Programs and Activities

Roxana Radu: Journey to CNC

Roxana Radu’s journey to CNC was unusual. While following her plan to teach ESL to adults, she had an experience that changed her life and goals. We had a chance to talk to Roxana about her unconventional journey to CNC.

How to select toys for short term or mobile children’s programs: Quick Tip Tutorial

You may not know the number of children, their ages and needs until they arrive. And staff may have to bring toys to different locations, so they need to be easy to transport and store! How can you plan for so many variables? This quick-tip tutorial will help you plan for uncertainties and select the toys you need for a mobile or short term program. In it, you'll find 7 key factors to consider, a printable list of toy suggestions, and ideas for developing your own mobile kits.

Changing Outcomes Through Child Profiles

The process of child observations is a key strategy used in CNC programs to plan for each child. Observations are a way to collect data on the child their interests and their growth. How this is done varies from program to program. The Catholic Cross Cultural CNC program introduced a model that moved away from just collecting information when the child enters the program to a more defined portfolio system.

Observing Immigrant and Refugee Children: What’s Different?

Observations are key to supporting the development of every child. This is especially true for immigrant and refugee children settling into their new country. Yet, for newcomer children, observation takes on an added dimension of complexity. Ann Hutchings is supervisor at the Graybridge Malkam CNC program in Ottawa. She shares a few key things to consider when observing immigrant and refugee children.

Can Technology Help with Child Observations?

The staff at Newcomer Centre of Peel have a commitment to meet the individual needs of the child. This is not easy, as the program has over 100 children with 15-16 per class. Given these large numbers, caregivers were having trouble finding time to record observations. If they tried to jot down an observation as it happened, it took attention away from the group. When they waited until the end of the day, they struggled to remember what took place. They tried different observation techniques, including notepaper on a wall and a shared camera. None of these worked well. This is a frustrating situation faced by many programs. Read how a CNC program brainstormed a better way to observe and document using technology.

Quick Tip Video – How to Make Transitions Fun

This 2-minute video will show you how you can use attention getting games to make transition times fun for the children in your program!


Don’t Abandon PD: How One Program is Incorporating Professional Development

CNC teams have always displayed a strong commitment to constant improvement. PD sessions often have great turn-outs, as caregivers want to keep learning. The last few years have seen a significant decrease in organized PD opportunities. For some programs, however, it didn’t mean the end of PD. Read on to find out how the CCLCS CNC program incorporates PD.

4 quick recipes for sensory play that you’ve probably never tried before

Children can spend hours exploring with touch, language and imagination, but you don’t have to spend a lot of money and time creating exciting sensory materials.  Here are four sensory play ideas you can make with everyday ingredients you already have!

Kids in Motion: Ideas for Active Play, Every Day

Babies, toddlers and preschoolers love to play and move. Kids in Motion is full of information about children's natural need to be active, ages and stages of development, and activity ideas for encouraging active play, every day.

Video Snapshots: How to Support a Young Dual Language Learner at the Beginning of the Year?

These video snapshots are a great training tool! They not only document the early stages and strategies of preschool second language acquisition, but also reflect current research. It is a rare look at the first stages that are so vital to the teacher-child connection.