New Years is just one week behind us. How are your resolutions?
Here are some goal-oriented reads I found inspiring:
111 New Years Resolutions and Tools to Make Them a Reality {Life…Your Way}
Start Thinking Now About How You Will Rock 2011 {Pick the Brain}
Setting Reachable Goals for 2011 {Simple Mom}
And here are some of my favorite child-centered posts of late:
Want to get your kids into college? Let them play. {CNN.com}
A New Year’s Resolution to Encourage Unstructured Outdoor Play {Childhood 101}
Check out this great new blog! (I couldn’t pick just one post!) {Modern Parents Messy Kids}
Window Roadway {No Time for Flashcards}
Raising Self-Reliant Kids {Dr. Michelle Borba}
Hope the new year has been treating you right!
Top photo by Stephanie Berghaeuser.
Thanks so much for stopping by Modern Parents Messy Kids for launch week – I’m so glad you liked it. I have a lot planned (including a little giveaway on Monday to celebrate MPMK’s one week birthday) so please keep checking in.
Thank you also for the CNN article on play-based preschools. We are right in the middle of preschool madness at home with C needing to register in the next few weeks. The authors’ perspective on play-based vs. academic gives me a lot to think about!
Your blog looks fantastic (though it makes me want to redecorate…that’s dangerous). I’m grateful for the heads-up on the giveaway for myself and my readers. I for one will be checking in for sure!
Good luck with choosing a preschool. That can be so overwhelming. I’ll actually be writing on this later this month, but I think the key is in finding a place where play is supported and encouraged but with teachers who are aware of how to teach within the format. I don’t feel play vs academics is a true dichotomy. Academics describes the subjects, play is the learning format. So, it isn’t that children shouldn’t be learning academic content, but they should be learning it in a play-based, developmentally appropriate way. That way you get the best of both!
I couldn’t agree more that there is room for both “academics” and play in preschool. I have long been convinced that these early years are the time to nurture exploration and natural discovery – and is not the time for memorization and true academics (those “teach your baby to read” commercials make me want to yell at my radio!!). Everything I’ve read, most recently the early learning chapter in Nurture Shock, seems to back this up and I intend to give my son lots of practice with letters, colors, numbers, etc. at home.
You hit my concern right on the head – it’s not choosing between an academic and play-based preschool, it’s finding a quality preschool in which the educators are knowledgeable on how to use play to teach. I think a lot of parents going the play-based route (myself included) are looking for a way to ensure that we’re not just sending our kids to a glorified daycare. Which leads me to a play-based co-op option… but that’s a whole other conversation :). All this to say, I’m looking forward to your upcoming article – please post is soon!!
And yes, redecorating IS dangerous, I very nearly lost the custom html to my site by trying to tweak a few things only days before launching.
Make sure to check in tomorrow for the giveaway and thanks!
Thank you for these great links! The CNN article about plays is good, and I’ll share it with my preschool parents. Amanda your website is truly amazing and I have learned so much from you! Your literacy articles are my favorites. Thank you so much for all you share! I can not tell you how much you have influenced and enriched my preschool program! Happy New Year to you and your family!
Karen, that really means a lot to me. Thank you so much. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the literacy articles. Early literacy is a passion of mine. I have a post scheduled for later this month, focusing on developmentally appropriate early literacy instruction. I hope you enjoy it!