Child Development

CMAS Tutorial: Responding to Children’s Fear

For many of us, when a child expresses fear, it can be hard to know how to respond in a way that makes them feel heard and supported. In this tutorial, we’ll talk about how to respond to children’s fear, common mistakes, and why they’re important to avoid, and some practical tips with examples to help us understand and remember. 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.  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.


Playful Math: Webinar

How can we make learning math fun for children? An easy way is through play! In this webinar, Scholar's Choice will be sharing activities and ideas that encourage early numeracy, mathematical comprehension, and a love of numbers! Participants will also hear about ways to nurture a sense of curiosity related to mathematical concepts that engage children in a playful way!

Creating Opportunities for Active Play

By now, you have probably heard about the importance of regular physical activity. You are likely aware that establishing strong physical activity habits at a young age increases the chance of maintaining healthy activity levels into adulthood. Here are some developmentally appropriate activities that can help us instill a love of physical activity for children of all ages!

5 Ways Immigrant Parents Support Children’s Home Language Learning

It is important to preserve and develop a child’s home language for their cultural, linguistic, and social development. Yet, languages other than English are often not welcomed or encouraged the way they should be in classrooms. Here are 5 important ways that immigrant parents pass along their important linguistic, cultural, and social knowledge to support children's home language learning.

Webinar: Working Well with Babies

The first three years are a distinct developmental period in which quality of care and education have long-lasting effects. Babies have unique needs, and infant/ toddler education is one of the most important, complex, and challenging jobs. The Working Well with Babies webinar provides a set of comprehensive competencies, organized into 9 domains, along with the supports that educators need!

Gross Motor Activities for Preschoolers and Toddlers

During the early years, children need to be exposed to many activities that strengthen their large motor muscles. As babies, it begins with their trunk, neck, and head control, and then they strengthen their legs and feet. As preschoolers, once body control is achieved, you can help them work on throwing, running, and climbing! It's important to intentionally integrate fun, physical activities that kids can do to strengthen these muscles into your program.  And since most gross motor activities center around physical fun, it won’t be hard to get the students excited about them! Here are some examples of ways to enjoy gross motor activities with children.

WEBINAR: Making Sense of Trauma

Trauma is pervasive and impacts all of us. Becoming trauma-informed helps us when working with children to shift from saying "what is wrong with you" to "what has happened to you". The Making Sense of Trauma webinar helps participants better understand the patterns of children's behaviour and provides some practical tools to begin helping children to manage those behaviours.

CMAS WEBINAR: Developing Engaging, Child-Centred Activities for Your CNC Program

How do you plan activities for your CNC program? We all do our best to make our CNC programs child-centred, but sometimes program planning can be a challenge! In our most recent webinar, Jackie Cunningham talks about why engaging, child-centred curriculum is so important, where to start with emergent program planning, how to use developmental domains to build on curriculum and learning, and inspiring project-based activity ideas.


CMAS Tutorial: What is the Difference Between Emergent Curriculum and Child-Centred Programming?

The terms “child-centred programming” and “emergent curriculum” are often used interchangeably. But have you ever found yourself wondering what emergent curriculum means? Or maybe you wonder how a child-centred program is different from an emergent curriculum? Our newest tutorial provides a quick overview of child-centred programming and emergent curriculum, help in understanding your role as a facilitator of children’s learning, and some tips for expanding on children’s interests. 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.  


Encouraging School Readiness Skills in Preschoolers

The early years are a time when we can help children develop the tools they need to succeed before heading to formal K-12 schooling. Developing these school readiness skills help prepare children for optimal learning throughout their educational journey. This article takes a closer look at some of the school readiness skills that children can work on before they head off to kindergarten!