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A preschooler will undergo a screening when there is some concern regarding their development.  Usually, parents notice that their child is not walking by a certain age or that their language is not developing appropriately.  Also, daycares will recommend to a parent that their child be screened due to concerns about language, behavior, or socialization.  Not all children are evaluated.  A child is referred for a developmental screening only when there is a concern regarding a delay in development.  Preschool evaluations typically occur when a child is between 3 and 5 years of age.

Developmental Tests

There are many different methods of evaluation.  Most commonly, a child will receive a measure of cognitive functioning (i.e., an IQ test).  This attempts to provide a general description of how a child will perform on certain types of verbal and non-verbal tasks.

An IQ test may look at vocabulary skills, block building skills, conceptual thinking and problem solving. Children are also given tests of language development (word usage and understanding), learning and academics (letters, colors, numbers, etc), memory, organization and planning, fine motor skills, sensory-integration (how they tolerate sensory information), and gross-motor skills.

All of these tests compare a child to other children in their age range.  The parents are then provided with scores describing their child’s performance.  So, for example, if your child’s score was at the 50^th percentile, that means they are functioning above 50% of the children in their age range.  Parents are also asked to complete forms.  These forms attempt to determine a child’s level of adaptive functioning (i.e., self-care, communication, socialization skills).

There are also forms that assess specific behaviors such as attention and hyperactivity, social language and behavior, as well as organization and self-regulation skills.  Sometimes, the current daycare or child-care provider is also asked to complete these forms.  All of this information is compiled and an educational plan is generated (if necessary).

These evaluations can be done through your local school district or by private providers. Most school districts provide these evaluations at not cost to the parent.  Private evaluations are conducted by independently licensed professionals and are usually on a fee-for-service basis.

Depending on the age of the child and the type of coverage, medical insurance will sometimes cover the cost of a private evaluation.  Parents should consult with their local school district, local disabilities organization or with national centers such as the Learning Disabilities Association of American.

Special Services and Intervention

There are special services and interventions available for children who are at  risk for developmental delays. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), children who are identified as having a delay in a developmental domain typically qualify for special education services.  These services vary and are determined by the child’s Individualized Educational Program (IEP).

Services can range from no services, to “Related Services Only” (i.e., no special class placement but the child receives speech/ occupational/ physical/ play therapy), to placement in a special class.  A child will be provided a  therapist to address any specific need that they may have (i.e., Speech-Language Pathologist for language difficulties, Occupational therapist for fine-motor and/or sensory-integration issues, etc.).

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This Handprint Christmas wreath is a fun holiday activity that promotes both creative and fine motor skill development.

When developing curriculum, daycare providers must include age-appropriate activities for young children that develop fine motor skills. This Christmas wreath craft is an activity that will support a Christmas learning unit as well as promote visual motor coordination, bilateral coordination, and hand strength.

According to Art and Creative Development for Young Children by Schirrmacher and Fox [Delmar Cengage Learning, 2008], “Creative expression fosters emotional development and positive mental health by validating the uniqueness of the individual…Creativity fosters success and mastery since there is no one right way involved…Children feel worthy and confident knowing that they can have an effect on their environment”.

Preschool teachers and daycare providers have the opportunity to foster creative development in young children by providing art activities that explore media and materials and encourage imagination.

Handprint Christmas Wreath Materials List
Butcher paper
Green construction paper
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Embellishments such as ribbons, sequins, and glitter, construction paper

Activity Preparation

Gather Materials. Then, cover a craft table with butcher paper. Place all materials on the craft table

Procedures for Handprint Christmas Wreath Activity
1.    Invite the children over and explain to them that they can create colorful Christmas wreaths using cutouts of their handprints.
2.    Help children trace their handprint on the green construction paper and cut them out.
3.    Using craft glue, help children attach the handprints together by arranging them in a circle with the wrists overlapping and the fingers pointing outward.
4.    Children can add decorative embellishments to make their wreaths unique.
5.    Allow to dry completely.

Handprint Christmas Wreath Learning Objectives

Objective 1: To provide the opportunity to Increase bilateral coordination, hand strength, and visual-motor coordination by squeezing glue containers
Verbal Cue A: Let’s glue decorations on to the wreath.
Verbal Cue B: Can you squeeze a little glue on the back of each handprint?

