Planning age-appropriate activities is key to having a successful preschool program. In this episode, Cheryl Hatch, founder of the blog Preschool Plan It, shares her tips for working with preschoolers. She emphasizes the importance of contextual learning, scaffolding and supporting preschoolers through this learning stage!
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Working with children with autism and ADHD often means working intimately with their families. In this episode, we have a conversation with Umesh Jain, child psychiatrist at SickKids Hospital, about the biology and psychology of children with autism. He shares tips on how to identify children with autism in the early years, and how to work with families to support their development.
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Turnover is one of the biggest challenges of running a child care business. In this episode, Marnie Forestieri, CEO of Young Innovators, shares how she implemented an innovative business model that encourages ownership, promotes accountability and has improved her staff turnover, program quality, and income. If you’re a child care entrepreneur looking for a new way to improve your business, this is a must listen for you!
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Caring for toddlers is one of the more challenging stages of early childhood development. In this episode, we chat with Raelene Ostberg, Founder of Thriving Together, about how toddlers are often difficult to work with because they are misunderstood. She shares her tips for reframing our approach of engaging with toddlers to work with them in a constructive way. This is a MUST listen if you’re working with toddlers in any capacity as an educator or a parent!
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Phone skills are often an overlooked aspect of running a child care program. In this episode, we have a conversation with Jaren Hall, CEO of Intellikid Systems on why training your preschool staff to have good phone skills is so important in making a good first impression on prospective families.
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Episode 169 - Play is how children learn and develop in their early childhood years. In this episode, we interview Dr. Elanna Yalow, Chief Academic Officer at KinderCare, on how teachers can support children as they learn through play. She highlights how play and academics are not separate from each other. Instead, it is the instinctive way that young children learn how to problem solve and develop skills. We discuss some strategies that educators can use to incorporate play into their practice.
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Owning and operating a child care business is highly entrepreneurial. In this episode, Tony D’Agostino, CEO and Founder of Inspire Care 360, shares the importance of setting a strong operations foundation in order to build a sustainable business. We talk about the key elements that child care business owners need to pay attention to and why making the investment in developing business savvy on your team is worth it.
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As much as early education is all about working with kids, it is also about supporting young parents in their journey of raising their child. In this episode, we interview Mary Muhs, the Department Chair of Early Education at Rasmussen College, on how to build a strong family culture at your program. She shares how family relationships can influence the quality of your work with the kids in the classroom and strategies on communicating with parents that center on relationship-building.
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Early education has been getting more public attention as parents become more informed about the importance of quality early education for their children’s development. In this episode, we chat with Laura Fallsgraff, Co-Producer and Campaign Director of No Small Matter, about the impact of their documentary about the urgency and possibility of making quality early education a reality. She shares tips on how local advocates for child care can use the resource and involving communities in the conversation.
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Bringing some playfulness into the daily routine of our early educators can be a great way for early learning leaders to build a team that will grow with your business. In this episode, we interview Glory Ressler, Director of Education, Training & Data at Mothercraft about the importance of having fun at work and maintaining a sense of playfulness. She shares actionable tips on what child care Directors and Owners can do to prioritize some fun at work and build meaningful connections between staff.
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Child care can be an isolating field where professionals are siloed in their work. In this episode, Lisa Guerrero, Co-Founder of Positive Spin, shares her work on systems thinking to bring more connection between professionals in the field. She talks to us about shifting from a mindset of being subjected to the system with no agency, towards seeing each person as part of a system of leaders that can have an impact and lead positive change.
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Financial health directly impacts the ability for a child care business to provide quality programming and grow. In this episode, Kathy Ligon, CEO of Hinge Brokers, shares her top 5 elements that child care business owners should monitor to achieve good financial health - occupancy rates, tuition rates, discounting, expenses and rent. She also talks about the benefits and challenges that child care owners might face when growing the business.
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Child care is an entrepreneurial field. In this episode, Anne Douglass, the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation, talks about the concept of entrepreneurial leadership and how it applies to all levels of the sector. She shares the goals of the Institute, the mindset required to become an entrepreneurial leader, the skills to develop, and concrete steps that early educators can take to improve their childcare programs!
