[Kalista McCafferty]

I practice deep breathing with my students. We start by “blowing out candles”, where I hold up my fingers and they try and “blow them out”. After that we take some deep breaths and practice regulating our breath I also have them move their hands and arms up and down as they breath in and out.

[Kalista McCafferty]

When I am feeling burned out I take a few minutes at that moment to breathe and regulate my emotions. When I have more time I will then take the time to ask myself why am I feeling this way and try to fix that issue.

[Kalista McCafferty]

Responsive exchanges between adults and children are very important to children’s emotional and social development. One thing I would do to help encourage children is to validate their emotions and ensure they know they are perfectly normal. Even “negative” emotions like anger and sadness I want to acknowledge their feelings and that it is ok to feel them they just can’t hurt people because of them.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I have found that my best reliever to stress is to keep my work life and personal life separate. When I get home at the end of the day I tell my wife about my day and the funny things the kids did that day but that’s it. Or maybe I vent for a little bit but I don’t go on and on in excess. I keep the negative or difficult parts of my job out of my home so that I can leave that stress behind and allow it to fall away naturally.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I would encourage them to have meaningful “conversations” with the children in their care. I put conversations in quotes because while you can hold a conversation with a kid who is 3-4 and up, that “conversation” is going to look very different for children 0-3. You are doing most of the actual talking and pretty much just responding to what they say.

[Kalista McCafferty]

Yes, I think that in situations of emergency or danger written childcare polices are helpful. I think that this is also helpful in cases of illness so that we can provide a written copy for the parents as well if they have any questions or concerns.

[Kalista McCafferty]

A single-level crib, infant bed, bassinet, or play pen with a firm mattress and a fitted sheet with nothing else in the space.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I think you can make healthy habits fun by taking the shame out of them. So often adults will place a large amount of shame and judgment around “bad health” or people who have different health habits than them. Rather than say “Brush your teeth so you’re breath doesn’t smell” say “Brush your teeth to keep them strong” or instead of “Take a bath every day so you aren’t the stinky kid in class” instead you should say “Take a bath so that you can feel good and clean”.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I think that to build a good relationship you need to be able to have open and consistent communication with the child’s families and encourage asking questions or seeking out help for the sake of the child.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I think encouraging each child’s creativity and individuality will help them get engaged in learning. As well as finding a way to involve each child in some way, like giving them each jobs during circle time or when getting ready to go outside, will make them want to participate and engage their attention.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I have found when first implementing a schedule for children starting slow with a few activities at specific times, like meals, outside time, and nap time, get them used to the idea of having things at specific times and then make it easier to transition to a fully scheduled day. For older kids having the schedule posted somewhere they can see allows them to comprehend what is happening. Even if the children can’t read yet, having it posted with simple pictures they can understand allows them to be able to know what is happening in their day and feel in control of their own bodies and life.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I think it is extremely important to have a variety of activities available to children in an early learning setting. I think that not only does this allow children different opportunities for play but it encourages children to try new activities or toys that they might not have previously been interested in.

[Kalista McCafferty]

Observing and documenting a child’s behavior will help early learning professionals by allowing us to keep track of a child’s progress and what benchmarks they are or are not meeting. It also allows us to see what behaviors, especially problematic behaviors, are consistent and what manners of addressing them are helpful and what isn’t. It also helps as they move classrooms or schools that we have a written down history of their growth that will help new teachers.

[Kalista McCafferty]

I would begin the conversation by asking her why she is so late and explain that we want to be able to give her the support she needs but that we do have rules in place for a reason. I would explain that per state guidelines children can only be in care for up to 10 hours a day for the sake of their development and attachment. I would also explain that young children are often strict creatures of routine and have a very good internal sense of time and being inconsistent about when they are picked up can be very damaging to them.

Depending on the center and its regulations I might also explain that we are legally not allowed to have children past a certain point due to insurance, staffing or other factors.

[Kalista McCafferty]

WAC 110-300-0160 is titled “Promoting acceptance of diversity.”

It focuses on creating a diverse and welcoming environment that allows every student in our program to be able to share about their life, family, and culture. This includes providing diverse dolls, toys, posters and books that do not perpetuate stereotypes, as well as different types of cultural music, and educational materials. And finally we must also be constantly aware of our own biases