Objective 2: To provide the opportunity for increased visual-motor coordination by using scissors to cut straight and wavy lines
Verbal Cue A: Can you cut handprint that we traced?
Verbal Cue B: I like how you are cutting the handprint out of the green paper.

Object 3: To encourage spontaneity in material usage by allowing the children to choose colors.
Verbal Cue A: “Which decorations would you like to use to make your wreath?”
Verbal Cue B: “I like the way you are using your glitter!”

This handprint wreath craft is a fun, creative activity that children ages 2 and older will certainly enjoy. Use a wide variety of colors and encourage sensory discoveries. For more daycare and preschool activities, see Online Preschool Lesson Plans.

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Many daycare providers ask the question: How does access to technology (television, video games, computers, etc.) affect young children in my daycare? What are acceptable limits per day with regard to access to technology? We picked the brain of Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist and sensory specialist with expertise on the impact of technology overuse on child health and academic performance, and CEO of Zone’in Programs Inc. In Part 3 of our interview with Cris Rowen, Rowen describes how technology impacts child development and solutions to its impact.

OwnADaycare: How can daycare providers partner with parents to address the impact of technology on child development?

Cris Rowan: Following a keynote I gave at our community’s Early Intervention conference in Oct. the daycare/preschool community decided to restrict all technology from their settings, and even put up “No Technology” signs for parents to discourage bringing devices into their centers. They have also distributed my “Unplug’in for Parents” brochure to parents as an initial parent info initiative.

OwnADaycare: Tell me a little bit about Zone in programs and how they might repair the effect of technology on children?

Cris Rowan: Zone’in is a self regulation program derived from sensory integration theory. Zone’in is designed to help children understand their body energy, and how to get their energy in the Zone to listen and learn. Paying attention is integral for school entry. Zone’in comes with DVD, posters, Zone-O-Meters, and Zone’in Tools and Techniques.

Move’in enhances pre-literacy skill through an assessment and developmentally appropriate interventions. 30% of children are entering school developmentally delayed, and teachers have quite teaching printing, resulting in failure to achieve literacy. Through playing a fun board game and watching a DVD, Move’in helps children, parents and teachers identify developmental delays and how to improve printing skill.

Unplug’in enables children to build confidence and skill in areas other than technology use. Exploring the Me, We, Nature and Spirit dimensions helps children learn more about how they relate to the world, and helps them to explore their own relationship to technology, and work toward development of other skills and interests.

Virtual Child: The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children is my new book available now at www.zonein.ca or on Amazon.com after Dec. 15. In here I profile the problems associated with technology overuse, the critical elements children need to optimize development, and my balanced technology management concepts for six target sectors to reverse the effects of technology on children: parents, teachers, health professionals, government, researchers and technology production corporations.

Live’in Resource Guide is a media literacy program for homes, schools and communities and is an adjunct to Virtual Child, and has everything needed to implement technology management programs immediately in a variety of environments.

OwnADaycare: Do you have any additional comments?

Cris Rowan: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend 1-2 hours per day of technology use. Preschool age children are using 4.5 hours per day in the home setting. Consequently daycares and preschool need to adopt a policy of NO TECHNOLOGY and loads of movement, touch and human connection to counteract this damage.

Read part 1: Here
Read part 2: Here

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Many daycare providers ask the question: How does access to technology (television, video games, computers, etc.) affect young children in my daycare? What are acceptable limits per day with regard to access to technology? We picked the brain of Cris Rowan, pediatric occupational therapist and sensory specialist with expertise on the impact of technology overuse on child health and academic performance, and CEO of Zone’in Programs Inc. In our interview with Cris Rowen, Rowen describes how technology impacts child development and solutions to its impact.

OwnADaycare: Isn’t technology supposed to make our lives and the lives of our children easier and more efficient?

Cris Rowan: Technology is the single most destructive factor to child health ever witnessed by humankind, and has gravely put the sustainability of our children’s future in peril. Children who are high users of technology may not outlive their parents. Sedentary aspects of technology use, combined with inherent isolation from other human beings, is resulting in a host of physical, mental, social and academic impairments that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand.

Connection to technology is disconnecting human relationships.   Preferring devices over time spent in human connection, reflects a society that has lost the significance of the “pack”.  For hundreds of years humans hunted, gathered and farmed in groups.  Work was highly physical, and isolation from the tribe meant certain death.  Survival required members rely on each other, resulting in the formation of close relationships and attachments.