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Early childhood is an important time for kiddos to develop the fine and gross motor skills needed for a healthy life ahead. Mary Lynn Hafner, Physical Therapist and author of The Joy Of Movement, shares her passion for movement and strategies for age-appropriate activities to support physical development. She explains how to incorporate exploration, discovery, selection, repetition, and imitation when working with young kids as well as how patience is key as each individual will develop at their own pace!
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Continuous professional development is so important, especially now as the sector is going through a labor crisis. In this episode, we chat with Susan Macdonald about her upcoming book, Inspiring Professional Growth. She shares some pointers on vision-focused professional development, professional accountability, supporting the growth of different staff members and achievable goal-setting.
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How is your child care business doing relative to your peers? This year, HiMama partnered with Kris Murray from The Child Care Business Success Company on the report. This is the fourth consecutive year that labor is listed as the biggest organizational risk in the industry. We discuss the impact of leadership, culture, and how to have and live your core values.
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Socioemotional skills are developed when children are young. Positive relationships have a big impact on how children grow into productive adults. In this episode, Christine Schmidt, shares the 7 Cs of social competency which are curiosity, control, conflict resolution, coping, confidence, communication and community building. She also offers some practical tips on how to create an environment that encourages children to build their skills.
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Making Lemonade is a book that teaches optimistic thinking in an early learning context. We had the opportunity to chat with Laura Colker and Derry Koralek, co-authors of the book, about their belief that learned optimism is key to helping young children grow into healthy and well-rounded individuals. They share their passion for the subject and some practical activities that educators and parents can incorporate into their routines.
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Getting accredited is becoming the standard as parents are getting more knowledgable on the importance of early childhood education. In this episode, Storm Webb, Executive Director of the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA), talks about different things that providers should be thinking about before getting accredited, how the accreditation process works and shares trends that she’s noticing in the field.
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Teaching young children should be a fun and creative process. In this episode, Stuart J Murphy, children’s author, shares his experience developing his book series, Math Start and I See I Learn. He gives us tips on combining and engaging story, illustration and the learning material through visual learning. Stuart emphasizes that children learn through contextualizing their experience and why he’s passionate about using stories as a teaching tool.
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The Yale-China Program on Child Development is a cross-cultural program that promotes exchanges and cooperation between China and the US in early education and child development. In this episode, Dr. Tong Liu, the Executive Director of the program shares her belief that all children, no matter where they are in the world, deserve to have access to quality early education. She talks about both countries can benefit from exchanging best practices and the trends that she’s seen in recent years.
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Burnout is a common challenge for early childhood educators and a lot of teachers are leaving the field entirely because they are overworked and underpaid in the profession. In this episode, we talk to Ellen Drolette, author of the book Overcoming Teacher Burnout in Early Childhood, about different ways to prioritize making time for self-care and establishing balance as a child care provider. She shares tips on managing workflow, shifting mindsets and creating an environment that sets you up for success and overcome burnout.
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Socio-emotional development in early learning builds the foundation for emotional awareness and communication. In this episode, we chat with Allen Croxall and Dr. Regina Rees about Tools For Life, a resource that was developed to teach children how to process and express their emotions. They share their passion for the approach and the benefit of having a common language to talk about and work through emotions for adults and young children.
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As the demand for quality child care increases, parents often find themselves starting their own child care businesses to fulfill their needs. In this episode, Bernadette Testani, Head of School at Atelier Kids, shares her experience opening and running her Reggio-inspired centers. We talk about how she developed her passion for the Reggio Emilia philosophy and how she implements it for both programming and teacher training. She gives us tips on building a collaborative environment that balances the needs of her teachers and families.
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Working with young children with developmental disabilities is both a challenging and rewarding experience for child care professionals. In this episode, we interview Lynette Klejka, Assistant Director of Inclusion at the Summit County Board of Developmental Disabilities in Ohio about the Community Partnerships for Inclusion (CPI) program that she runs. She talks to us about the importance of seeing a child first and the diagnosis second when supporting children of varying abilities in the classroom and shares some strategies for the classroom.
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