News

Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math for Preschoolers?

Lately, everyone seems to be talking about STEAM. It’s a hot topic in the world of education, but what does it really mean?  STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math. You may think some of these subjects seem lofty for young children to grasp - and in some ways, that’s true. But young children can build a strong foundation for future learning by exploring STEAM preschool skills and concepts through play.  And there are lots of STEAM activities that you can do with children to keep them engaged and learning using simple household items!

HiMama Helps Webinar: How to teach children to embrace differences

Let's talk about how young children develop their understanding of differences! Most importantly, this webinar provides practical strategies that CNC staff can use to encourage young children to talk about, understand and appreciate differences between people and places.

Being a Dad in Canada – Available in 7 Languages

The Being a Dad in Canada tips sheets, video, and facilitation guide are part of the Family Life in Canada resource series. The goal of this series is to help newcomers adjust to life in Canada and encourage them to access information, programs, and services in their community. All you have to do is sign up to get access to the free resources that are available in 7 languages - making them easy to use with the newcomer families you work with!

Free Toolkit: Engaging Families in Healthy Development

Parents are their child’s first teachers—and when they’re actively involved in promoting early development, the results are better outcomes and stronger parent– child bonds. Children with involved parents are more likely to get the support they need and be prepared for school and future success. Adapted from the trusted Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ®) family of products, you can use this toolkit of resources to help you engage families in nurturing their child’s development - and help them get their children off to the best start in life!

Food Allergy Canada VIDEO: How to use epinephrine auto-injectors for treating anaphylaxis

This video demonstrates how to use the different auto-injectors in Canada, including EpiPen®, ALLERJECT® and Emerade™, and how these devices are used to treat anaphylaxis. It's an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the device options and how to use them!

Top Safety Tips for Your Program

The last few years have definitely been stressful. Lives have been lost and others have been completely upended. Living with the enduring uncertainty and stress of the pandemic, including the accompanying restrictions, certainly has not been easy. Sadly, some of these stressors have contributed to an increase in crime and violence. As early childhood educators, we need to be aware of these trends. After all, each day we are entrusted with the monumental task of ensuring that we create an environment that is as safe and secure as possible for the children in our care.  Fortunately, there are some great resources to help us enhance our safety and security measures.

Parenting Resources in Languages Other Than English

This Australian parenting website shares a variety of multilingual parenting resources on topics like daily care, nutrition, sleep, special needs, and 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. 


Encouraging Dramatic Play in the Early Childhood Classroom

In the current pursuit to foster social and emotional wellness in young children, there’s perhaps no better activity to dedicate time, resources, and space to than dramatic play! Here's a helpful list of picture books to guide dramatic play and foster students’ literacy and social and emotional skills.

CMAS Webinar: School Readiness with Newcomer Centre of Peel

School readiness means that children are ready for school, and families are ready to support their children's learning - and CNC programs play an important role in preparing newcomer children and families for this transition. In this webinar, participants joined Jacqueline MoonSammy, Aisha Ilyas, and their team from Newcomer Centre of Peel (NCP), to talk about how they noticed a need in their CNC community, and developed a program to support school readiness for the children in their program. They talked about some of the challenges they faced, as well as some helpful tips and strategies you can use in your program to help prepare children for kindergarten in the fall!