Now, socialization is minimal.  The family dining room table has been replaced by the “big screen” with vibrating cell phones, classrooms are rapidly becoming “virtual” as playgrounds disappear, and workplace cubicles become a haven to increasingly depressed, anxious and compulsive employees. The actual values we used to build the foundations and structures for home, school and work systems are disappearing before our very eyes.  Communication, discipline, caring, playfulness, independence, and exploring nature don’t seem to be important constructs anymore – we simply just don’t have time.

While technology may appear to be making life easy, processing multiple incoming stimuli is overloading the brain and actually reducing overall productivity.  Have we evolved to accommodate this sedentary, yet chaotic existence?  With brains moving faster and faster, and bodies moving slower and slower, the sustainability of the human species is truly in peril.

OwnADaycare: What types of access to technology should daycare providers allow young children? In other words how can they use technology in the preschool or daycare setting to a child’s benefit?

Cris Rowan: None! Children in daycare and preschool settings are there to enhance developmental skills for pre-literacy. Children who are sedentary are not stimulating their sensory and motor systems required for literacy. Movement stimulates the vestibular and proprioceptive sensory systems integral for eventual attainment of core stability, motor coordination, eye tracking and optimal arousal for paying attention.

OwnADaycare: How many hours per day or per week should daycare providers allow children access to technology?

Cris Rowan: None! The overwhelming research showing the detrimental effects of technology on the preschool population indicates that the use of technology in daycares and preschools should be prohibited by licensing bodies.

OwnADaycare: What are some things daycare providers can do to address the impact of technology on child development?

Ensure children receive adequate amounts of the critical factors for child development e.g. movement, touch and human connection. Ensure playgrounds adequately stimulate the vestibular, tactile and proprioceptive sensory systems, while also encouraging social communication. I have a webinar on my website www.zonein.ca on how to create sensational yet safe playgrounds.

Read Part I Here

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Every 6th day of December, we celebrate St. Nicholas Day. Saint Nicholas was once a priest who later on became a bishop. He had always loved children and the poor. Saint Nicholas Day is a great opportunity to teach the child about Santa Claus’ origin. Surely, with these preschool activities, children will enjoy the celebration of Saint Nicholas Day.

St. Nicholas’ Story
Read stories about St. Nicholas to the children. Saint Nicholas lives around 300 years following Jesus in the town of Myra. He grew to be a priest there. He had always loved children. One time, he knew about some poor family in Myra who has not enough money for clothing or food. One night, he left money inside a bag on the family’s doorstep. Twice did he come back there and on his third return, the family’s father saw him leave money inside a bag.

Later on, Saint Nicholas became Myra’s Bishop. He continued caring for the children and the poor. Because of the great acts he did, he was canonized as a saint. He later on became known as Santa Claus. After telling the Story, the children can be visited by Saint Nicholas during their sleeping time. Near their sleeping mats, you can leave them chocolate coins. And when they get up, they will see the “money” that Saint Nicholas gave them.

Children’s Letters for Santa Claus
It has been part of the tradition every Christmas for children to write letters for Santa Claus. There are a lot of ways for the children to do this. One way is for every child to tell you his wish list while you jot it down for them. The children can also decorate their letters’ pages with drawings about Christmas. Then ask them to sign the list with their names after. Using a big box of cardboard, create a mailbox where children can mail the letters.

Another way is for you to distribute toy advertisements and catalogues to children. Let the children find the toy they want the most then cut out those pictures. Glue the pictures on a picture and have the children decorate the letters. Then ask them to sign the letters with their names. Place the letters inside envelopes then put them in a mail box where children can mail the letters.

What Is Saint Nicholas Bringing?
With this game, the children can have fun pretending like he or she is Saint Nicholas. All you need are a sack and a whole lot of different toys around the room. For the sack, you can sew one using a velvet material that is red. Or if you don’t want to make your own sack, you can just use any bag.

At the center of the room, lay down different toys. For how many minutes, let the children look at the toys then remove them after. Pick a child who will play Saint Nicholas. Ask the other children to have their eyes closed while Saint Nicholas picks a toy. Put the toy inside the bag after. Then, ask the kids to guess what toy is inside the bag as Saint Nicholas gives them clues about it. A variation of this game is to let the kids touch the bag and guess what’s inside it. The kid who correctly guesses what the toy is will be the next Saint Nicholas.

