preschool – Parenting by Dr. Rene

Teachers: How to Answer Young Children’s Questions and Concerns About Stressful Community Events

Stressful events in the life of a child can include community stressors like the D.C. sniper shootings, our country making a declaration of war or a stock market crash. These community stressors impact the child based on how much they impact the child’s parents and how much information is being shared with the child, often … Continue reading Teachers: How to Answer Young Children’s Questions and Concerns About Stressful Community Events

What to Do When Your Child Says “I Don’t Wanna Go to School”

At some point, most children go through a phase of not wanting to go to school. For others, that push can ebb and flo for years. My younger daughter, Claire, has always had a difficult time going back after the Winter Break. There were tears in January throughout elementary school. Smooth, calm morning – I … Continue reading What to Do When Your Child Says “I Don’t Wanna Go to School”

Things to Consider When Choosing a Preschool

If you are hoping to enroll in a preschool, there is a lot to consider. A great place to start is scheduling visits to all the preschools you are considering. This may be individual tours or open houses which could be offered while children are in classes or not. If children are in classes, it’s … Continue reading Things to Consider When Choosing a Preschool

A Great Start to the School Year

After a relaxing summer, getting into the school routine can be a tough transition. There are lots of small things to do to help the school year get off to a great start. Good night, good breakfast and calm morning – Do what you can the night before including pack lunches, pick outfits and review … Continue reading A Great Start to the School Year

Ideas for Reading Aloud with Young Children

The Department of Education cites reading aloud with children as the number one way to build successful readers. The goal is reading aloud to children for a minimum of 20 minutes a day in order to build a love of stories and books. Reading aloud with very young children can be a challenge. Here are … Continue reading Ideas for Reading Aloud with Young Children

Parents, Please Assume Positive Intent from Teachers

It’s the start of a new school year. This may be your first year of preschool, or your third year at an elementary school. Wherever your child is in their school career, there is always the possibility of your child having difficulty in the classroom or with the program. When this happens, it is often … Continue reading Parents, Please Assume Positive Intent from Teachers

Ask Them How They Want to Be Helped

Whether your four-year-old is working on a hard puzzle, or your fourth grader is struggling through math homework, when they ask for your help, start by asking them how they would like to be helped. If you swoop in and give them your brand of helping, you may be doing too much, which discourages independent … Continue reading Ask Them How They Want to Be Helped

Types of Preschools: From Our Panel Discussion

I learned so much at our recent panel discussion on types of preschools, and am excited to share this with you. Each year we invite speakers from a variety of area preschools to speak about their philosophy and the importance of their approach. Each also talks a bit about what happens in the typical day … Continue reading Types of Preschools: From Our Panel Discussion

Early Math Skills

I had the pleasure this morning of talking to 220 home daycare providers. Most of them work with children birth through five years old. The topic was the importance of introducing math concepts and ways to best do this by age. Below are a few take-aways for parents from the workshop. Math is much wider … Continue reading Early Math Skills

Parent Tips from Teachers

This time of year, I provide a lot of teacher trainings at area preschools and grade schools. I have been listening the last two weeks and wanted to share some tips from these teachers for parents as we all start the school year. Know the school’s policies – This means, read the handbook. If you … Continue reading Parent Tips from Teachers