News
How to Support Children During Conflict and Crisis Situations
Do you have any families that are struggling through a crisis or traumatic experience? When we find ourselves faced with the unthinkable, having the right words to say to children can feel like an impossibility. Here is some advice for parents who are navigating difficult times, from child psychology and mental health expert Dr. Marcia Brophy.Emergency Preparedness: Resources for Programs and Families with Children
Sesame Workshop has plenty of resources to help programs and families be prepared and reassure children in emergency situations - including videos, family guides, videos and articles like Five Ways to Get Emergency Ready, Emergency Preparation for Child Care Providers, … and they're all available in both English and Spanish!Multilingual Learners Need Materials With Intrinsic Meaning
When young children are new to the language spoken by their teacher, they depend on useful materials to provide content and comprehension for their learning. That’s why multilingual learners need materials with intrinsic meaning. When children understand the teacher’s language, they may benefit from spoken explanations. But, when a child does not understand what the teacher is saying, they may not guess what the purpose of the activity is… and that blocks both comprehension and skill development. Here are some examples and tips for making materials and activities meaningful.
Connecting with Foods from Around the World
With many families gathering to celebrate a variety of holiday traditions, a theme is often food! Traditional meals and sweets are baked into celebrations from around the world, pun intended! Because child care programs reflect the broader community, it is safe to say that the children enrolled in your program will also be celebrating and enjoying these culinary traditions. This newsletter shares ideas for cooking with children and exploring foods from different cultures, not just during the winter holiday season, but year-round.
Public Health Food Safety Alert: Cantaloupe
According to Public Health, cantaloupe products linked to an outbreak of salmonella in the U.S. and Canada were distributed in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and possibly other provinces and territories in Canada. For now, it is best to avoid serving cantaloupe in your CNC programs.
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
WEBINAR: Overcoming Burnout in the ECE Workplace
This webinar focuses on some of early education’s biggest struggles: compassion fatigue, mental health, optimism, and attitude. It encourages participants to use self-reflection and explore opportunities that will fuel themselves, as well as those they lead. Join this session now for an uplifting, inspirational, deep dive into building morale and developing strategies as a team for combatting burnout.
Resources for Caregiving in Conflict, Crisis or Stressful Situations
Caring for children during conflict contexts can be extremely challenging when caregivers face so many competing responsibilities. Warm, positive parenting can help buffer children from psychological harm during conflict and displacement. The United Nations has developed this series of supportive videos, audio recordings and resources (in various languages) that provide caregivers with tips and advice on how they might best support children during any kind of conflict and displacement.
Free Online Course for Parents and Caregivers
Parents, caregivers and other family members are central to a child’s early learning and development. The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) launched a microlearning course aimed at parents and caregivers called Fun with Family Learning. Online and self-paced, this program offers short modules that provide parents and caregivers with support and fun ideas for learning with their children at home. The course is freely accessible until December 31, 2023.
NEW! LET’S PLAY: Painting & Colouring Activity Ideas
A team of CNC staff put their heads together and came up with over 100 painting and colouring activity ideas for CNC… and now you can find them here!