See: How to start a daycare business

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In a preschool facility, one of the most important tasks to consider at the beginning of the school year is the appearance and layout of the classroom. A preschool or day-care classroom is normally a child’s first taste of school, and so, it must be a place where a can enjoy learning. It should also be an environment where a child feels secure, optimistic, and nurtured.

When thinking of a preschool centre’s layout, one must also bear in mind that while it should be a place that’s suitable for learning and other activities (i.e. playing, eating, etc.), it should also be child-friendly and safe. It is not a secret that toddlers have high levels of energy, so they should be able to move freely in the classroom without any danger of being hurt.

Fun Comes in Small Sizes
There have been several theories by educational experts on what should be a preschool classroom’s layout. One of the most popular theories was formulated by Maria Montessori. For Montessori, the size of all the furniture in a preschool classroom, including chairs, tables, and shelves, should be proportional to the size of the students.

If you are in the processes of building your own day-care or simply aiming to improve your existing classroom, try to put yourself in the shoes of a child. Kneel down while viewing the area so that you will more or less get the child’s eye view. It is also advisable to divide the room into different sections such as: art, blocks, dramatic play, music, library, and science. You can have more depending on the curriculum that you have and your teaching style. Some preschool teachers set-up a writing area near the bookshelves or library, or if the area allows it, an indoor play area is also included.

Keep in mind that some sections need to be bigger than the others. For instance, areas like blocks and dramatic play need more space and tend to be noisy most of the time. As such, it is advisable to group these sections in one part of the room. On the other hand, areas for more activities that need silence (i.e. reading, writing, art, etc.) should be placed at the opposite side of the room. You may divide the room using shelves or duct tape.

Ideally, the storytelling and show and tell area should be situated at the center of the room. Just make sure to that this area does not have obstructions and huge objects, so that your students can comfortably form a group whenever necessary. Meanwhile, the walls of the room should be filled with artistic and colourful decorations such as artwork, weather chart, photos of the birthday celebrants, and more.

Put a Label On It!
Although very few preschoolers already have the ability to read, everything in the room should be properly labelled. This will promote awareness of printed letters and words among the students and teach them basic vocabulary. By the end of the school year probably would be able to recognize the letters in the labels and even read them on their own.

The different sections of the room should also have corresponding labels. These labels can be hanged above the ceiling or posted on the walls. To help children recognize the areas that these labels pertain to, you can add pictures related to the activities done in each area. For instance, draw or cut-out pictures of crayons, pencil, and paint brush with the Art Center sign.

See: How to start a cleaning business

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Children who are usually enrolled to a daycare center are usually between the ages of 0 to six years old. This means that there are greater chances for the children enroled in your daycare to still be unaware of how and when to use the potty. It is therefore important for any daycare center to help the children’s parents and work with them hand in hand when it comes to teaching the children about potty training and how to make this experience a definitely great experience for them as well.

Introduce Potty Training – Even if your child will usually mingle with children of the same age bracket, chances are different children will have different backgrounds when it comes to potty training. There are some children who at the young age of two or three are able to say when they need to go to the potty while there are those who at the age of four still end up peeing in their underwear. Even at a very young age, peer pressure can already occur most especially when your child notices that other children are able to go to the potty while he or she is still unaware of what and how to use a potty. It is therefore important for you to introduce potty training to your child before enrolling him or her to a daycare center. The daycare center is just there to reinforce your teaching but it is the parent’s responsibility to primarily teach their child about potty training.

Potty Training Rules – You should definitely set rules and guidelines when it comes to potty training .This experience should be something that you child will not be afraid of and would actually look forward to.

Progress Reports – Speak with the childcare provider often to exchange progress reports. Both of you need to be aware of any successes or potential problems. If the daycare worker tells you that your child used the potty earlier that day, be sure and tell your child that that you heard about his or her success and that you are proud of him or her.

How to Conduct Potty Training in Your Daycare

In your daycare center, you will be dealing with lots of kids and with different ages. Of course, you need to conduct potty training in order to teach some kids under your facility. You need to do planning in order for you to successfully train young kids. You need to focus to toilet training, if you can’t do it, you can ask your staff to do it for you.

