CMAS

New 3-part webinar series: Understanding and Guiding Children’s Behaviour

Behaviour is one of the many ways that children communicate with us, so it’s important for us to be able to recognize and strive to understand children’s behaviour in our programs. Participants in this webinar series will be encouraged to think about behaviour differently while gaining deeper understanding and strategies for their programs.

Module 1–Understanding & Guiding Children's Behaviour: Perspectives

Module 2–Understanding & Guiding Children's Behaviour: Cultural Considerations

Module 3–Understanding & Guiding Children's Behaviour: Environmental Considerations


Newcomer Parent Resource Series: Available in 16 Languages

Refugee parents come to Canada with unique settlement needs, and language barriers that make it challenging to get information to support their parenting, children’s development, and the health and safety of their family here in Canada. We’ve developed a series of 14 parent resources to help - and they’re available in the 16 languages most commonly spoken by refugee families here in Canada!

CNC Research

Research in Canada and globally has shown that Care for Newcomer Children (CNC) is an innovative model for the delivery of early learning and child care (ELCC) for newcomer children and families. Here are some examples of research and lessons learned through CNC.

CMAS Tutorial: Invitations to Play

An invitation to play can be a simple way to spark children’s curiosity and imagination! They offer children opportunities to explore and direct their own play, follow their interests, learn more about the world around them, express themselves creatively and use their imagination. In this tutorial, you’ll find 10 tips for creating your own Invitations to Play for the children in your CNC program. At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a Facilitator Guide and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.


CMAS Tutorial: Capturing Children’s Learning Through Documentation and Meaningful Documentation

Could your team use some new ideas and inspiration when it comes to documentation?
When documentation is done well, it tells a story about what the child did, the process and learning that they engaged in. And it helps parents and caregivers to see what the children are learning and how they’re progressing! In this two-part tutorial series, participants will have the chance to reflect on:

  • what makes good documentation
  • different kinds of documentation
  • how good documentation leads to good programming

Part 1: Capturing Children’s Learning Through Documentation
Part 2: Meaningful Documentation

At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a Facilitator Guide and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.


CMAS Webinar: Supporting Newcomer Children through Active Play–Teaming up with Active for Life!

Incorporating physical literacy into your daily programming can be easy and inexpensive – and it can bring such a range of benefits for children, ECEs, and families!

When young children engage in physical literacy and active play, they can better cope with stress, build resilience, and start on their path toward a healthy and active life. 

Watch this webinar where Dawne Clark, PhD, Early Years Physical Literacy discusses:

  • What physical literacy (PL) and active play look like in the early years
  • The benefits of PL and active play for children, educators, and families
  • “Infusing” PL into everyday activities 
  • How to get children moving again and active for life after the pandemic
  • The Active for Life website, tools and resources

CMAS Tutorial: Play Across Cultures

Children are masters of play. It’s how they learn about culture, social norms, and language - and it provides endless opportunities for children to try out different roles, express themselves, and explore the world around them. But you may have noticed that children from different cultures engage in play differently. This makes sense because there are differences in language, context, and social norms in different cultures - and these are all reflected in children’s play! In the this tutorial, participants will have the chance to reflect on how play is different across cultures, and how we can encourage and foster all kinds of play variations in our CNC programs. You’ll also find resources, references, a Facilitator Guide and Questions for Personal Reflection/Group Discussion so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.


From Challenge to Opportunity: How One CNC Program Found Creativity, Purpose, and Wellness in the Pandemic

With all the uncertainty, it can be difficult to find good in a pandemic. One CNC program took these challenges as an opportunity to focus on what they could control: learning and creativity. Read more...

CMAS Tutorial: What is Executive Function?

For many of us, executive function sounds like a really abstract term that might not hold much meaning. But executive function is actually an incredibly practical, useful and important set of skills that children start to develop in the early years.

In this tutorial, we’ll help you to understand what executive function is, and why it’s important. We’ll also share some resources and ideas for how we can support the development of executive function for the children in our programs.

At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a facilitator guide and added group discussion questions so that you can easily facilitate your own team training. 


CMAS Tutorial: Creativity and the Educator

When you think about the word “creativity” what comes to mind for you? For many of us, we automatically think about a painting, drama or storytelling, or maybe a song and dance. But creative expression isn’t about the product or end result… it’s all about the creative process and journey. Whenever we use and develop our imaginations, originality, and problem-solving skills during everyday life – that’s creativity!

In this tutorial, we’ll talk about why creativity is so important in the early years. We’ll also try to get everyone thinking outside the box a little bit, by talking about creativity… and how it isn’t just about art! Then we’ll share some ideas and inspiration for encouraging and fostering creativity in our programs! At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find resources, references, a facilitator guide and added group discussion questions so that you can easily facilitate your own team training.