Health Canada Warning: Water beads may pose life-threatening risks to young children
Health Canada is warning parents and caregivers about the risks of water beads. These tiny beads, also known as jelly beads, hydro orbs, crystal soil, sensory beads, or orb beads, are water-absorbing gel beads that can grow up to 1,500 times their size when placed in water. Water beads can be very harmful if swallowed or put in the ears or nose. If ingested, water beads can continue to grow inside the body leading to potentially life-threatening injuries. Water beads and products containing them should be kept out of sight and reach of children; if you suspect that your child has ingested a water bead, call the Canadian Poison Centre hotline at 1-844-POISON-X (Quebec residents call 1-800-463-5060 to reach the Centre antipoison du Quebec).
Podcast: Teaching Early Childhood Multilingual Learners
In this episode of the Lifting Language podcast, three experts gather to talk about
teaching multilingual learners in early childhood. They discuss the principles of early childhood education and the role languages play, families as resources, and best instructional practices. The podcast is sure to leave you inspired to try some new ideas!
Helping Every Child Unpack Their Emotional Backpack
This 4-part
Housman Institute series focuses on how we can help young children unpack thier emotional backpacks, and help ourselves in the process. It provides us with the
tools, language, and techniques we need to help kids through every part of processing their emotions, including: identifying what they are feeling, understanding them, expressing them appropriately, and regulating them when they are strong.
New Online Tutorial Series: Now Available in French and English!
When children are calm and alert, they’re better able to manage their emotions, pay attention, ignore distractions, feel empathy, and really engage in their play and learning. Supporting children in developing self-regulation skills and helping them understand and manage big feelings is a great place to start. Supporting Self-Regulation and 8 Tips for Helping Children Understand and Manage Big Feelings are now available in French and English!
FREE COURSE: Protecting Children – Using Social Stories to Introduce Emergency Preparedness & Drills
In this free course, the
Institute for Childhood Preparedness and
Autism Little Learners teamed up to create a series of
social stories to help children prepare for safety and emergency preparedness drills. The social stories are for all children to enjoy, but they are also aimed at helping children with Autism understand, learn, and communicate new concepts. This course can help you prepare all of the children in your program ahead of time for the changes in routine that come with performing safety drills.
Helping Newcomer Parents Start the School Year Strong
There are lots of multilingual resources on our website for you to share with parents to help start the school year strong! We’ve compiled a
list of our favourites.
Active Supervision
The most important way that caregivers can ensure children are safe is through active supervision. But
what does active supervision actually mean?
Multilingual Trauma Resources from Child Mind Institute
The
Child Mind Institute has prepared free trauma resources to help parents, educators, and other caregivers. No matter how concerned or overwhelmed you may feel, as parents and caregivers you have the power to help children recover. Your comfort, support and reassurance can make them feel safe and secure, guide them through their fears and grief, and prevent them from suffering lasting effects. These resources offer simple tips on what to expect, what to do and what to look out for. There are general suggestions as well as age-specific information, and now they're
available in 16 languages!
ONLINE WORKSHOP: Getting Ready for Gradual Entry
In this
one-hour online workshop participants are provided with a gradual entry checklist to help them with their gradual entry strategy and process. They will also go through age, development, and group considerations to reflect on how they can best support a variety of children and families through the gradual entry process.
Visit the Centre on the Developing Child Translation Library!
The Harvard Centre on the Developing Child has so many wonderful resources, and many of them have now been translated into 17 languages! Now you can
browse the complete translation library of briefs, videos, and infographics, or filter by the language for which you’d like to find translated materials.
