool is one of the biggest milestones in a child's life. With this comprehensive, step-by-step guide, you won't have to navigate the preschool process alone. Whether the nursery schools nearby enroll every child, or they're so competitive that they only accept a few applicants, this book has everything you need to know to choose and get into the right preschool for your child. You'll learn: How to find high-quality preschools in your area Insight into popular preschool programs (Montessori, Waldorf, play based, cooperative) Key criteria to consider when choosing a preschool Strategies for paying for preschool (financial aid, tax benefits) How to help prepare your child for the first day of preschool Advice for gaining admission into competitive programs, including getting off the waiting list, submitting a strong application, and preparing for a child assessment "This well-organized, comprehensive book will help parents navigate the world of preschool." —Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum, authors of Practical Wisdom for Parents: Raising Self-Confident Children in the Preschool Years and directors of the 92nd Street Y Nursery School, New York "A gift to every parent starting the preschool search." —Irene Byrne, MA, author of Preschools by the Bay and executive director of the Phoebe Hearst Preschool, San Francisco

The Importance of Being Little

The Importance of Being Little PDF Author: Erika Christakis
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698195019
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 342

Get Book Here

Book Description
“Christakis . . . expertly weaves academic research, personal experience and anecdotal evidence into her book . . . a bracing and convincing case that early education has reached a point of crisis . . . her book is a rare thing: a serious work of research that also happens to be well-written and personal . . . engaging and important.” --Washington Post "What kids need from grown-ups (but aren't getting)...an impassioned plea for educators and parents to put down the worksheets and flash cards, ditch the tired craft projects (yes, you, Thanksgiving Handprint Turkey) and exotic vocabulary lessons, and double-down on one, simple word: play." --NPR The New York Times bestseller that provides a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom about early childhood, with a pragmatic program to encourage parents and teachers to rethink how and where young children learn best by taking the child’s eye view of the learning environment To a four-year-old watching bulldozers at a construction site or chasing butterflies in flight, the world is awash with promise. Little children come into the world hardwired to learn in virtually any setting and about any matter. Yet in today’s preschool and kindergarten classrooms, learning has been reduced to scripted lessons and suspect metrics that too often undervalue a child’s intelligence while overtaxing the child’s growing brain. These mismatched expectations wreak havoc on the family: parents fear that if they choose the “wrong” program, their child won’t get into the “right” college. But Yale early childhood expert Erika Christakis says our fears are wildly misplaced. Our anxiety about preparing and safeguarding our children’s future seems to have reached a fever pitch at a time when, ironically, science gives us more certainty than ever before that young children are exceptionally strong thinkers. In her pathbreaking book, Christakis explains what it’s like to be a young child in America today, in a world designed by and for adults, where we have confused schooling with learning. She offers real-life solutions to real-life issues, with nuance and direction that takes us far beyond the usual prescriptions for fewer tests, more play. She looks at children’s use of language, their artistic expressions, the way their imaginations grow, and how they build deep emotional bonds to stretch the boundaries of their small worlds. Rather than clutter their worlds with more and more stuff, sometimes the wisest course for us is to learn how to get out of their way. Christakis’s message is energizing and reassuring: young children are inherently powerful, and they (and their parents) will flourish when we learn new ways of restoring the vital early learning environment to one that is best suited to the littlest learners. This bold and pragmatic challenge to the conventional wisdom peels back the mystery of childhood, revealing a place that’s rich with possibility.

