Passionate About Children

  Behind every developing child is a team of caring adults, including parents, caregivers, early childhood practitioners and sometimes healthcare providers, all working together to support healthy growth. These relationships are at the heart of early childhood development. They provide the safety, encouragement and guidance that help young children build skills, confidence and resilience. Trained caregivers can observe development, spot concerns early and adapt their approach to meet a child’s needs, making a lasting impact. When early intervention is needed, these professionals often play a key role in identifying challenges and connecting families to support. That said, family members are the core. Everything from reading bedtime stories to helping children name emotions contributes to brain development and emotional well-being. With support and guidance, families become the most powerful advocates in a child’s life. Kids brains are still very much under construction. If ...

Building an Inclusive Environment in Early Childhood Classrooms As an early childhood educator, you have a unique opportunity to create a safe and welcoming learning environment for children. All children, regardless of family background, race and ethnicity, gender, and cognitive and physical ability deserve to feel they belong and that their teachers care about them. To promote these feelings of belonging and support the relationships you have with children in your care, it is important that you embed practices that support inclusion in your classroom environment and your teaching practices.                                        Young children playfully hugging on a playground. Research has established many long-standing benefits to promoting inclusion in early childhood. How young children are treated has a dramatic impact on how they view themselves and the world a...