You need to have the right materials for it. You need to have lots of potties and underpants in your daycare center and even advise the parents to have it in their homes. Underpants should be colored. You need to get pictures of cartoon characters that are wearing underpants. It is s practical solution to have diaper or underpants for any trips. But, make sure that you treat underpants as real pants and not diapers.

See: How to start a daycare business

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The obvious answer to this very common question is absolutely NO.
It isn’t really necessary for you to enrol your child to a preschool just to be assured of his or her success in the future. Your child can definitely excel and do well in Kindergarten and even in his or her later years even if he or she was never enrolled to the services of a preschool. What could even happen when you enrol your child to a preschool is that he or she might find the experience traumatizing and might cause him and her to decide that school is not actually his or her cup of tea. Of course, this could trigger far worse problems in your child’s future than you ever think of.

One of the most important things you should do in order for you to be able to decide whether or not it is actually necessary for you to enroll your child to a preschool is to check out the programs and curriculum that various preschools have set up and boast of. Ideally, preschool should help integrate children socially so they learn about the rules and structures of society in general and school society in particular. In addition, preschool helps students begin a foundation of academic knowledge including literacy, numbers, and culture.

Even if you do not enroll your child to a preschool, you can still be assured that he or she will gain the right knowledge that he or she needs at that stage on his or her life by coming up with your own home preschool program. You can get a great deal of information on how to create your own home preschool program and what exactly do you need to include in it. There are packaged curriculums available for purchase, materials available from local libraries, and information available on the internet. You can choose a program created entirely by someone else or create your own individual program to suit you and your child. Some television programs even offer additional material on the internet to supplement programming that would be suitable for a homes schooling project.

If you are indeed a motivated parent, then you can surely come up with a quality program for your child where he or she can excel and succeed in the future. Keep in mind your main goals for coming up with your own home schooling program and constantly ask yourself what do you want your child or children to learn. This can definitely keep you on the right track.

Benefits You Can Get From Daycare
Time management has become ever more difficult most especially if you happen to be a parent, a full time employee and a whole lot more. There’s just a great deal of responsibilities you have to attend to making it very much difficult for you to manage your time with your career, your family and your children in particular. For this reason alone, it would definitely be necessary for you to enrol your child in a daycare center that you can entrust your child with that could also give you the peace of mind that you need while at work knowing that your child is in good hands while you try your best to assure him or her of a successful and stable life in the future.

The most important benefit you can get from enrolling your child to a daycare center is the convenience and peace of mind that you need. By enrolling your child to a daycare center, you are temporarily freed from certain responsibilities and can therefore attend to your work full time. Daycare like any other institute, has been in existence in exercising the brain of the child, using some kinds of playing tools to implement a state of understanding and enhancing the assimilation of knowledge in a child before preparing for studies.

This also helps in the reduction of stress. Therefore, another need of day care to parents is the stress it helps in reducing. A very striking thing about day care is the relationship it develops between the parents and the day care provider. Relationship on itself has a fundamental role to play in the life of child, a wrong relationship can corrupt a child through the use of wrong information. Parents are hereby advised to undergo proper education before choosing a day care provider.

How Your Child Can Benefit From Daycare
If you think that parents are the only ones who can benefit from daycare centers, then you are definitely wrong. In fact, even your children can benefit a lot by being enrolled to daycare centers where they can learn a lot of things and of course mingle with different types of people. Chances are, when you enroll your child to a daycare center, a certain sense of responsibility and independence is automatically imposed on him and her. This means that since you would not get to be with your child while in the daycare, he or she should be responsible to attend to his needs and would therefore be required to interact with others. You child would also start to become more understanding of certain things which is definitely hard to instill on them.

Truth be told, even if it could probably pain you to know, your child does not need or require you to be by his or her side 24/7. Your child needs his or her friends and needs to be able to deal with different types of people whom she or he will meet in the daycare center. He need interaction with other children, it never too early to start engaging him in activities of other children other babies, toddlers or older children. Interacting with other children will create in him a whole sense of understanding, exposing him to other children with different manners of believe; note that this will be of great assistance to him in the long run of keeping friendship.

Children benefits from childcare by learning self-control, how to get along with others and how to share. The best place to teach a child should be childcare as the environment is gentler and an opportunity of mixing-up with other children is provided, this also he will be used to before getting into kindergarten.

See: How to start a cdaycare business

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