It's OK Not to Share and Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids

It's OK Not to Share and Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids PDF Author: Heather Shumaker
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101597135
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 398

Get Book Here

Book Description
Parenting can be such an overwhelming job that it’s easy to lose track of where you stand on some of the more controversial subjects at the playground (What if my kid likes to rough house—isn’t this ok as long as no one gets hurt? And what if my kid just doesn’t feel like sharing?). In this inspiring and enlightening book, Heather Shumaker describes her quest to nail down “the rules” to raising smart, sensitive, and self-sufficient kids. Drawing on her own experiences as the mother of two small children, as well as on the work of child psychologists, pediatricians, educators and so on, in this book Shumaker gets to the heart of the matter on a host of important questions. Hint: many of the rules aren’t what you think they are! The “rules” in this book focus on the toddler and preschool years—an important time for laying the foundation for competent and compassionate older kids and then adults. Here are a few of the rules: • It’s OK if it’s not hurting people or property • Bombs, guns and bad guys allowed. • Boys can wear tutus. • Pictures don’t have to be pretty. • Paint off the paper! • Sex ed starts in preschool • Kids don’t have to say “Sorry.” • Love your kid’s lies. IT’S OK NOT TO SHARE is an essential resource for any parent hoping to avoid PLAYDATEGATE (i.e. your child’s behavior in a social interaction with another child clearly doesn’t meet with another parent’s approval)!

You Can Do Anything

You Can Do Anything PDF Author: George Anders
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316548855
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Get Book Here

Book Description
In a tech-dominated world, the most needed degrees are the most surprising: the liberal arts. Did you take the right classes in college? Will your major help you get the right job offers? For more than a decade, the national spotlight has focused on science and engineering as the only reliable choice for finding a successful post-grad career. Our destinies have been reduced to a caricature: learn to write computer code or end up behind a counter, pouring coffee. Quietly, though, a different path to success has been taking shape. In You Can Do Anything, George Anders explains the remarkable power of a liberal arts education - and the ways it can open the door to thousands of cutting-edge jobs every week. The key insight: curiosity, creativity, and empathy aren't unruly traits that must be reined in. You can be yourself, as an English major, and thrive in sales. You can segue from anthropology into the booming new field of user research; from classics into management consulting, and from philosophy into high-stakes investing. At any stage of your career, you can bring a humanist's grace to our rapidly evolving high-tech future. And if you know how to attack the job market, your opportunities will be vast. In this book, you will learn why resume-writing is fading in importance and why "telling your story" is taking its place. You will learn how to create jobs that don't exist yet, and to translate your campus achievements into a new style of expression that will make employers' eyes light up. You will discover why people who start in eccentric first jobs - and then make their own luck - so often race ahead of peers whose post-college hunt focuses only on security and starting pay. You will be ready for anything.

Preschool Math at Home: Simple Activities to Build the Best Possible Foundation for Your Child

Preschool Math at Home: Simple Activities to Build the Best Possible Foundation for Your Child PDF Author: Kate Snow
Publisher: Peace Hill Press
ISBN: 1942968744
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Get Book Here

Book Description
Giving your preschooler a great start in math doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn how to use fun but purposeful games and activities to give your young child the best possible foundation. Preschool Math at Home will guide you step-by-step as you introduce your preschooler to the world of numbers. Your child will develop a thorough understanding of the numbers up to ten, including: counting comparing and ordering numbers recognizing written numerals beginning addition and subtraction All of the activities are quick and playful, with lots of movement, manipulatives, and games. Each takes less than five minutes, with no special materials needed other than a few household items. Play each game several times for a full year of preschool math curriculum.

The Most Important Year

The Most Important Year PDF Author: Suzanne Bouffard
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0399184961
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Get Book Here

Book Description
An eye-opening look inside pre-K in America and what it will take to give all children the best start in school possible. At the heart of this groundbreaking book are two urgent questions: What do our young children need in the earliest years of school, and how do we ensure that they all get it? Cutting-edge research has proven that early childhood education is crucial for all children to gain the academic and emotional skills they need to succeed later in life. Children who attend quality pre-K programs have a host of positive outcomes including better language, literacy, problem-solving and math skills down the line, and they have a leg up on what appears to be the most essential skill to develop at age four: strong self-control. But even with this overwhelming evidence, early childhood education is at a crossroads in America. We know that children can and do benefit, but we also know that too many of our littlest learners don’t get that chance—millions of parents can’t find spots for their children, or their preschoolers end up in poor quality programs. With engrossing storytelling, journalist Suzanne Bouffard takes us inside some of the country’s best pre-K classrooms to reveal the sometimes surprising ingredients that make them work—and to understand why some programs are doing the opposite of what is best for children. It also chronicles the stories of families and teachers from many backgrounds as they struggle to give their children a good start in school. This book is a call to arms when we are at a crucial moment, and perhaps on the verge of a missed opportunity: We now have the means and the will to have universal pre-kindergarten, but we are also in grave danger of not getting it right.

Teach Smarter

Teach Smarter PDF Author: Vanessa J. Levin
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111969888X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
Discover new, practical methods for teaching literacy skills in your early childhood classroom. Has teaching early literacy skills become a stumbling block to getting your preschool students kindergarten ready? Break out of the tired “letter of the week” routine and learn how to transform your lessons with fun and effective techniques. Teach Smarter: Literacy Strategies for Early Childhood Teachers will equip teachers to infuse every aspect of their teaching with exciting hands-on literacy teaching methods that engage students and help them build authentic connections with books, so that 100% of their students will have a strong literacy foundation and will be fully prepared for success in kindergarten and beyond. Respected author Vanessa Levin, veteran early childhood educator and author of the “Pre-K Pages” blog, breaks down the research and translates it into realistic, actionable steps you can take to improve your teaching. Features specific examples of teaching techniques and activities that engage students in hands-on, experiential learning during circle time, centers, and small groups. Offers a simple, four-step system for teaching literacy skills, based on the foundational principles of early literacy teaching Demonstrates how to build your confidence in your ability to get 100% of your students ready for kindergarten, long before the end of the school year Understand the problems with traditional literacy teaching and identify gaps in your current teaching practice with this valuable resource.

Purposeful Play

Purposeful Play PDF Author: Kristine Mraz
Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
ISBN: 9780325077888
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Play is serious business. Whether it's reenacting a favorite book (comprehension and close reading), negotiating the rules for a game (speaking and listening), or collaborating over building blocks (college and career readiness and STEM), Kristi Mraz, Alison Porcelli, and Cheryl Tyler see every day how play helps students reach standards and goals in ways that in-their-seat instruction alone can't do. And not just during playtimes. "We believe there is play in work and work in play," they write. "It helps to have practical ways to carry that mindset into all aspects of the curriculum." In Purposeful Play, they share ways to: optimize and balance different types of play to deepen regular classroom learning teach into play to foster social-emotional skills and a growth mindset bring the impact of play into all your lessons across the day. "We believe that play is one type of environment where children can be rigorous in their learning," Kristi, Alison, and Cheryl write. So they provide a host of lessons, suggestions for classroom setups, helpful tools and charts, curriculum connections, teaching points, and teaching language to help you foster mature play that makes every moment in your classroom instructional. Play doesn't only happen when work is over. Children show us time and time again that play is the way they work. In Purposeful Play, you'll find research-driven methods for making play an engine for rigorous learning in your classroom.

Finding a Preschool for Your Child in San Francisco & Marin

Finding a Preschool for Your Child in San Francisco & Marin PDF Author: Lori Rifkin
Publisher: Pince Nez Press
ISBN: 9781930074125
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Finding a Preschool for Your Child in San Francisco & Marin profiles preschools in terms of school philosophy, goals, and curriculum, admission procedures, staff qualifications, fees, hours, extended care and vacation schedules, number of students and more. Many schools offer scholarships, free, or low cost programs. More than 120 San Francisco preschools and 85 Marin County preschools are profiled, including private independent schools, public preschools (including Head Start and programs sponsored by school districts), and preschools affiliated with colleges and universities. The authors advise parents on what to look for in a preschool and how to understand their child's needs through discussions of early childhood development and various approaches to curriculum and activities. A discussion of kindergarten readiness and what to look for in a kindergarten helps parents prepare for the next step.

My Magical Choices

My Magical Choices PDF Author: Becky Cummings
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781732596368
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Get Book Here

Book Description